Sam Wilson is a percussionist and composer based in London. Active in many genres of music and performance, his work has taken him to concert halls, comedy clubs, stadiums and festivals around the world. He is an avid creator, taking a collaborative and compositional role in most of the work he does, and has undertaken numerous engagements of devising for television, radio and film.

Sam studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he graduated with the Lord Mayor’s Prize. During his study he was highly committed to new music performance, and the integration of theatre. When being interviewed following his 12-year-term as Principal of the Guildhall, Barry Ife described Sam’s final recital performance of Georges Aperghis’ Le Corps À Corps as his highlight, stating “I have never been so profoundly affected and shocked by a performance in my entire life.”

Alongside positions as artistic board member and principal player with the Riot Ensemble and the London Contemporary Orchestra, Sam’s recent projects include a long-standing Boiler Room collaboration with the visionary producer Actress (culminating in sold out performances at the Barbican, Strelka Institute in Moscow and the release of LP Lageos on NinjaTune), appearing as a soloist in the world premiere of Benedict Mason’s Hotel Paradiso staged nearly 2000 metres above sea level in the valleys of the Italian Dolomites, numerous soundtracks for television and film (including Netflix’s The Two Popes and the Oscar and Grammy-award-winning soundtrack to Black Panther), concerts and masterclasses with percussion quartet 4-Mality, and performing in London’s production of Hamilton.

Between 2011 and 2017 Sam featured in hip-hop comedy act Abandoman, alongside freestyler and comedian Rob Broderick. Sam began as a purely musical collaborator in 2011, and gradually undertook a more central role in the duo; eventually co-devising and co-producing all of the material. Their 2014 show Hot Desk was declared the “Best Musical Show” of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by The Sunday Times, and their 2016 Edinburgh show Life + Rhymes sold a record run of 10,000 tickets. The last few years saw them appear frequently on British prime-time television (including as the house band for Alan Carr’s Happy Hour on Channel 4), headline comedy stages at every large-scale music festival in the country, tour to North America, Australia, Europe and Asia, and support Ed Sheeran on a major UK tour.

Sam met composer and electronic artist Anna Meredith in 2010, and has since then performed in her band and helped create her live touring show. He shares writing credits on 2016 debut LP Varmints (winner of Scottish Album of the Year Award, ‘Best New Music’ on Pitchfork), and 2019’s Mercury-nominated follow-up FIBS (Electronic Sound’s Album of the Year), and has co-devised solo/duo works with her including Brisk Widow for drum kits, spot lights and quad audio, and Gigue, for solo dance mat. Sam plays drums and sings in their live band shows, on which The Guardian’s Maddy Costa describes a “luminous falsetto as delicate as his limbs are forceful and demanding elsewhere”. In 2017 the band embarked on their first American tour, and were named in the top 10 bands of SXSW Festival by The New York Times. 2018 saw them record their debut at NPR’s infamous Tiny Desk series, of which creative director Bob Boilen said: “Out of nearly 700 performances at the Tiny Desk, this is simply the most exhilarating one I’ve experienced.”


Sam is grateful for the support of JH Audio.