Photo Credit: Press

The ‘South Yorkshire Springsteen’ SAM SCHERDEL is taking 2025 by the scruff of the neck and running with it. We sat down with the Doncaster born musician to talk about his new EP ‘Meet Me On the Moon‘, his experience in the studio, what plans he still has left for 2025 and more.

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What has the reception been like for ‘Meet Me On the Moon’?

Sam: It has been great. I’ve sold a boat load of vinyl’s. When I originally got the concept about doing the EP, it was a tricky decision whether to do vinyl, it’s a big gamble. It paid off though. The orders we got on the first day paid for itself in a way. It helped gauge the fan base too and who were interested in coming to shows and buying the product. I’ve released a lot of singles in my time but putting together a body of work is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now. It couldn’t have gone any better to be honest.

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What has made releasing the EP so special?

Sam: When I first started I was still finding my feet who I wanted to work with. On this EP, I’ve worked with two different producers, purely based on logistics and finances basically. My writing has come a long way, it felt right to do it. There is a spine to those six songs in terms of alternative music but it touches on so many different genres throughout, which is something I have always wanted to do. I’ve never wanted to pigeon hole myself into the laddy indie stuff. I really wanted to explore the different genres.

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How did the EP come to life?

Sam: Three of the songs were brand new, and the other three were really old demos. Looking at my catalogue I have around 300-400 demos since 2010. It was a case of getting them down to 30, then down to 10, then down again to 3. They are really old ideas but with a breath of fresh air put into them.

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How do you find the studio experience? Are you comfortable in that setting?

Sam: I love being in the studio. It is where I am my happiest. Being a solo artist, it isn’t a one size fits all approach with it. I had the same drummer on all the tracks, whereas I did all the guitars, bass, piano and keyboards. Luke Porthouse, who played guitar on ‘Somebody Else’, ‘Breathe’ and ‘If We Danced’ has become one of my best pals throughout the process. There were different musicians who helped me out with strings and things like that. Every song has had a different approach to how we’ve completed it.

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During your EP release show in Doncaster, you decided to strip it back. What was the reason to do it differently for such a momentous evening?

Sam: I wanted to do something different. We played the Gorilla Beer Hall in Mexborough at the end of 2024 with a full band. It was the most tickets I’ve ever sold. I knew that the EP was coming out, but I didn’t want to do a repeat of the same show. I wanted to do something with a completely different spin on it so that show we did the full EP. I got a keyboard player from Doncaster who I am going to be working with some more as he was incredible. I wanted that MTV Unplugged vibe. 

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Has selling out your hometown show put some faith back into the Doncaster music scene?

Sam: I love playing Doncaster, I love playing Sheffield. Last year I alternated, I played The Leopard, then Foundry and then back to Mexborough. I played The Little Theatre 10 years ago, so to come back 10 years later to sell it out was great. Despite having some friends and family there, 80% of it were people I have never met before so that was insane.

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How has the UK tour been going so far?

Sam: It’s good. We are not doing massive venues, we’ve booked it all ourselves. Lets gauge what we can do,what cities work well and what cities don’t. Every show that we’ve done we’ve sold tickets which is nice. We played Huddersfield at the weekend and we had people coming up to us who we have never met before which is the idea really. We are going to keep pressing forward. Edinburgh is almost sold out. It’s wicked.

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What plans do you have for 2025?

Sam: We are planning something big in South Yorkshire for later in the year. I am going into the studio next month to finish tracking the next EP. Ideally release it at the start of 2026, but the first single is going to be coming out soon. After the big show we will be looking at returning to some of the cities that have done well on this tour to close the year.

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What items are on your current rider?

Sam: There is loads of red wine. Spiced rum. There isn’t much food on there if I am being honest.