Spencer Sutherland Will Ceaselessly Stay Off the Excessive of His Followers (Unique)

Spencer Sutherland has at all times had a aptitude for the dramatic.

“I’ve at all times been into all the things theatrical,” Sutherland, 31, tells PEOPLE in a latest interview. “My love of music started once I heard Elvis for the primary time. I’d at all times attempt to costume like him once I went to highschool.’

On the identical time, the Ohio native set his eyes on the likes of legendary performers comparable to David Bowie and Elton John, a trait that definitely stood out within the Columbus suburb he was born and raised in by the buddies who had their eyes firmly on a future that included getting a job, getting married and getting a white picket fence. 

“I simply felt trapped [in Ohio] as a result of I used to be surrounded by all my buddies that had been going away to school and doing one thing,” remembers Sutherland, who competed on the UK model of The X Issue again in 2017. “And there I used to be making Maroon 5 covers in my basement making an attempt to catch traction by some means.” He laughs, including, “So yeah — I’ve at all times been slightly totally different.”

It’s these variations that proceed to set Sutherland aside on a path that finds him at some of the profitable factors of his profession. Actually, issues are going so properly that Sutherland admits he’s having a tough time believing all of it. “I really feel like even artists so much larger than me take care of that too,” admits Sutherland, who went viral in 2024 through his hit tune “Alive.” “I assume that comes together with being an entertainer. It occurs so much. You simply by no means know.”

It’s these temper swings that discover themselves everywhere in the entirety of his upcoming sophomore album The Drama, set for launch on Oct. 4.

“This complete file is about me breaking my very own coronary heart within the music business,” he says. “There’s a tune known as ‘Trendy Heartbreak’ on the brand new album that has so much to do with the music business and quite a lot of the not-so-nice individuals and pretend guarantees. The entire album has quite a lot of that undertone.”

The soulful singer with the ever-present strand of pearls additionally touches on these “not-so nice-people” on his new single “Hater.” “‘Hater’ is about individuals speaking behind your again and also you discovering out,” he says of the slicing tune he wrote alongside Tyler Mead. “Just like the tune says, ‘It is alright if my title’s in your lips as a result of I’m smiling with my hand on my hips like I made it.’ It is all going to be good.”

Actually, there may be a couple of facet of Sutherland, a facet that turns into that rather more evident on his upcoming collaboration with pop queen Rachel Platten on “Rocket,” which will even discover a dwelling on The Drama. 

“It is actually exhausting to seek out individuals like her within the music business,” says Sutherland, who additionally collaborated with international star Meghan Trainor on the fan-favorite single “Rooster Little” final yr. “I fell in love with Rachel as quickly as I met her. She’s one of the best ever. I lined ‘Combat Tune’ at a Mexican restaurant that I used to play at once I was a senior in highschool!” He laughs. ‘”Rocket’ simply got here collectively within the span of every week.”

One other main woman making her presence on Sutherland’s upcoming album is “Melanie.” “I do not know if anyone will ever discover out who or what or how or when Melanie is,” Sutherland says of observe six on The Drama. “That is the candy a part of that tune. I feel it could be a giant secret.”

Granted, there’s an opportunity that this secret might be revealed on one of many nights of Sutherland’s upcoming 2025 tour, which could have him performing abroad earlier than embarking on a much-anticipated North American tour.

“I wish to convey again the sensation of a correct ’70s and ’80s rock present the place they did not have telephones but, and it was all in regards to the vitality radiating from the group to the artist or the band,” Sutherland says. “That is lacking slightly bit now. The dwell exhibits that I have been to… it is closed off. It is cool to look down and look away and be silent and stuff. However I do not actually join with that. I join with a larger-than-life eye contact. I wish to provide the finest evening of your life.”

He attracts in a deep breath, then provides: “To be trustworthy, I am going to by no means have to take a drug if I can really feel what it feels prefer to be on stage on a regular basis.”