A day in the life with Prince of Falls! | Frequent Players
Prince of Falls is a true visionary within his conscious music landscape. Amassing over 25 million streams on Spotify and is now growing his namesake, taking on his latest venture into his own. Releasing his first single ‘DarkTomb’ in 2017, through to his artistically pieced together LP, ‘Diary of a Lonely Knight’ (2021). Prince of Falls has accumulated a following that spans further than the British coastline, with music that captivates the senses.
To document this pivotal milestone in his music career, we follow Sam, the man behind ‘Prince of Falls’ on his debut London show. From rehearsals to the closing curtains, we wanted to find out what it’s really like to have our feet burrowed into the shoes of a prince.
Upon meeting Sam for the first time. It was clear to see that the idea of a debut show in London, wasn’t something that phased him. This wasn’t just any regular soundcheck either, it was show day! No pressure, no worries, if anything he seemed to be more invested in how he can praise his fans for showing support. “You guys have been amazing, thank you very much, I mean if you’re clapping of course”, a proclamation at the peak of exhilaration after being asked what his final words to the crowd would be.
Anticipated weeks of rehearsal juggling, soundchecks, stage checks – the lot of it. All mantled down to this moment. Situated in the greazy backdrop of The Grace, North London. The periphery is fazed, vibes are blazing and all that remains is the countdown to the final few hours before Prince of Falls debuts his weeks of hard graft on stage.
“I am feeling pretty chilled for my first show. I should be a little more nervous but I feel like I have been practicing for a while. I am just worried about my body language being too closed off but I just got to see what the vibe is at the end of the day.”
A rare moment that dated back to the depths of Woolwich, music class to be precise. A ‘filler’ class that is usually inundated with supply teachers, pressing ‘DJ’ on the keyboard and spending Friday afternoons learning the Ukele. But for Sam, it opened many doors to his musical ambition. Amalgamating his own logic beats in his free periods, this otherwise doss of a lesson would cement the groundwork for what would come next.
“It was my music teacher, I wasn’t meant to have him. He was meant to be my media teacher but they didn’t have enough music teachers and he just told us to jump on Logic and play around for the lesson. At the time I thought: ‘Woah I am really enjoying this!’ We weren’t recording, I was just mixing different songs and putting them together.
From this point on, Sam would become aware of his own singing capabilities, all thanks to a trusted friend that believed in his sauce from day one.
“One time I was singing 2 Chainz ‘It’s your Birthday and a friend heard me. We skipped class, went to the park and I was singing it really loud and my friend said: ‘You should start recording!’ From there I took it as a little hobby and I lied to my Dad to buy the equipment for me, saying that I need it for school.” – A white lie, that led to a dream, and then became reality after the rollercoaster ride that is life.
“He gave me the money and I bought everything I needed and afterwards I started recording. I then went to uni, dropped out and stayed in my room but I wasn’t really recording like that. I only really took it seriously when I came back to London. I just started recording and three years ago, I started putting my music out on Soundcloud.”
After a short interlude of laughter, we digressed to the more serious topic of inspiration and the true meaning behind his ambiguous stage name.
“I mean the Weeknd was my major inspiration, early days trilogy I was kind of into the cold kind of slow winter vibe, ‘Take Care’ was part of that.”
“The Weeknd was top dog. He’s where I got my name from. He has a song called ‘King of the Falls’ and I didn’t want to disrespect him and call myself King of the Falls, but I thought this was such a beautiful name and I always work better during the fall season, and my first show is also around fall – crazy.”
Digging deeper, it was only right that we also found out his top three tunes. With ‘Secrets’, ‘Nightmare’ and ‘Faceless (Freestyle) being the three reigning projects that Sam listens to from his own discography stating : “They’re just a vibe for me.”
Retiring from a successful soundcheck with the clock moving into the penultimate hour before the show. We stepped outside and caught a draft from the chilly London landscape, with the burning question of ‘Why did you decide to perform live after all these years?’ on the tip of our tongues, it was safe to say it all boiled down to personal timing.
Before the dust settled on our casual chat, witnessed by the noise of the bustling city, we had time to talk about one more important thing… shoes. “One time at Bradley’s I noticed he had so many shoes! I’ve never seen a person with so many shoes. I saw rare Bapestas which he can’t wear because they are messed up, deadstock pieces, anything that you can think of, he’s got it!”
Sharing his own tumultuous relationship with shoes in front of a judging crowd of sneakerheads also seemed like a pressing task in itself, Sam recalls: “Yeah, I wouldn’t say I am into trainers because I don’t take care of my trainers, I feel like people that are into trainers look after trainers.”
“Are they in a box?” we asked with giggly undertones inscribed in our voices.
“Only for the first two months and then after it goes past a certain point it’s just like …”
Draped in Namesake from head to toe, a French brand plucked from its true Japanese and Spanish origins were the last defining touches before Sam’s on stage debut. Dripped out and wearing a fresh pair of Joe Fresh Good 993s straight out the box. ‘No pressure’ were the last resigning words that rolled off his lips before he became Prince of Falls for the night.
Crowds started to arrive in their masses, the intimate gig spot darkened, and all that was left was ‘Prince of Falls’ to make his debut appearance.
Ideologies quickly surfaced to reality as he pitched himself in front of his swarm of doting fans meant it was the time everyone was waiting for. Consoling the crowd with his opening words of affirmation: “We’re just going to start man – let’s go!”
Kicking off his opening sequence with his adopted enthusiasm on stage, backed up by the yearning fans. Harmonising the background with deep rhythmic beats, reeling it up every time the crowd went off, with ‘Southside Bleeds’ causing a ruckus.
After an hour and a half of what became such a memorable performance, Prince of Falls concluded the show with instant gratification and appreciation for those who witnessed this special moment in his career. Noting back, to his previous thoughts shared during the sound check.
He told us while greeting his fans with warm smiles, a post-performance exhilaration expected from a first timer. “I feel really great, I did not expect it to go that smooth, I know I was talking a lot of trash but I just went with the vibe and everyone was feeling it – I loved it!”
To no surprise, Sam was on cloud nine and there was only one way to celebrate this pinnacle moment – an after-party fit for a prince!
We look forward to seeing what comes next in ‘Prince of Falls’ music career and on behalf of Footpatrol, we wish you the best of luck on your upcoming EP!
