Sam James Matlock (born 16 March 1993) is an English guitarist and singer. He formed the rock band Dead! in 2012 and entered the

UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart The UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart and UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart are record charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to determine the 40 most popular singles and albums in the rock and heavy metal genres. The ...

with that band's '' The Golden Age of Not Even Trying'' in 2018; after they split up, he recruited musician Milkie Way for his own band named Wargasm, which launched in August 2019 and entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

in 2023 with ''

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

''. He has also co-written the

Bambie Thug Bambie Ray Robinson (born 6 March 1993), known by their stage name Bambie Thug, is an Irish singer-songwriter. They are known to mix numerous genres in their music, coining their own term, "ouija-pop", out of disdain for being put into one gen ...

song "

Doomsday Blue "Doomsday Blue" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Bambie Ray Robinson, known by their stage name, Bambie Thug. Self-described as "an Electronic metal (disambiguation), electro-metal breakdown", it was written by Robinson, Cassyette, Olivia C ...

" and played live with

Jamie Lenman Jamie Edward Lenman (born 9 November 1982) is an English musician and illustrator. He was the lead singer, guitarist and main songwriter for British alternative rock trio Reuben from 2001 to 2008. He also works as an illustrator, which he made ...

. In November 2021, he attracted press attention after being assaulted at Scala by security guards, who were subsequently fired.

Life and career

Sam James Matlock was born on 16 March 1993 and is the son of a music publicist and

Glen Matlock Glen Matlock (born 27 August 1956) is an English musician, best known for being the bass guitarist in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is credited as a songwriter on 10 of the 12 songs on the Sex Pistols' only offic ...

, the bassist for the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

, who in May 2022 were described by Matt Mills of ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

'' as "one of rock's most infamous bands". He and his brother Louis both attended

Ryde School Ryde School with Upper Chine (referred to as “Ryde School”) is a co-educational private school, private boarding school, boarding and day school in Ryde, on the Isle of Wight. The school, founded in 1921, is a member of the Headmasters' an ...

and

Southampton Solent University Southampton Solent University (formerly and commonly known as Solent University) is a public university based in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has approximately 10,500 students (2019/20). Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near ...

. He was introduced to

guitar music The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with some exceptions) and typically has six or twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the d ...

via

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

and formed Dead! with Louis, Sam Chappell, and Alex Mountford while at university; the band signed to

Infectious Records infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable disea ...

in May 2016 and had moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

by the following year. They released the 2018 album '' The Golden Age of Not Even Trying'', which charted at No. 11 on the

, before announcing that they would split up following a gig in October 2018. Straight after Dead!'s dissolution, Matlock direct messaged the band's photographer Milkie Way. At the time, he was working behind a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

and was looking to form a project with a

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement ...

attitude and female vocals; this became Wargasm, who launched in August 2019. They began producing

pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

but soon pivoted to nu metal. During the

COVID-19 lockdown During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions), were implemented in numero ...

, both moved in with Way's parents. The pair released the mixtape ''Explicit: The Mixxxtape'' (2022) and the album ''

'' (2023), which respectively charted at number 19 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart and number 88 on the

. One track from ''Venom'', "Bang Ya Head", was written about Matlock's experiences working behind a bar. Sam Matlock in 2022

In May 2021, Matlock joined

for his ''Separation Event'' livestream, a live playing of his

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

''King of Clubs'' mini-album, deputising for PENGSHUi's Illaman on "Summer of Discontent". In July 2024, he featured on Crashface's "Maniac", a track about the extracurricular requirements of musicians, which later appeared on their third EP ''Life and Death in the Wasteland''. Between October 2023 and August 2024, Matlock co-wrote Harpy's "Inside Out",

's "

", and Bex's "Taste Better".

Personal life

Two days after performing at Scala at their Face Down club night on 5 November 2021, Matlock uploaded to social media a picture of large red marks he had sustained to his back and arms. In his post, he alleged that three security guards had verbally abused Wargasm's female tour manager and had responded to him challenging them by dragging him into a toilet, bashing his head against a toilet seat, and holding his head in a toilet bowl. He also stated that he only escaped after another member of his touring party intervened, that they had been attempting to contact the venue over the weekend regarding the matter, and that said bouncers' continued employment meant that they did not consider the club a safe venue, especially for women. The Security Industry Authority confirmed that they had received a complaint. After investigating, Scala fired two of the bouncers involved, with Wargasm later posting to social media that the third had also been fired. A week and a half after the incident, the venue set out a number of planned security measures for its subsequent performances.

Discography

Featured singles

* "

Smells Like Teen Spirit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, '' Nevermind'' (1991), released on DGC Records. Having sold over 13 million units worldwide, it i ...

" (2022, with Hyper & Jack Trammell) * "Maniac" (2024, with Crashface)

Other songs

* "Summer of Discontent" (2021, as part of

's ''Separation Event - Live'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matlock, Sam Living people 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century English male singers English electronic musicians English male guitarists English punk rock guitarists English punk rock singers Nu metal singers Post-hardcore musicians 1993 births