From SoundCloud to Labels: Josh Samuel’s Real Story of Growth, Strategy & Signing Hits

In this episode, DJ & producer Josh Samuel joins Grahame Farmer to break down his 7-year journey in the music industry. From releasing edits and early setbacks to building real momentum with ‘Heartbreaker’ and getting his tracks played by Solardo, CamelPhat, Fisher, and more—this is a raw, honest conversation about the real artist development process.

Josh shares how coaching, consistency, and small wins on social media helped him stay focused. He discusses landing a label deal with Good Company, utilising Instagram to build excitement, and navigating the emotional rollercoaster of a music career, including highs and lows.

This is the kind of behind-the-scenes story artists need to hear: no overnight success, just years of learning, connecting, and growing.

Hey, we’re here with Josh Samuel, who is on my 1-to-1 coaching. Right wing back, literally! I think we’ve been working together for seven years, and then we moved him onto the course, and then we went back to 1-to-1.

Worked with Josh for seven years up to last summer.

So, I thought I’d get you in for a chat about it all exciting! So, who are you, and what do you do?

Josh Samuel: Josh Samuel, as I’ve already been introduced. I’m a DJ and producer from Liverpool but actually now, as of last week, currently residing in Manchester.

I produce, don’t really like tech house music, and have been doing so for the best part of, I’d say, like 8, 9, 10 years now. But yeah, I’ve had some successful releases over the years and signed a nice deal with a record label called Good Company last year. But I’ve got some more commercial crossover music coming in 2025, so yeah, looking forward to that.

Grahame:
Nice! Anton—such a lovely person to work with. I’ve known Anton for years as well, he’s such a great person to work with. He knows so much, he’s like mental, mate.

Josh Samuel:
He’s honest, he’s a legend! And you know what? I actually never knew until I went down to the office in London, during Camden. I never knew he was a Liverpool fan until I went in.

Grahame:
Oh!

Josh Samuel:
It just makes things so much better. I was like, oh, the relief—it feels like home when you went in there! But yeah, he’s got those family ties at Liverpool, so that was nice. But yeah, he’s a legend, and he’s a mastermind at what he does.

Grahame:
Has he been to Anfield with you yet?

Josh Samuel:
No, he hasn’t, but I think it’s on the cards. I think everyone in the office has been sort of put on them, so they’re like, “Can we get some tickets?” And I’m like, “I think it’s on the cards this year.”

Grahame:
I mean, I’ll be on to them if it’s for the last game of the season, if Liverpool ends up winning it!

Josh Samuel:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

The Challenge That Made You Want to Work With Me

Grahame:
What was the challenge you were experiencing that made you wanna work with me way back? Can you remember?

Josh Samuel:
Jesus, that’s a long time ago! Ah, you know what? I think back then, you thought you were a good producer every year on year, and I thought, you know, I wanted to stand out. And to be fair, we almost did.

But you know, I wanted to be seen. I think your course, at the time, you had some contacts, you helped reach some record labels, and basically started building some artist stuff from the bottom. I hadn’t really released anything yet, I’d been basically putting out some edits and stuff like that, had an eye on my own peers, yeah. I’d been getting some good traction from them at the time, in like 2018.

Such a long time ago—yeah, 2018! I think Michael Bibi started playing some of my edits, which was nice. And then, to be honest, we wanted to start making some originals, and I thought, “Right, you know, Grahame is probably the guy who can help me get some contacts,” because I’d seen you’d worked with someone I knew, and someone recommended it.

And I was like, you know what? Let’s give it a go. And you know what? It worked out alright!

Building Momentum & Facing Setbacks

Grahame:
Then getting some real good traction, eh? Like the summer of 2023?

Josh Samuel:
Yeah, back end, like that. That was really the big momentum of ‘Heartbreaker’ and then some big releases.

But then, it just came to a big halt because—I always think—it’s as disheartening as that weekend was, anything is better than that weekend.

Grahame:
Ha ha ha ha! Like, I still tell that story. Last night, I was hosting a webinar, and I thought, “We had this record, and CamelPhat were playing it, and Solardo wanted it, and then the world shut down.”

And we were like—genuinely
I actually say to Grace, “I don’t think that could have been worse timing.”

Josh Samuel:
You know as well, Grahame, times were different back then. Releasing records and stuff was different back then.

I’m not saying that the market is saturated now, but there’s a lot more music coming out, a lot more producers. Lockdown created a lot more producers—they had more time!

Releases aren’t the same as they used to be in like 2019, 2020. If we had those releases of that calibre back then, with what was happening, we both knew what was happening. We felt it.

Navigating the Industry & Lessons Learned

Grahame:
Yeah, and then we basically had to pick you up off the floor.

Josh Samuel:
It was mad, right? That would have completely catapulted me into the next level. I basically put myself as about to follow the footsteps of Sosa from Liverpool, where he had the release on Sola with DFCW.

And then I was like, “Oh shit, that’s about to happen,” and then it just stopped.

Grahame:
In a day!

Josh Samuel:
Yeah, in a day! The music industry just changed so much.

Grahame:
But look—you’re still here, still about. Can’t be that bad!

Josh Samuel:
Yeah, I mean, we built it. And it was like, holy moly—you just gotta pick yourself up and roll on from it.

That’s the one thing I think you lay down, yeah? You have so many falls, but you’ve just gotta pick yourself up and keep going.

Tangible Results & Unexpected Wins

Grahame:
What tangible results did we achieve?

Josh Samuel:
You can talk about successful records, but it’s more about the successful relationships that you’ve made with artists.

Initially, I was producing tech house, but I didn’t really have a distinct lane. And we figured it out.

Now, I know everyone says, “You shouldn’t pigeonhole yourself,” but to some degree, you do need a lane. It helps guide you.

Grahame:
Yeah, and when you’re bigger, you can experiment more.

Josh Samuel:
Absolutely. And we had that, where someone DMed me about a record, and then they found another one I’d released last year. That’s why keeping continuity helps—you get supporters who stick with you.

Final Advice

Grahame:
What would you tell someone considering investing in working with me?

Josh Samuel:
Listen, because personally for me, as an artist, I feel I know what I know.

But you’ve been in the game a lot longer. You understand the levels of artists a lot more. You put the guidance in order at the start, and you kept my confidence up while keeping me realistic.

It really did help me grow as an artist.

Grahame:
Thank you, mate.

Good to see you, thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it. It’s been fun, and I love watching everything that happens for you. Every release, every big play—I’m still just as excited as ever. Can’t wait to see what happens this year!