“I like Edmonton,” volunteers singer-songwriter Sam Bradley, a wandering heart who grew up in London but moved to Vancouver with his Canadian-born mother a few years ago. “I had a girlfriend who lived in Edmonton, so I spent lots of time there once upon a time.”

I figure such a good impression was made during the glory of summer? “I went once in the winter and we broke up,” he admits, with just a hint of a laugh.

Bradley is the kind of musician who’s eager to share, especially through his music. On his latest EP, Zuni, he bellows, aches, drinks, falls down and gets back up. Having flirted with fandemonium thanks to his association with the Twilight film series (he co-wrote a song on the original soundtrack with star Robert Pattinson), Bradley is now based out of his RV, building on the foundation Twilight has afforded him. “Moving through that and with it is my challenge now,” he says of his blast of success. “I wanna reach more people and sometimes the cool skinny hipster people get deterred, but I will knock on their doors.”

SEE: How did you find your voice?

SB: I’d say listening to R. Kelly and singing along to ‘Bump N’ Grind.’ It’s got that beginning bit, like, ‘my mind’s telling me no.’ I used to sing that over and over and over and that’s where, I think, I got a little bit of growl from. I just love soul as well. I love singers and I love lyrics.

SEE: What’s the strangest inspiration for a song you’ve ever
had?

SB: I tend to write songs about my mom’s boyfriends and I call the songs by their name. That’s kind of a little bit odd. I only release them after they’ve (gone). You know, in and out, in and out. Strangest thing maybe … I tried to write a song about football once. It wasn’t very good though, but that’s not strange; that’s very normal. I don’t know. Nothing really strange. I’m just as normal as you get.

SEE: In the single “Sea Blue” you sing “to live for love is clearly nonsense” which is in direct opposition to most poets and musicians, who mostly repeat ‘all you need is love.’ So what does this line reflect of you?

SB: The line is tainted. It’s all in the heat of the moment. There’s a hint of sarcasm there as well. It’s like, to live for love is clearly nonsense, because it’s so easy to say and I’ve been told it — you told me you loved me. You’re supposed to only need love, that we can get through, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. It doesn’t seem to be the case more so now than ever.

SEE: What do you focus on when you’re writing a song?

SB: I focus on simplicity. I focus on simplicity and truth mostly. I try not to pretend. A lot of people pretend and it’s upsetting sometimes, cause they get believed and then they become that person and it’s all fake and it’s all fuck you, fuck, fuck, fuck. Sorry, I don’t know what I just said.