Newton Faulkner biography
Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born January 11, 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and musician from Reigate, Surrey. Known for his guitar playing, which involves rhythmically tapping and hitting his guitar's body, Faulkner came to prominence in 2007, with the release of his debut studio album, Hand Built by Robots. The album was certified double platinum in the United Kingdom, and yielded the singles, "Dream Catch Me", "I Need Something" and "Teardrop".
Following an accident, which resulted in his right wrist shattering, Faulkner released his second studio album, Rebuilt by Humans in 2009. An EP named Sketches will be released on April 17 containing three new tracks, followed by a new studio album.
Early Life
Faulkner is the second child of Sally Carolyn (née Battenberg, formerly Evans) and Keith William Faulkner, Faulkner has an older brother, Toby William Battenberg Faulkner and a younger sister, Charlotte Elizabeth Battenberg Faulkner. Newton attended the Hawthorns 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 of Theatre Arts. He grew his trademark red dreadlocks at age 15. He then moved on to the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford in 2002, where he spent two 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 (credited in Newton's Hand Built by Robots tab book), Dave Elvy and Nicola Crawshaw. Half A Guy recorded two demo CDs and managed two years before splitting.
He then spent time recording and playing gigs under the name Newton Battenberg Faulkner, including the Lapagestock festival on 11 June 2005.
Music career
In 2005 he made a sound for the game TrackMania Sunrise called
Take Back
Appearances in 2006 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.
Newton subsequently signed with Sony BMG records and on 30 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 John Mayer on his September dates in the UK. He 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.
On 29 July, "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.
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