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. Second release Rebuilt by Humans arrived in 2009 and follows Faulkner’s laid back, acoustic sound that gained him many plaudits and a solid fanbase. It was three years until he released his third record Write it On Your Skin in 2012 which became his second UK number one. Moving away from the theme of his previous two full-length releases, he wrote this album to be played live, with a positive, upbeat feel. Faulkner worked with many contributors on this release, including BBC Fame Academy winner David Sneddon and production partner James Bauer-Mein who make up The Nexus (Lana Del Rey, Matt Cardle, Hurts) and bass guitarist Sam Farrar (Phantom Planet). ~ Sharon Mawer, Rovi
