Season 1 · Episode 8
The independent artist behind Feels Like Summer - one of the most-used songs on Instagram Reels in the US in summer 2021. Sync placements in The Rookie, Grey's Anatomy, Nashville, Shameless and Walker. Debut album The Gold & The Glory. Second album One Last Dance In The Valley arriving September 2026. Started with Paul Simon's Graceland in Pretoria aged ten. Still doesn't entirely know what Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes means.
Samuel Jack is a London-born, Somerset-based singer-songwriter who blends soul, blues and modern pop, shaped by a childhood split between the UK and Johannesburg. He fell in love with music aged ten or eleven in Pretoria through Paul Simon's Graceland, specifically a song called Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes that he became obsessed with because he wanted to know what it meant. He still does not quite know.
He has played Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party and Larmer Tree Festival, shared stages with Passenger, Jack Savoretti and Jake Isaac, and had his music placed in major US television series including The Rookie, Grey's Anatomy, Nashville, Shameless, Queen Sugar, Walker and Pearson. His track We Are The Future featured in the 2020 Levi's Your Voice Your Way global campaign.
In summer 2021, Feels Like Summer became a viral phenomenon on Instagram Reels, the most-used song on the platform in the US in the weeks following its breakout - despite having been released in 2019. His debut album The Gold & The Glory arrived in 2023. His second album One Last Dance In The Valley is due September 25 2026.
Duration: 45 minutes 6 Seconds
Season: 1 · Episode 8
Also available: Audio only on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Acast
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes and the beginning
Samuel Jack's first music memory is precise: Paul Simon's Graceland, a ten or eleven-year-old in Pretoria, and a song called Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes that he became obsessed with because he wanted to understand what it meant. He still does not entirely know. That kind of deep engagement with music, wanting to understand it rather than just consume it, is a thread that runs through everything he has made since. Mark's mention of Die Antwoord opens a conversation about what emerges from South Africa's musical landscape: something tribal, strange, culturally rich and completely unafraid of what anyone in the industry thinks. Growing up between the UK and Johannesburg gave Samuel a frame of reference for music that reaches well beyond the default assumptions of the British industry.
Sync success in The Rookie, Grey's Anatomy and beyond
Before Feels Like Summer went viral, Samuel Jack had already built a quiet but significant sync career, placing music in major US television series including The Rookie, Grey's Anatomy, Nashville, Shameless, Queen Sugar, Walker and Pearson. His track We Are The Future also featured in the 2020 Levi's Your Voice Your Way global campaign. The conversation about sync in this episode is one of the most practical and specific in this podcast series. Mark frames it as the pot of gold that artists constantly chase and rarely understand: what it requires, who the gatekeepers are and how music actually lands in a scene in Grey's Anatomy or The Rookie. Samuel's experience makes him an unusually credible guide, he has done it, repeatedly, as an independent artist with no major label behind him.
Writing Feels Like Summer in under half an hour
The Feels Like Summer story is both very simple and very instructive. Samuel wrote the song in under half an hour - started with a simple chord progression on the piano, wrote lyrics about reminiscing about summers gone by, whistled the trumpet melody before switching to the real thing. He recorded a voice note and sent it to Owen and the team. Owen, who is normally very measured, came back excited. They made a few tweaks, released it almost on a whim in 2019, and two or three years later it exploded - becoming the most-used song on Instagram Reels in the United States in the summer of 2021. "You never imagine that's going to become the record that changes your life," he says. Sometimes the simple songs really are the best ones.
What went viral was not me
The most candid and instructive part of this conversation is Samuel's account of what Feels Like Summer's virality actually meant, and did not mean, for his career. What went viral was not Samuel Jack. It was the hook. Specifically the trumpet line. The song became one of those ubiquitous records that people know immediately but cannot name. Tens of millions of streams. But neither he nor the major label he was working with could successfully convert those streams into followers at the same rate. He draws the contrast with Cian Ducrot, whose viral moment centred on his voice and face, people connected with him as a person. With Feels Like Summer, they connected with a feeling and a sound. That distinction, between a song going viral and an artist going viral, is one of the most useful frameworks in this episode for any independent artist thinking about their release strategy. His debut album The Gold & The Glory arrived in 2023, and his second album One Last Dance In The Valley is due September 25 2026.
"What went viral wasn't me. It was the hook. Specifically, the trumpet line. I had tens of millions of streams and couldn't convert them into followers at the same rate."
Samuel Jack - independent artist, Feels Like Summer
"I wrote it in under half an hour. Released it almost on a whim. Two years later it changed my life. Sometimes the simple songs really are the best ones."
Samuel Jack - on writing Feels Like Summer
"I became obsessed with Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes because I wanted to know what it meant. I still don't quite know. But that obsession is where everything started."
Samuel Jack - on Paul Simon's Graceland and the beginning
The Blinding Talent Music Industry Podcast is hosted by Mark Adams - founder of Blinding Talent and former Director of Music Programming at Channel 4, where he launched the Official YouTube Chart (2015) and Spotify's first ever Streaming Chart (2016). Each episode is an in-depth conversation with a senior music industry figure - equal parts campfire stories and practical insight.
If this episode resonated, Blinding Talent works with independent artists across the UK and internationally - helping them build the kind of long-term strategy that converts viral moments into lasting careers.
From artist management with Mark Adams to Spotify growth campaigns and digital marketing, everything we do is built around getting artists closer to the music industry.
Samuel Jack is a London-born, Somerset-based independent singer-songwriter best known for Feels Like Summer, which became a viral phenomenon on Instagram Reels in summer 2021, the most-used song on the platform in the US in the weeks following its breakout. He has had music placed in major US television series including The Rookie, Grey's Anatomy, Nashville, Shameless, Queen Sugar, Walker and Pearson, and his track We Are The Future featured in the 2020 Levi's global campaign. He grew up between the UK and Johannesburg and was inspired by Paul Simon's Graceland. His debut album The Gold & The Glory arrived in 2023 and his second album One Last Dance In The Valley is due September 25 2026.
Samuel Jack's music has been placed in several major US television series including The Rookie, Grey's Anatomy, Nashville, Shameless, Queen Sugar, Walker and Pearson. These sync placements represent a significant part of his career as an independent artist - reaching audiences of millions through television before Feels Like Summer made him known to a global audience via Instagram Reels.
Feels Like Summer was released in 2019 but went viral in summer 2021, becoming the most-used song on Instagram Reels in the United States in the weeks following its breakout. Samuel Jack speaks candidly about what that virality did and did not do for his career: what went viral was the hook, specifically the trumpet line, rather than Samuel Jack as an artist. The song accumulated tens of millions of streams, but converting those streams into long-term followers proved harder than converting a hook into a viral moment. It is one of the most instructive case studies in the difference between a song going viral and an artist going viral.
The Blinding Talent Music Industry Podcast is hosted by Mark Adams - founder of Blinding Talent and former Director of Music Programming at Channel 4. Guests include Samuel Jack, Colin Barlow, Sol Parker, Judd Lander and many others from across the music industry.
