Hannah Rand

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November 23, 2008 12:00am
Sam Sparro is one of few men who can look cool while wearing a neon trucker's cap and a fluoro T-shirt pinned with an oversize badge that says 'Paris 87'.

Add a Michael Jackson Thriller purse that doubles as a belt and we're getting dangerously close to Corey Worthington territory, yet the 26-year-old somehow manages to pull off the look.
It's the morning after a big night and Sparro admits he's feeling a bit seedy for today's photoshoot. He's using all the tricks to get animated - brownies are ordered for a sugar rush and, later, someone heads out for a bottle of vodka and the hair of the dog helps in the last push to wrap the cover shot.

Sparro has good reason to celebrate. His self-titled album has won accolades aplenty since its release in June. UK music bible NME said the track '21st Century Life' was akin to "Stevie Wonder cloaking himself in a technicolour dreamcoat".
His debut single, 'Black and Gold', was a massive hit that not only won praise from thousands of MySpace bloggers, but also the likes of musician and producer Mark Ronson and legendary DJ Pete Tong. YouTube fans have described Sparro's blend of '80s electro beats and soaring vocals as "existential pop" and his gigs as "gospel music raves". So it was no surprise the singer was chosen to perform at the ARIAs last month and nominated

for five awards, including Best Male Artist, Best Pop Release and Single of the Year for 'Black and Gold'.

As with any emerging stars, the comparisons have come thick and fast, with Sparro being hailed as the new Prince, Mika or Scissor Sisters. "I'm not crazy about Mika's music," says Sparro "Scissor Sisters are a great, fun band, but I like comparisons to Prince, because he was really talented - a real artist and musician. He played all the instruments on his records and I try to do the same thing. He also wasn't defined by a genre and was very experimental as a pop artist, which is hard to do."
Born in Sydney, Sparro (real name Sam Falson and nicknamed after the radio mascot Sammy Sparrow), moved to Los Angeles with his family when he was 10. At first he had a hard time adjusting, but credits the initial loneliness as being the spur to creativity. "Kids are cliquey at that age. In Australia, I was quite popular and active, but when I moved to the States, I was isolated and spent a lot of time in my room."

Fortunately, Sparro had his talent and ambition to keep him occupied. "I learnt to be independent, which is good because so much of the creative process happens when you're on your own. I don't think I'd be where I am today if I'd stayed in Australia. Isolation and awkwardness drive you harder to go for what you want."

And what he really wanted was a career in music - a love that was in his blood. His mum plays the piano, his brother is a musician and he describes his father, who was then a Baptist minister, as a "gospel version of Bob Dylan". As a child, Sparro started putting his vocal cords to use in his dad's LA church, where soul queen Chaka Khan once heard him perform and famously exclaimed, "Damn, that white boy can sing."

Despite his father's former profession (he's now a full-time composer), Sparro doesn't feel particularly religious. "I had quite a spiritual upbringing," he admits, "but as I grew older, I felt that religion really divided people and there was a lot of hypocrisy at the time. Also, being gay, it's a bit weird."

In his late teens, Sparro returned to Sydney and lived with his grandparents while working in public relations in the music industry. But he wanted to make his own sounds, so he headed to the UK to immerse himself in the homeland of many of his music idols. It was a shrewd move. "A lot of countries take their cue from Britain," he says, "I'm proud that London is the first place I made it."

With all that moving around, it's not surprising that he calls himself "a bit of a gypsy", yet Sparro insists he has a strong bond with this country. "My roots are Australian and I have an Australian approach to things," he says, adding that it was an honour to perform at the ARIAs.

While electro-pop-funk may be his forte, the young singer has an appreciation of all genres of music and says one of the night's most special moments was Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu's "heavenly" performance. "I was really moved," Sparro says. "I was a bit teary-eyed from it, just from the purity of his voice. It silenced the room. Everything else seemed a bit w*nky after that; it made the whole awards thing seem a bit stupid."

Another highlight of the night was Sparro's choice of date - his grandmother. "She had a blast," he laughs. "She's 75 going on 22 and is reverting back to her youth. She said to me the other day that the great thing about being old is you can get away with anything. She's a loose cannon and I love her."

The singer seems to be having a blast, himself, at today's shoot. His stylist boyfriend, Adrian Gilliland, is rushing around, rearranging the official stylist's positioning of the clothing while Sparro camps it up in front of the camera like a hyper-coloured Kate Moss. As well known for his sartorial quirks as he is for his original sound, he describes his unique look as "geek-chic with a bit of rave and B-boy thrown in", and says he loves Australian designers Ksubi and Romance Was Born, and US stylers Jeremy Scott and Brian Lichtenberg, who have dressed fellow electronica muso Peaches.

"I enjoy dressing up, but I also love the artistry of design. Fashion can be another form of art. It can be silly and shallow and superfluous, but life can be very serious and drab sometimes, so fashion is a way to make the world colourful."

He says the plan now is to work on the next album "somewhere quiet", by which he means LA, where he lives in the laid-back community of Silver Lake with his cats, Helen Keller and American Idol. "I really just want to focus on what I want to create and not on making something just because that's what people are expecting from me."

Sparro is aware that instant success - as he experienced with the release of 'Black and Gold' - is a double-edged sword. "I consider myself an artist and not just a flash-in-the-pan," he explains. "It's great to be recognised. Period. But time will tell how people will continue to perceive me."

Still, with fame comes money and that means he'll be able to afford proper studio equipment for the next album. "'Black and Gold' was made in my bedroom with a couple of cardboard boxes for keyboard stands, and no pressure - that's why it came out so well," he says.

In the meantime, he's chalking up an impressive resume. He's written for the Pussycat Dolls (the song is yet to be recorded) and there are rumours he's working on a project with Lindsay Lohan. He's also becoming great tabloid fodder, most notably for his criticism of Madonna after her single, '4 Minutes', beat 'Black and Gold' to the top of the UK pop charts. He braved the wrath of many readers when he told Attitude magazine: "Madonna is wretched at the moment, absolutely vulgar."

Far from being an impetuous moment of jealousy, it's a statement Sparro stands by. "I'll dig myself a deeper grave by saying this, but I find her so joyless and hard," he adds. "She's the opposite of what I'd like to be when I'm 50, which is not so hardened and so aggressively fame-seeking. I feel a bit sad for her. I know, that might sound a bit nasty. I really liked her when I was growing up, I thought she was such a visionary; she did a lot for gay people. On one side, I have lot of respect for her. On the other, I wish she'd take it easy."

Despite the celebrity bickering, fast-tracked fame hasn't robbed Sparro of the ability to laugh at himself. He grins broadly as he recalls how he stumbled during his ARIAs performance. "I hope it's on YouTube," he says. "Adrian and I are always Googling stuff like that. There's a really bad one of Beyonce - she stacked it in an arena, much worse than I did. And Katy Perry fell over into a big cake. I'm really into watching people falling over onstage. I think karma has bought it back on me."

But this is a man who once had a job dancing in his underpants in a nightclub and who is, to use his own words, totally shameless. So I ask, as he does a Doris Day skip across the studio, swinging a plastic yellow radio in his hand, what's the one thing that would truly embarrass him? "Making a really naff record." SM

Sam Sparro will perform at the Good Vibrations Festival at Flemington Racecourse on February 15. For information, visit www.gvf.com.au. His self-titled album is out now

@ the past tense.

Harlepolis said:

Yeah same here!

how in the heck did I miss a Sam Sparro thread?

"WAS"?!

WAS?!?

Taco 2008

errant said:

Taco you say:

his album was pure garbage

Who the heck compares this guy with Prince? I mean, they're both annoying, but I see no resemblance beyond that.

WAS?????



dude please

rushing07 said:

I liked it

Harlepolis said:

I know!

Don't know whoever compared this one hit wonder to Prince...

LiveToTell86 said:

Because Prince is one of his inspirations and it's obvious when listening to his material


At ya'll mad about "was"
[Edited 1/14/09 1:49am]

bboy87 said:

SHIIIIIT! You don't LOSE talent unless you're doing hard drugs and it knocks it out of you. I'd be alright with dude if he didn't say that.

Timmy84 said:

But in general, it was positive. We always here "Stevie was/is a genius" or "Michael was/is great" so it's no different from what Sam said

You can hear the Prince influence in a couple of his songs so the guy's obviously a fan

tell me this ain't Prince influenced



[Edited 1/14/09 2:01am]

just learned about him but never heard his stuff. based on those clips yeah hes' influenced by Prince. The Camille voice, the Linn-snare..... pretty cool

I love the album
"Still Hungry" is my shit

the first time Igave him a spin
with each different track i'm like
"he sounds like... no wait a minute
now he sounds like... well hotdamn!
he REALLY sounds like.."

it was an incredible journey
I think I will spin that tonight