Sam Callahan shot to fame back in 2013 when he competed in the tenth series of the ITV talent show The X Factor. During his time in the competition Sam was mentored by Louis Walsh and finished in seventh place.
Now, the 23-year-old is working on his own music and is touring the country with 2009 X Factor winner Joe McElderry on his Saturday Night at the Movies tour. Here we speak exclusively to Sam Callahan about his X Factor journey, new music, possible solo tour, touring with Joe McElderry, and more.
So, what have you have you been up to since you left The X Factor?
A LOT! I haven’t really stopped gigging and performing, I perform up and down the country all the time and then from time to time in different countries too! I’ve been fortunate enough this year to have worked on new music and gigged in Los Angeles, Vegas, Miami and some other cool places in Europe, so that’s been super cool. I’m currently on a UK tour with former [2009] X Factor winner Joe McElderry for his ‘Saturday Night at the Movies‘ album, which is going great! It’s 32 date tour full of high energy,well known songs, I love it. I also took a little detour with fitness in building my own fitness company and creating programmes and live stream coaching for people who wanted to follow in my footsteps and get fit in 90 days, like I did after the X Factor arena tour! However right now my focus is on the new music I’m creating, I have new music, a new team, new videos and with that a new found energy and love for the music I am now making and for touring the country again.
Hod did the tour support slot for Joe McElderry come about?
I wasn’t actually supposed to be doing this at all! Joe had Lloyd Daniels in the mix and had even had a few rehearsals with him, unfortunately though Lloyd pulled out last minute as he was ill and also had a family emergency, so I got a call on Wednesday night at 11pm, rehearsed Thursday and did a show on Friday! Talk about chucking me in the deep end, haha. However, I am now thoroughly enjoying myself and the other lads on the tour are great fun… apart from when they fart on the tour bus, that’s gross!
Do you still keep in touch with anyone from The X Factor from the year you were on?
I speak every now and then to the boys and I’ve worked with Luke [Friend] from time to time, but not really. I think in that pressure cooker environment you’re bound to get close to people, but lets not forget we’re all from very different backgrounds and mostly we live very far apart too.
Besides, I’m hearing a lot these days that some of the other guys and girls on my year of the show have thrown the towel in with music. It’s a brutal business and that’s always sad to hear, but I wish them all the luck in the world with whatever they go on to do next!
Looking back are you glad you entered the show?
Absolutely! I have a huge fanbase of active and loyal fans online, without whom I’d have no one to buy my music, come to my gigs and share the love and hype! I’m so grateful for the platform that X Factor gave me, but I think it’s about what you do with that platform that counts.
What advice would you give to anyone looking to go on The X Factor?
Know what you’re going into and keep your whits about you. I think it’s a hard show to go on and truly be yourself, I for one was portrayed slightly differently, with the songs that were chosen for me etc, I think it’s important to have a strong head in a situation like that. But most of all, enjoy it!
You’re currently touring the UK so what’s your most and least favourite thing about touring?
My most favourite thing is doing what I love day in day out, I love seeing the lights in the crowd.
They’re like stars, it’s honestly breath taking when you get a good audience! The banter is pretty cool too if you get a good bunch of people like we have this time round. Don’t tell them I said that though, because their heads might not all fit on the tour bus. My least favourite thing however is missing home. I am a real family man and I love to keep in touch with close friends and family and people I love in person rather than just on the phone. I’m an old soul in that way, I think its got something to do with spending my life on social media for music reasons… When it comes to loved ones I like to actually go out and about, meet people and try and spend time with them. Obviously that can’t happen when you’re on tour, so that sucks a bit.
Can fans expect a headline tour from you soon?
I certainly hope so and am quietly confident. It will all be down to where I am at with my next music release. Behind the scenes, I have a great team of people working for me on working out how best to go about the next single/album release, so that right now is the priority. However as is often the case, touring does pretty much come hand in hand with new music!
So you’re currently working on new music?
Yes, always! I never stop writing, if only you could see the folders and folders of thousands of songs that I have on several different hard drives locked away safely. I wish I could just drop it all on you guys and show you the lot, but unfortunately that’s not allowed, I have to be patient with these things! However I can confidently tell you I love the music I am writing and producing now, more than anything else that I have ever created. If I believe in only one thing, It is my new material.
If you could collaborate with anyone who would you choose?
Ed Sheeran.
What do you hope to achieve over the next ten years?