Always Be Yourself: Alex Sampson talks to Rival about Authenticity, Inspiration and Music

photo credit Alex's dad

INTERVIEW BY : SANDY AZIZ https://www.instagram.com/thesandakin/

“Always be yourself,” announces Alex Sampson with conviction. 

The name probably rings a bell. At 16 years old, Sampson already entertains an enormous, global fan base that spans across all his social media channels. By unapologetically being his authentic self, Sampson made his debut on the widely, popular video-sharing app, TikTok in 2019. Within just weeks of debuting his song “Cold Shoulder”, it hit approximately 100,000 streams. 

Though he was born and raised in a small town in North Western Ontario, Canada, Sampson is not just your small-town-boy-next-door. With over 1.5 million followers on TikTok alone, the Canadian singer-songwriter is stealing hearts and chasing dreams. Though he claims he has a short bucket list at the moment, he shared a few items on the list with us: playing a show at Madison Square Garden, collaborating with Owl City, and doing a worldwide tour.

Sampson describes himself as silly, to which we would add easygoing and authentic to that list. He seems like he is just living life and he even admits that he draws most of his inspiration for his music from things that are actually happening in his life. And, when he isn’t feeling inspired? “I tend to just try again another day, so I don’t get stressed out,” explains Sampson. Of course, similar to the vast majority of us, Sampson faces challenges. “A challenge I’ve faced recently is trying to not be upset over little things that don’t matter,” Sampson tells us. Understandably so, because if this year has taught us anything, it is to prioritize the big things and not sweat the small things.

Sampson also describes himself as a “softie” though he admits that most people might not know this about him. “There’s certain songs, TV shows, and movies that instantly make me tear up,” Sampson admits, chuckling. We believe the more fitting phrase is closet romantic, and we don’t think any of his fans would mind, because, as we mentioned, Sampson is stealing hearts everywhere with his lovesick vocals. And, while Sampson didn’t give examples of those certain songs and TV shows that bring tears to his eyes, we did find out that he is currently binge-watching Outer Banks on Netflix and listening to Lauv, Owl City, Jeremy Zucker and 5SOS. 

Photo credit for blue shirt: David Esterson

Recently, Sampson released his catchy, upbeat song Take Me Upstairs and the official music video to Let There Be Light. “It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve done so far!” says Sampson. “[The idea] came about in LA, [the song came on] while I was in the car and I instantly fell in love with the song, so I went in and put my spin on it!” Sampson is hoping to release more new songs, an EP and/or album soon and definitely start touring.  

To stay up to date on the latest, you can follow Alex

IG: @itsalexsampson TikTok:  @itsalexsampson Spotify:  Alex Sampson