Sam Cullen - Cold Mid Winter

Off the back of a huge 10-stop NZ spring tour celebrating his hit single ‘Forever’, emerging rock n’ roller Sam Cullen has today unveiled his rousing new single ‘The Cold Midwinter’. Described as an introspective snapshot of home, ‘The Cold Midwinter’ is an honest, catchy, raucous rock n roll track that hits you like a freight train - physically and emotionally. In time, it’s sure to have the whole pub, club and car singing at the top of their lungs.

“This song is me down to the ground,” says Sam. “It feels like it’s in a rush, which is what I feel like all the bloody time. It’s about my experiences as a teenager in pub culture and noticing the place that I’m from. It’s also about growing up out of your teenage years and realising your own flaws and weaknesses.”

The 23-year-old multi-instrumentalist and songwriter grew up in the deep south, Invercargill, honing his craft performing in Southland pubs. With genuine lyrics drawn from lived experience, and a rock and roll meets pop driving energy, the now Auckland-based artist is a force to be reckoned with. “For me, ‘The Cold Midwinter’ is the kind of song that arrives once in a blue moon. I’d had the opening verse written for months, which I am so proud of, but it was a long time before I found the rest of the song. Mainly because it’s so honest. It took a moment there to open up to myself.”

Made with the support of NZ on Air, the track was recorded mostly in Sam’s bedroom with the exception of the drums, some vocal and synth parts, which were recorded at Parachute Studios with Ben Malone. Ben also mixed the track before sending it to KOG Studio to be mastered by Chris Chetland.

‘The Cold Midwinter’ is the second track from Sam’s next body of work, which follows the release earlier this year of single ‘Forever’, a song that garnered great local support from industry and media, including RNZ, Hauraki, The Edge, ZM and the Student Radio Network.
Also being released today is a very special music video created by celebrated creative Dave Thomson of Imaginary Friends and filmed at Invercargill’s Rugby Park Stadium, where Sam’s Grandfather was the groundskeeper for over a decade and his Dad worked onsite for a number of years until 2022. “Being filmed at home was a huge part of it and it’s such a special location for me” says Sam. “It was important to me that the video looked as epic as the song sounds, so location-wise, Rugby Park and its huge stadium lights were perfect on camera. In some shots, you can see my breath. It was cold, and it was winter. We also had a lot of visual and colour cues we wanted to work with and Dave absolutely nailed the vibe.”