Spindle Home Session: Sam Fischer Performs His Hit Track ‘This City’

Sam Fischer is an emerging talent that is singing his way into the hearts of millions. The Australian artist has been working tirelessly to achieve his dream. From moving to LA and losing out on a recording contract, to couch surfing with friends, Fischer has overcome his fair share of obstacles. But through the lows came the highs with the rising artist gaining recognition for his singing and writing abilities.

Since his debut in 2017, Sam has penned songs for some of music’s biggest artists – including Demi Lovato, Keith Urban, and Ciara – while also earning a viral hit with his single ‘This City’. With millions of streams and viral popularity on TikTok under his belt, we can’t wait to see what else Sam Fischer achieves.

We were able to chat with him about everything from the lessons he learned while attending Berklee College of Music, Pitch Slapped, and more…

Your fantastic track ‘This City’ is having such a massive success! How does it feel to have your song touch so many people?

Thank you so much, it genuinely blows me away every day. Honestly, if I think about it too hard, my mind sort of glitches out a bit. It’s crazy. I think the most humbling part of all of it is getting messages from so many people telling me how the song has helped them or affected them. It’s why I make music. So yeah, it feels unbelievable, I’m living some kind of dream right now. 

Taking it back a bit, what sort of artists did you listen to growing up?

Until I was about 7, I lived outside Sydney, and I had an hour drive to and from school, and my dad had three albums – Michael Jackson – ‘History Part II’, Whitney Houston – ‘The Bodyguard Soundtrack’ and a Sundance Rock Compilation album. So that was my earliest musical foundation. Other than those three staples, I grew up on Carole King, James Taylor, Eric Clapton, Donny Hathaway, Destiny’s Child, Boyz II Men, among a few others.

You attended Berklee College of Music. What were the top three lessons or takeaways you received from attending the prestigious college?

1: Back yourself always, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

2: Be nice and have genuine intentions.

3: And probably the greatest lesson I learnt was in a class taught by Kara DioGuardi – I presented a song, Kara listened to it and afterward turned to me and said “I bet you get away with writing average songs because you can sing them well.” That moment changed my entire world in the way I write. A good voice doesn’t make a good song, it takes a lot more than that.

If you could reunite with the vocal troupe Pitch Slapped – from your Berklee college days – and had to perform a five-song setlist, which tracks would you choose?

Oh, this is a good one. I think now I would choose:Cold War – Cautious Clay

1: Castles – Freya Ridings

2: We Find Love – Daniel Caeser

3: James Joint – Rihanna

4: Rocket – Beyoncé

In 2014, you took a leap of faith and made the move to LA to pursue your music dreams. What were some of the challenges you faced?

So many. I moved to LA for an opportunity that ended up falling through the day after I got there. So I slept on couches for about six months. I’m very grateful to all the incredible people in my life who were willing to let me crash, I wouldn’t be here without them. Apart from financial issues, LA is a tough place to struggle in. I was trying to do all I could to please people who I thought had my best interest at heart and I completely lost sight of what I really wanted, which kind of led to an identity crisis. It took a lot of songs, a few incredible people and the greatest fans in the world to find myself again. It might have been a hard grind over six years to get here, but I’m proud of the journey I had to take, I do my best to not take anything for granted now.

You’ve written material for some of music’s most prominent artists. Which has been your favourite to write for? Which artist would you love to collaborate with in the future?

It’s honestly so hard to choose because every artist is different, and I’ve been really lucky to collaborate with some incredible people. If I have to choose – I think writing for Ben Platt was my favourite, he’s the best human, an amazing lyricist and can sing his ass off. I have to also say, Ciara was amazing, I got to write for her with Darkchild, so 2006 Sam was freaking out. As for artists, I’d love to collaborate with: Pink Sweat$, H.E.R. & Ed Sheeran would be unreal to work with.

If you could go back in time and give your younger self advice, what would you tell them?

Don’t judge yourself so harshly when things go wrong, and don’t be afraid of being your truest self, one day, your honesty and vulnerability are going to be celebrated more than you know. Also, don’t cut off that long, red curly mullet, it’s cool as hell, and you’re a legend for it.

With your track ‘This City’ continuing to make waves, will you be releasing new music soon?

YES. Expect a lot of Sam Fischer newness this year, starting very soon. I can’t wait.

Sam was able to record a fantastic Spindle Home Session, performing an acoustic rendition of his track ‘This City’. Tune in below and on our IGTV…