iWeekly
At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, which was unveiled on Monday Beijing time, Sam Smith, a 22-year-old boy in the United Kingdom who had previously received six nominations, won four awards: Production of the Year, Single of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Pop Album of the Year. It took him only one year to go from an obscure newcomer to the pinnacle of the music scene.
However, there are still many people who do not know him well enough. Appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, which was officially released on Feb. 12, Smith told the world almost unreservedly, "Yes, I am Sam Smith!" ”
A song called "Stay With Me" that made Sam Smith a new vocal force in the global pop scene in 2014. Rolling Stone editor Patrick Doyle met with Smith in Atlanta and London, England. Just a few years ago, the singer was just a waiter at a bar, eating leftover fish and chips for dinner. Now he's gearing up for his first concert tour.
In the course of the interview, Sam revealed his unhappy past, being bullied as a child because of his sexual orientation, and watching his parents' marriage fail and go to divorce. Talking about his next album, he said that he would add his own instrumental performance, "is a more authentic version of himself than the first album".
Although Sam has recently debuted, he already has heavyweight fans such as Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga in the circle. Rolling Stone magazine also interviewed them, and when talking about the big boy with a voice and a cute personality that was much more mature than his real age, Swift said, "What the audience needs is that real voice, and Sam doesn't hide his vulnerable side, which is brave, because that's the real him." ”
An incredible year
This time, Rolling Stone took the camera to interview Sam intimately. For a cover shoot, they went to a dental clinic. Fellow reporters chatted with him in the car. He recalls that his first performance in New York was at the Mercury Lounge, a small bar in New York on August 13, 2013, when he didn't expect 100 tickets to sell out. The day after the interview, he performed in Madison Square Garden, which can accommodate nearly 20,000 people. He said he never expected that he would be able to sing on that venue with only one album, and he definitely did not expect that his first album would win 6 Grammy nominations (and eventually four awards) and sell 5 million copies worldwide.
But when asked how he had been in the past year, he said he was always asked the question, but couldn't answer it. "All I know is that the past year has been good and I'm still sober." He said that he was still living like a normal person, saying whatever he wanted, and when he encountered unhappy things, he would be in a bad mood, and there was no need to pretend that everything was fine, because things would sometimes be unsatisfactory. "I'm just an ordinary person, these emotions can't be avoided, but they can all be passed."
He said the most extravagant thing he ever did after he became famous was buying a French bulldog for $3,000, but two weeks later, he gave it away. "I just don't know what to do. I got a dog, but I panicked completely. "He thought that when he became famous, he would be less lonely and find his own kind." I have a great team and I have very good friends, but they are not the same people as me, and maybe there are very few people who are very similar to me. ”
Foodies for Grammys to lose weight
Sam was on a diet for the upcoming Grammy Awards, but as a foodie, it made him intolerable, "As soon as the Grammys are over, I'm going to eat ten burgers." He even jokingly said, "Food comes first than music, sex and family." I love cheese, I love fried chicken, I love avocado, and I just love to eat it. ”
But he also admits that he still cares about his body and hopes to make a handsome appearance in the Grammys, so he insists on the red pepper juice recipe every day. "Sometimes, I'm proud that I'm not a typical pop singer, but sometimes I really wish I could have justin Biber in shape."
Didn't like the male version of Adele's label
Sam said, "Adele is my Michael Jackson, I've been a fan of her since I was 16, but we're very different, and I'm worried that it's going to make her angry when it compares between the two of us." Sometimes, I just feel like people can't accept two atypical pop singers singing very personal songs on stage, which makes me feel annoying and irritable. ”
In addition, Sam said that he is also a fan of Beyonce, enjoying singing Beyoncé's "Drunk in Love" in the bathroom, and even remembers all of Beyoncé's actions in the MV. But he inevitably had a "head-on fight" with his idol in the Grammys, saying that he would prefer the other party to win the award, "She deserves the award more than me, and if I get it, I also want to give it to her." (As a result, Sam laughed to the end.) ）
He also admires Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, known as "Spicy Chickens." He said Rihanna went to see his concert in Los Angeles, and she was so famous and still very real. While soaking in the bathroom, in addition to listening to Beyoncé's songs, he also liked the songs of the female singer Lana Del Rey, as well as the soundtrack of the movie "Elizabeth 2 (Golden Age)". Of course, in fact, he just loves to take a bath.
Bitterness after coming out
Sam has always openly admitted to being gay and has never shyed away from talking about it. He said his childhood was eighty percent happy, but the rest were painful experiences. Once, he was walking down the streets of a small town with his dad when someone drove by and shouted at them "Faggot" (a word that discriminates against homosexuality). Sam was ashamed and embarrassed at the moment, because he didn't want his dad to hear that, and he could imagine how he would feel if he were his dad... That feels like you really want to kill those people.
He said he wasn't affected by discrimination, but what really upset him was that the people around him had to endure it together. But one of the worst experiences was shortly after moving to London, when he was beaten walking down the street because he had makeup on his face, "and all of a sudden someone punched me in the neck, but that wasn't the first time I've been beaten." ”
Of course, it's not all painful experiences. As a teenager, Sam wrote a more enthusiastic love letter to a boy two years older than him, but the boy was a straight man, and he sent Sam a long and intimate letter, saying that he only regarded Sam as a friend. "But every time I think about it, it excites me." Sam closed his eyes and said. Because the boy still took good care of him at school afterwards, whenever someone bullied Sam, he would stand up and protect him. "You know, (after the love letter incident) he could have embarrassed me."
A graduate of a Catholic school, he has never been afraid to speak out on campus for gay equal rights. "(The school) thinks you can be gay, but you can't happen on campus, so ridiculous. For me, homosexuality is innate, not an option, I just like boys. That's my only argument. ”
He also said he would never go to Russia because the people there were not friendly to homosexuals, which made him angry. "I don't hate Russia, but I just won't go, no matter how many hundreds of millions of pounds someone asks. But I know that Russia also has my fans, and I have some regrets about not being able to go to the scene and sing to them. They could only contact me via Twitter. ”
But for marriage, Sam's attitude is more negative. "My view of marriage, which has little to do with my own presence in the same-sex circle, is mainly influenced by my parents' divorce. I'm not sure I want to get married and remain eternally faithful to someone. But I'm only 22 years old now, I don't even know what I want, and maybe I'll change my mind in the future. Maybe I'll meet the right guy and want to get married to him. ”
Talk about the new album and the future
"I want the next album to be a continuation of the first album, even more honest and closer to the real me than the first album, rather than looking like it's been whitewashed by money." His real ambition is to change the pop scene. "I want to be a pop icon, but I don't need to be that thin or have a pretty face. I want to change people's perception of pop idols. I think that's what I really wanted to do after I started making music. I want to change people's requirements for perfection, you see, I'm not perfect, but I can also be an idol. ”
While a new album is still to be seen, at least one new song has been decided, and the title is Scars. This is not a song about Sam's emotional experiences, but a letter to his parents. He said he was a little scared after the huge success of his first album. If you can't resonate with the audience in a new work, you may become useless. "I told myself I needed to write a song that others could empathize with, and Scars was born. I think every child who has experienced parental divorce should listen to this song. Of course, writing my personal experiences into the song in this way will also make me feel a little weird. To hear my new album, it will take more than a year. ”
In addition, Sam has plans to return to school. "I took film in my high school A-level course, and I hope I can learn more about film and directing, and maybe make my own music videos and so on. I thought, I'll go to New York to study film, I hope New York University will admit me, or I can study with a director. I'm just interested in the world of movies. ”