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Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born January 11, 1985 in Reigate, Surrey, England) is a British musician. He is well known for his distinctive guitar playing style, which involves percussive use of the guitar's body, and unusual picking techniques.

Early life

Faulkner went to Hawthorns Preparatory school in Bletchingley, Surrey. He began playing guitar at the age of 13 (after a few attempts at the drums and piano) and attended the Italia Conti Academy. He grew his trademark ginger dreadlocks aged 14. He then moved on to the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford in 2001, where he spent 2 years gaining both diploma and the higher diploma award under the tutelage of Eric Roche, amongst others.

His first band was a Green Day cover band, in which he played bass guitar. His experience on the stage grew as he formed Half A Guy, a funk rock group with a quirky edge, with fellow band mates Matt Buchanan (who has a credit in Newton's Hand Built by Robots Tab Book), Dave Elvy and Nicola Crawshaw. Half Guy recorded two demo CDs and managed 2 years before splitting. He then spent time recording and playing gigs under the name Newton Battenberg Faulkner, including the Lapagestock festival on the 11th June 2005.

Music career

Recent appearances on BBC Radio 2 as well as a publishing deal with Peermusic UK compelled the Independent on Sunday to tell its readers to "Watch this face." Faulkner performed at the 2006 South by Southwest music festival and at Guilfest 2007.

In 2006 he had a support slot for Steve Forbert at The Spitz in London, England.

Newton subsequently signed with Sony BMG records and on the 30th of July 2007 he released his début album Hand Built By Robots. He supported James Morrison on his February UK tour as well as Paolo Nutini on his UK tour in April, and also John Mayer on his September dates in the UK. He also supported The John Butler Trio on a number of European dates.

In June 2007 Newton's second single "Dream Catch Me" was selected Jo Whiley's 'Pet Sound' on her daily Radio 1 show. This gave the track much exposure and was highly commented on by listeners to Jo's show by SMS and e-mail.

Newton appeared twice at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2007 - once on the Friday on the Acoustic Stage and once on the Sunday on the Leftfield Stage. He appeared at V Festival 2007 in August where he played in the Virgin Mobile Sessions Tent - a venue much too small as many people had to listen outside. He also appeared at the Connect Music Festival at the end of August 2007 on the Guitars and Other Machines stage.

On July 29, "Dream Catch Me" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 16. The following week it had risen to number 7 with Hand Built By Robots entering the album charts at number 3. The song was still at number 8 on 12 August and the album reached number 1 on 26 August.

Faulkner's fourth single from Hand Built By Robots, "Teardrop" (a cover of the Massive Attack track), was released on the 10 December 2007. A new video for "I Need Something" was released in March along with a United States version of the video for "Dream Catch Me".

Faulkner has been confirmed to play at the Isle Of Wight Festival 2008 on June 14, appearing on the day The Police are the headline act. He is also confirmed to play at the Bonnaroo and Sasquatch! festivals in 2008.

Influences

Newton's main influences include musicians such as Eric Roche, Tom Waits, Jurassic 5, Massive Attack, Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, James Brown,Prince, Mr Hudson, Green Day, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Primus, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, Nirvana, Cee-lo Green, Gordon Giltrap, Seu Jorge, DJ Shadow, The Beatles, The Neptunes, Jamiroquai, The Presidents, Slick Rick, Nick Harper, Cornelius, Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Other

• Half a Guy

9 tracks recorded live in Newton's barn.

• Newton Battenberg Faulkner (aka "Son Of Keith")

Unreleased 13-track album.

• Peer Music Sampler

Four track promo-only EP featuring Santa Claus, The Future, I Need Something and Last Train Home. Sometimes referred to as the Santa Claus EP on auction sites.