by Sharon Mawer Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner was born in Surrey on the 11th of January 1985 and attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, studying the guitar and graduating at the age of 17. He played bass guitar in a Green Day cover band and, before going solo under the fuller name of Newton Battenburg Faulkner, he formed the funk-rock band Half a Guy with Matt Buchanan, Dave Elvy, and Nicola Crawshaw. The band released a live self-titled EP with no success and, rather than play angry metal music in church halls like everyone else, they decided to attempt uplifting happy sounds -- but playing guitar, singing, writing the songs, and arranging the gigs eventually took its toll and led to him making a break on his own. His first solo gigs were at the London Troubadour club and led to a publishing deal for his original songs with Peermusic UK and appearances at the South by Southwest music festival. Faulkner secured a recording deal with BMG Records and released a second EP, U.F.O., featuring solo material, and he appeared to have found his niche with the rise of such recording artists as Jack Johnson, James Morrison, and Paolo Nutini. He appeared twice at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2007, both on the acoustic stage on the Friday and on the Left Field stage on Sunday. Faulkner's debut album, Hand Built by Robots, was released in July 2007 and, after entering the charts at number three, climbed to the top during September. ◎ 如同英國版的杰克強森，靠著一把吉他彈奏出最為舒適的都會新民謠 ◎ 請到紅牌制作人 Mike Spencer (Kylie Minogue、Erasure、Jamiroquai) 主鎮操盤 ◎ 專輯蟬連英國金榜兩周冠軍，首支主攻「Dream Catch Me」爬伸至 Top7，翻唱英國 Trip-Hop 大團 Massive Attack 的「Teardrop」 這位小子 Newton Faulkner 就像很多愛作夢的年輕人般，腦中浮現許多奇形幻想，可以很卡通、很色彩鮮艷、很陰郁灰色也很跳躍活潑。一把吉他、一副好嗓、滿腦創意點子，雖然來自英國，卻像美國的 Jack Jockson 亦或 John Mayer，替搖滾樂添加些許靈魂味覺，同時彈奏出舒適都會新民謠。 今年才 22 歲的 Newton 留了一頭超級有型的雷鬼卷長發，加上蓄胡的酷模樣，雖然讓他的外型看來比實際年紀大很多，但是當他開口唱歌、彈著吉他，相當成熟與滿滿自信即刻涌現，我們更需要一個有型的歌手，不光只是乾乾凈凈、斯斯文文或漂漂亮亮的偶像氣質包裝。15 歲開始學吉他，并進入培養搖滾和流行樂派的 The Academy of Contemporary Music 英國著名音樂學院就讀。Newton 的第一個團體是專門翻唱 Green Day 之龐克隊伍，有了些許舞臺經驗後，自組放克搖滾團 Half A Guy，錄制出的兩張獨立 DEMO，讓他們成為相當受歡迎的尚未簽約樂團。隨後以 Newton Battenberg Faulkner 之名四處表演，順勢販賣自制的創作 EP，引起廣泛討論的 Newton，不僅受邀上 BBC Radio 2 節目，更入主 SONYBMG 國際音樂大廠旗下。 在獨立界打滾許久的 Newton，終於如愿以償的發行首張完整大碟『Hand Build By Robots』，請到紅牌制作人 Mike Spencer (Kylie Minogue、Erasure、Jamiroquai) 主鎮操盤，首周空降英國金榜季軍，隔周卻猛跳上冠軍寶座，蟬連兩周之久。打從「To The Light」開始，都建構在吉他簡單的驅動；接著「I Need Something」以及「All I Got」，皆是令人心情為之一開的輕松作品，如同 Jack Johnson 沖了一天浪後，坐在海邊迎著夕陽，自彈自唱的引出這些歌曲曼妙音符；首支主攻「Dream Catch Me」，挾帶大量順暢旋律搭配 Newton 平實且感染力強的嗓音詮釋，充滿活力與陽光，已爬伸至英國金榜 Top7；翻唱英國 Trip-Hop 大團 Massive Attack 的 1998 年 Top10 名作「Teardrop」，雖然沒有發行成單曲，卻已是樂迷爭相下載的大熱門，登陸下載榜 Top60 之林中；感人的抒情小品「Straight Towards The Sun」，則換上鋼琴柔美鍵音拉出序幕，吉他的偶而播奏反退居幕後成潤飾。Newton 的音樂會讓你將聆聽成為一種享受與樂趣，更能輕易讓你嘴角微微上揚！