Sam Fender praises north-east England after Mercury Prize win

Sam Fender has mentioned the north-east of England is the “best region in the country” after amassing his Mercury Prize in Newcastle.

The North Shields singer gained the award for his third studio album, People Watching, on the occasion’s first ceremony outside of London in its 33-year historical past.

Fender informed the group he had not anticipated to win and the shock of doing so had left him with a shaking “Elvis leg”.

Speaking after the awards, he mentioned the area’s music business had at all times been an “isolated bubble” however he was glad it was lastly being observed.

“For it to be recognised by the rest of the industry I think is an important thing and hopefully this will be the beginning of many other wonderful things,” he mentioned.

He additionally praised his fellow nominees and devoted the award to his mentor and “surrogate” mom, Annie Orwin, who died final yr.

She was an actress who starred in Byker Grove – a coming of age drama centring on a Newcastle youth centre which ran from 1989-2006.

He mentioned the album’s title observe was about her and coping with grief.

“The rest of the album is very much local stories and little pockets and pieces of Shields and the people I have grown up with,” Fender mentioned.

“Very much like every other album I have done, but I think we got it right this time.”

Fender was beforehand nominated for the Mercury Prize for his second album, Seventeen Going Under.

Comparing the 2 nominated albums, he mentioned he thought his earlier album was the higher of the 2, however the second album was extra “cohesive”.

As Fender and his band collected the trophy on stage, they had been greeted by the soccer chant “Toon, Toon, Black and White army”.

CMAT, who had hoped to be the primary Irish winner of the Mercury Prize, was amongst those that joined in with the mantra.

Speaking earlier than the awards, she mentioned there have been lots of proficient Irish musicians breaking via, which she put right down to a “generation of traumatised people” attending to make music.

“There’s a lot of artists from a very small, not very densely populated country making music that feels quite important as opposed to just trivial,” she mentioned.

“I think everyone is a bit earnest and has their head screwed on a little bit because we went through something 20 years ago, especially my age group, and we’re now really dealing with the fallout of it.”

Many of the artists echoed Fender’s sentiments concerning the Mercury Prize lastly leaving London being good for the business.

Emma-Jean Thackray mentioned as a “northern girl” she was glad extra gentle was being shone on music in different components of the nation.

“I live in London, but London can become such a bubble,” she mentioned.

“The fact that we are up north with people who just love proper story telling, they love music, I am really excited.”