Thom Lewis is the critically acclaimed producer behind Sam Fender’s first two UK #1 albums Hypersonic Missiles and Seventeen Going Under. He talks with Artists Aside about his beginnings with Sam Fender, navigating the music industry, and his passion for the north’s music scene.

It was while working at Blast Recording in Newcastle that Thom Lewis – also known as Bramwell Bronte – first met Dean Thompson. Sam Fender’s guitarist, long-time friend and producer on the Mercury Prize-winning album People Watching had been studying music production at Newcastle College at the time, and was shadowing Thom’s work at the studio.

Financially, Blast was going through a difficult time, as was Thom. “I decided that I needed to pack in the job. I couldn’t afford to live and pay my bills, and I had bailiffs at the door. I was living in what was essentially poverty and it just destroys people, it really does take its toll.”

After taking Dean for a pint to thank him for his help in the studio, Thom was presented with an opportunity that was about to change his situation completely: “’Come and meet my friend Sam, it’ll be really good for you.’

“And I thought, well it’s the least I owe him.”

The Wirral-born producer recalls the day he first met Fender, who “was in a down and out position” similar to his own. Sam visited Thom’s flat, and played him some songs he’d written. Then and there, Thom had a newfound reason to persevere with his job. He couldn’t give up producing: Fender was amazing.

A year later, he met the Geordie singer-songwriter’s manager, Owain Davies, who asked if he’d produce Sam’s music “properly, not messing about in his flat”. Davies’ own shed became their studio where they recorded the majority of the 2019 album ‘Hypersonic Missiles’. For Thom, the studio experience with the North Shields-born singer “was a rollercoaster.”

“There were times that were tough for both of us. We saw each other go through a lot of strife, but more than anything it was joyous because we both love what we do.

“We’d be trying to get it right, and making sure that he’s happy with what he’s saying, and sometimes arguably taking risks with what he’s saying.”

“Honesty can be hurtful, but I think that comes with honest, good art.”

After a successful debut, ‘Seventeen Going Under’ was to be recorded in the States, but plans were stunted by the covid-19 pandemic. With the need to form ‘support bubbles’ in lockdown rules, Thom made the decision to move in with Sam to work on the sophomore album together at their North Shields studio, which features his favourite released track, ‘The Dying Light’.

“It’s so anthemic and beautiful. It absolutely cracked me when he did the vocal, I was weeping my eyes out and it really rings home to me. He can put stuff into words that tears me apart.”

Fender is notable for bringing a distinctive Geordie voice to his American rock-inspired tracks – which has led to his unofficial moniker as ‘The Geordie Springsteen’.

“It’s quite an honour to be compared to somebody like that. To even be seen in their shadow is amazing, but I would argue there’s a lot more to Sam than the Springsteen comparison,” Thom says.

“I’d say that was his beginning, and since then I think he’s developed as an artist and established his own identity in sound. I think it’s awesome that people call him that, but I think in time it’ll just be Sam.”

Now, after two BRIT certified platinum albums with Fender and a Mercury Prize nomination, Thom Lewis is continuing to work in the region he calls home.

The ‘honorary Geordie’ praises the not-for-profit organisation Generator, which aims to expand and improve the North East’s overlooked and underrated music scene. It opens doors not only for musicians, but people who want to receive training across the industry.

“The Geordies are extremely varied when it comes to music and styles, it’s incredible,” he says. “There’s so much talent in such a small space and a passionate culture for music ingrained in the area.”

He finds that while the music industry is still very London-centred, the scales are tilting in favour of the north’s artistry. “Take for example The Lathums, The Lottery Winners, or The K’s: they’re all very northern acts who’ve kept very northern, and their teams are northern as well.

“There’s more opportunity up north, similar to when there was the creation of Factory Records. They were stamping their foot down in the 1980s with an identity of being northern. That’s come back around.”

Although Thom isn’t a native Geordie himself, growing up in Merseyside, he’s lived in Newcastle longer than any other city.

He made the move up north after studying audio engineering in London and working as a studio assistant for three years, which had “crazy hours and really bad pay.” After finding a job at Newcastle’s music store JG Windows and selling guitars, he got his main gig working for Blast.

For Thom, music has been a constant throughout his life, but it wasn’t until meeting with a careers advisor during his GCSEs that he discovered where it could take him.

“I was mad into music when I was a kid. In my school it was the underfunded subject, and I thought you could do nothing and nobody would care. I thought it’d be a doss,” he admits. It was after having to learn to play guitar that he became utterly obsessed and was recommended a career in music.

“All my other subjects went out the window. I thought it sounded wicked, I didn’t realise it was a job. I just immediately started looking for audio engineering colleges and I thought, ‘that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life- mess about making sounds’.”

But speaking now with many years of experience in the industry, he finds that making a living in music is much harder today than in the past: “It’s similar to the way I got my break with Sam; the producers are having to be involved with an artist from the ground up.

“Record labels are doing that less, so you have to find an artist you have a good relationship with and do a lot of the early labour. It’s asking a lot of people starting out.”

Thom hasn’t worked solely under his own name however – his producer pseudonym Bramwell Bronte was credited on Fender’s first album. The name was inspired by Branwell Brontë, the brother of literary icons the Brontë sisters. As the story goes, Branwell was a promising young talent expected to become the most successful of the family, but died at 31 after facing addiction and ill health.

“My dad told me that he was a catalyst for his sisters’ creativity, and I thought it was quite apt. Producers burn themselves out for the artist’s glory, to make sure somebody else does great. Being young I thought it was so rock and roll, but I went with my real name for the second album because my mum was giving me grief about my family name not being on the records!” Thom laughs.

Of course, there are many highlights that come with producing such successful albums. For Thom, these highlights aren’t necessarily the achievements, but “the journey itself, like working with Sam and him making me cry when he sings, being emotionally overwhelmed through the performances you capture, being in St. James’ Park and having all those people singing the songs you’ve made.

“I’ll hear people singing a Sam song in a pub or in the car, and I get flashbacks to when we were making it. It really warms your heart.”

Thom’s latest projects have involved working with East-Yorkshire artist Fiona-Lee and writing with Newcastle talent Lizzy Esau. Supporting the North East inclusive music project Future Collaborations, Thom will provide free recording sessions for neurodivergent young people. His passion for northern acts cannot be understated, as he continues to shape the sounds of a musically-diverse region. OA

Featured image via Thom Lewis/Joe Doherty (Gravity)