In under a week, breakout musician, performer, and songwriter Sam Tompkins’ debut album has already reached number 8 on the official charts. However, the success and power behind this project isn’t just in the numbers, it is in Tompkins’ feat of recognizing his own insecurities. Hi, my name is insecure is a vulnerable celebration of Tompkins’ lived experiences and a reclamation of his perceived flaws.
In a press conference with °1824, Tompkins’ revealed how the creation of hi, my name is insecure, was an incredibly cathartic and illuminating experience. Introducing himself not as Sam Tompkins, but as insecure, Tompkins said, was “…owning those insecurities and anxieties, and those feelings of depression or sadness.” Once this has been done, he added, “you’ve made the first step toward getting better.” Tompkins highlighted the importance of celebrating first steps and “little wins,” as he calls them. Creating the album, for him, and listening to the album, for his fans, is a first step in itself.
Much of the propulsion and inspiration for the album came from shared struggles between Tompkins and his closest friends. Using their experiences to jumpstart writing about emotions, Tompkins got a feel for vulnerable songwriting before sharing his own story. “The growth this album has given me… I’ve realized how important it is to be vulnerable,” he shared.
When Tompkins was nineteen, a close friend took their life. Before this tragic event, Tompkins felt as though his music lacked meaning and impact. He also feared he would meet the same fate due to his intense suppression of his feelings. The next time he had a session, Tompkins knew he wanted to allow himself a chance to let his feelings out on the page. At that moment, he realized, “That’s what it is, that’s why people make music, and that’s why people want to listen to music… it’s therapy, my music can be like a diary entry.” He continued, “I was crying whilst writing it… and ever since then… that was the way forward, and that worked for me.” The music that came from these intimate, one-on-one sessions with himself came from “the deepest parts of [his] being and soul.” Tompkins decided, “No one’s going to listen to this and say it’s trash unless they’re a horrible human being… If anyone has something to say then… they’re clearly not tapped in…” The collection of songs on hi, my name is insecure is a product of Tompkins’ commitment to authenticity and an epiphany that autobiographical songwriting can impact anyone.
The album’s twelfth track, “see me,” was one of those tracks that were ripped from the pages of his own life and came out of a life coaching session. “We were reflecting on how I view my body because I’ve suffered from body dysmorphia since I was twelve… and when I started speaking about it, I started unraveling all this information within me and all these times that maybe were the catalyst…” Before writing “see me,” Tompkins had resisted publicly speaking about his struggles with body dysmorphia. “Once I wrote the song,” he explained, “it felt very affirming… I want people to feel like it’s not so scary to talk about it. That’s the thing with mental health, there’s such a taboo, especially in young men…” Since he was young, Tompkins felt the impact of the stigma around men’s mental health. Hi, my name is insecure, aims to break the indignity surrounding male vulnerability. “When I decided to put [“see me”] out, people said, dudes don’t have a song like this… a lot of people, especially men, find it very difficult to resonate with people they don’t perhaps look like or feel like they resemble in any way, so having a bloke like me talk about it really helps… or, at least it would’ve helped me when I was younger.” Being an outlet for young men like his past self, Tompkins reinforces, has been a strong motivator for being the authentic songwriter he has become. Although nonlinear, Tompkins’ journey with grief, depression, and healing comes full circle in the context of the raw composition that is hi, my name is insecure.
As with tapping into his vulnerability, Tompkins’ rise to stardom did not occur overnight. Now 27, his career started at sixteen, when he decided to learn how to play the guitar and began busking after listening to Ed Sheeran’s first album. “The moments I’m most proud of… I try to look at them through the lens of my sixteen-year-old self as much as possible because even when I was twenty and I quit my job after the first label meeting I had… there was so much naïveté in what I did and that came from this overwhelming feeling that I could do this…” Tompkins admitted he was a “naughty” student, and in the eyes of his peers he would not amount to much. “Being on stage with Justin Bieber, releasing my debut album, getting a number seven in the UK charts with a mini-album I released a couple of years ago, these big moments, I just think to myself, wow, we’ve gone really far… These accolades aren’t from all the work in the past few years, it comes from that kid having a dream.” Tompkins added, “I often feel like an imposter… like this life and this community are going to slip away if I make the wrong move… so whenever people prove to me how much they love what I do and believe in it, I’m always just surprised… there’s so much gratitude.” If Tompkins’ teenage self could see him now, he’d know it would all work out in the end. “That’s the most important thing,” Tompkins reiterated, “That’s the kind of kid I want to connect with now… that’s who my music is for.”
Regarding his upcoming UK/EU shows, which will begin in November, Tompkins commented, “Given the fact that I love touring and I am a touring artist, I wanted a lot of the songs to appeal to that… on this project, there’s a lot more drums… big live moments… so that when I tour, it’s not so somber, it’s more lifting.” Regarding experimentation in the album process, he continued, “A lyrical thing that I tried, as much as this album is called ‘hi, my name is insecure,’ I don’t want this album to feel like it’s ‘me, me, me.’ Although I’m speaking from my perspective, I tried to keep it as universal as possible.” In conclusion, Tompkins shared, “If the universe has it, you’re not just holding it in anymore.”
Aside from a highly anticipated tour, what comes next from the rising star? Tompkins shared, “I’d love to work with a lot of artists one day… I have a song with Teddy Swims, it’s not on the album, but I hope in the next year or so you’ll hear it.” Swims joined Tompkins onstage at his previous tour in Amsterdam. Tompkins continued, “I’m really open to collaboration, but because my music is so autobiographical, I find it hard to think ‘Oh, this person should jump on this.’ It really has to be, let’s get in the studio and write this together… I need to be in the room with people.” Once again, Tompkins underscores the importance and impact of pure human connection. After all, that’s what his debut album is all about. A cathartic, truly universal experience, hi, my name is insecure offers a listening opportunity to honor our faults and the experiences that shape us.
Featured Photo Credit: Mitch Peryer