SAM TOMPKINS BRINGS VULNERABILITY AND RAW EMOTION TO HIS JACK DANIEL’S & COCA-COLA ‘LIVE FROM’ SET [BOLD 2026 INTERVIEW]
Sam Tompkins returned to Brighton on a spring evening that felt rooted in where it all began. Along the pier at Concorde 2, fans gathered as the sun dropped over the sea, a setting that already carried familiarity before a single note was played. It was a homecoming show that didn’t need much introduction, just the weight of being back in a place that shaped him.
Inside the venue, the Jack Daniel’s and Coca-Cola ‘Live From’ experience sat naturally within the space, with drinks and popcorn adding to the atmosphere. Sam moved through a set built around unreleased music, including ‘Lost Time’, ‘Body to Body’, ‘Crawling Out My Skin’ and ‘Little Boy’ giving fans an early look at what’s still to come.
The defining moment came at the end of the night, when performing his last song, he took the performance outside to the pier for ‘Beauty Queen’. With the beach behind him and the sun setting over Brighton, it played out in an open, stripped-back space. A backdrop of his face alongside Jack Daniel’s and Coca-Cola framed the moment without taking away from it.
Prior to the set, VIPER sat down with Sam to discuss his journey leading up to this show and why returning to Brighton meant so much. The conversation touched on growth, vulnerability, and reconnecting with why he started making music, setting the tone for everything that followed on stage.
You’re back in hometown Brighton for the “Jack Daniel’s and Coca-Cola’s Live From” campaign. How does this full-circle moment reflect your growth as an artist?
I think being from Brighton, my journey as a musician being so intertwined with Brighton and with the busking and everything, has meant that I’ve sort of been a musician here in so many different ways. I’ve been the busker that needed the money on the side of the street so I could afford a hat in my favorite shop, to selling out the Dome last year and to be here for the Jack Daniels Coca-Cola ‘Live From’.
This show, I feel like it’s a great full circle moment because not only is my hometown at the centre of it, but Concord 2, the venue we’re playing at, is such a special venue for me. It’s one that I used to go to gigs at all the time as a kid. I’ve been there as an opening act, I’ve been there as a headlining act before, and I’ve been there as a fan on so many occasions. And even to this day, I still go to the venue. I also used to live right above it, so it’s all a very special place for me. Full circle, definitely.
‘Beauty Queen’ touches on perception and identity, what inspired the story behind the track, and what do you hope people take from it?
‘Beauty Queen’, I always say I wrote it about my partner Lily. We’ve been together for three years and she’s been with me through a lot of things in my life, including a lot of sad things and a lot of great things. I think sometimes I grew up feeling quite insecure about the way I looked and always wondered if I’d ever find a partner that appreciates me the way I am, and also just a great partner in general. I think even if you’re in that pursuit to find that, sometimes when it’s right in front of your face, you almost don’t believe that it’s possible. My partner just constantly proved me wrong every day and she’s amazing.
Actually, she will be in the crowd and when she’s in the crowd I always get a lot more nervous, but I also perform a hell of a lot better. So I think she will like it and I hope the rest of the crowd enjoys that and feels that too
Your music has always balanced vulnerability with powerful vocals. What’s been the biggest shift in you, not just as an artist, but as a person navigating the industry?
Thank you so much. I think over the last maybe two years, I took a step back from my work and just looked inside to see what I really liked about my job because sometimes with the expectations of social media and stuff, it can be hard to constantly project this like, “I’m good, I’m happy, I’m doing well.” I wanted to go inside and reflect and figure out what my job really means to me and what I really love about it. I realised the two things I absolutely love about it are writing the music and making the music with my friends, which is really special. And two, performing it live.
I think I realised the thing that I’ve missed so much. It’s really nice to reflect and take some time for yourself, but when your job is so deeply rooted in connection with others, it’s just something I really miss a lot of the time. This gig that we’re doing, the “Live From” with Jack Daniel’s and Coca-Cola, is special because it’s the first time people are going to be hearing a lot of music, because a lot of it’s unreleased. It’s what I’ve been working on in the background, including ‘Beauty Queen’. There’s nothing quite like seeing what a song means to someone on the first listen, and that’s what live music gives you.
You’ve built such a reputation for those raw, intimate performances, how do you hold onto that same emotional closeness when you step onto bigger stages in front of huge crowds?
That’s a really interesting question because I think so often artists go on a journey where sometimes with the bigger venues, I’ve heard that they do lose that connection with their fans because it’s not like you can see every single person when you’re in a bigger room.
But what I like to think is most of the time when I’m on stage, as weird as this sounds, I’ve got my eyes closed and I’m just feeling out the music. Sometimes I’m in my zone and for me, I think the way you can keep connected with that audience and stay connected no matter how big it is, is by continuously drawing from something real, rather than drawing from something that doesn’t really exist to you or trying to make them feel something.
Sometimes you’ve just got to write for yourself and make music that speaks to you because no matter how niche you think the subject is, there is someone who will be absolutely over the moon when they chuck it on one of their streaming services or they go to a gig and see it up close and personal. There will be someone that can relate to it, if not in the exact same way as you, then in their own way, and that is what makes music so powerful. And that’s how you stay connected with people.
What does it mean to you to be involved in a campaign that truly celebrates live music and those special moments between artists and their fans?
It’s that connection. It’s that face-to-face feeling of you playing a chord, singing a lyric, or saying something, and you see someone in the audience feel something and you can see it on their face, them feeling it. That is quite literally, for me, what music is about and the Jack Daniel’s and Coca-Cola “Live From” series is so special because you get to see where the artist came from. Sometimes the fans will come and visit where that artist comes from, meaning they will understand the music further and connect with it further.
When I write my songs, I write a lot of them here in my flat in Brighton. So to just take them down the road and play them to a bunch of people, some people might be from Brighton and some people might be from outside, because I know this is a competition that’s run with a QR code on the cans to get into my show, or you can get tickets to things at Wembley Stadium for free and stuff.
I just think making art accessible for people is super important, both to listen to and consume, but also to make. I think what they’re doing and this campaign in general really speaks to me because of that fact. I grew up thinking that you had to know someone to get into music or you needed to have money to get into these spaces, and when you have competitions run like this, it’s grassroots, it works, and it’s cool; It’s special.
Ioanna Topali, Marketing Director, said: “Jack Daniel’s and Coca-Cola have deep roots in music culture, and we believe that this dedication deserves to be celebrated. That’s why our ‘Live From’ campaign rewards the passion of live music fans, giving them a chance to skip the queue and get straight to the music they love.”
In my opinion, Sam didn’t overcomplicate anything. He answered it in the music, and Brighton did the rest.
Words by Nickeeba Archer
