Liam H x Same Old Sean: Collab Story

A little over ten years ago, in November 2014, Same Old Sean released his debut EP ‘Reckless’, marking a turning point in his life: from a criminal past to music. Over the years, numerous rumors have surrounded Sean and his friendship with Liam Howlett. To mark the release anniversary, we’ve gathered all the available facts to tell the story of the artist’s creative journey and its close connection with The Prodigy.

Same Old Sean’s story is nothing short of cinematic. Having had a passion for music since he was a kid, Sean spent a good chunk of his teens dashing between garage raves and graveyard MC shifts on pirate radio stations. Since his youth, Sean had also been part of the celebrity circle, forming close friendships within British high society.

Sean for Vice: “My brother used to play acid house, and I’d just always sing along and copy the MCs on there, basically. Then, when I was like 15, it got to a stage where I started writing bullshit rhymes myself. I’d go out raving — you could get into nightclubs when you were 15 back then; it was mad — then go to a pirate station on some estate in north or south London and do the 4 AM slot when everyone was coming in off their nut”

In 2011, headlines reported a shocking series of armed robberies across England and Belgium involving a gang of 51 people. Sean Nammock, hailing from Notting Hill, was among those convicted for his involvement. The gang orchestrated 33 heists over 16 months, targeting jewellery stores and stealing over £3.5 million worth of valuables. Sean received a six-year sentence but served only half of that time.

Sean for Vice: “I was at home and heard some geezer shout: ‘They’re coming!’ at the top of his voice. I knew, instantly, that it was for me – and when 50 old bill are coming through your door, you know you’re in the shit. This was three years after the incident. You don’t think, years down the line, that they’re coming for you. That’s what I was most pissed about; I’d changed my life by then – I’d started making music, learning about production”

He never speaks explicitly about his involvement (“in my world, people don’t ever chat about the finer details” Sean told in the same Vice interview), but it was enough for the police to catch him three years after the robbery, and the prosecutor demanded a sentence for “conspiracy to rob”. His accomplices, dressed in overalls and balaclavas, used sledgehammers, guns, and knives to break into jewelry stores, sweeping up everything that sparkled and wasn’t bolted down.

Despite this dark chapter, Sean’s friendship with Liam Howlett played a pivotal role in his transformation. During the time between the robberies and sentencing, Sean had been producing music on studio equipment gifted to him by The Prodigy’s headmaster.

Sean for Vice: “Once I came to jail, I asked Liam to send me as many fucking manuals and technical books about production as he could. Because I wanted to learn about the science of sound. That’s what I think can make a great producer; someone who can really analyse the sonic scape of a track, rather than someone who’s just banging out beats”

While serving his sentence at HMP Brixton, Sean continued recording his first tracks, which are still available on his SoundCloud. Nammock regained his freedom on February 3, 2014, and Liam supported his friend by meeting him as he walked free.

Just a few days later, Sean dropped his debut mixtape Her Majesty’s Property, making it available online for free. All the tracks on the release were written behind bars, and the shortened title of the EP (‘HMP’) is a reference to the prison where Sean served his sentence. On this mixtape, he once again paid tribute to Liam — his track ‘Here To Confess’ also contains nods to ‘Warrior’s Dance’ and ‘Firestarter’.

To promote the mixtape, Sean gave an epic interview to Vice, which we’ve already quoted above—a sort of snapshot in time, vividly showcasing the artist right after his release: bold, talented, and brimming with plans for the future.

The logo for the EP, in turn, references the famous London building Trellick Tower — a 31-story concrete high-rise that would later become an entourage and filming location for a future music video. It was also hand-sketched while Sean was locked up: ‘Designed and hand-sketched my own logo in prison during 23 hours a day lock-up… It doesn’t get any more real than that… Same Old Sean 2015… I’m coming…’

Later that year, in November 2014, he delivered his debut EP Reckless, featuring four tracks that showcased his raw energy and flow.

Notably, the track Laydown was originally crafted by Liam Howlett. The first version of this tune, featuring vocals from Martina Topley-Bird with the line “The day is my enemy, the night is my friend”, debuted live during The Prodigy’s Brixton show on December 18, 2012, listed simply as The Day in the setlist (more on this one in our previous article!).

Eventually, Liam passed the instrumental to Sean, allowing him to put his own spin on it. Notably, the video for this track features hidden camera footage capturing the robberies committed by the gang Sean was part of.

For many years there have been rumours that the track Rotting Hill from the same EP was also produced by Liam (it is even pointed out on Discogs). However, it was later confirmed that Olly Burden from band ‘Hounds’ — who can be considered an unofficial member of The Prodigy, much like Neil McLellan was during the earlier years — was behind its production. Ollie was a major contributor to the band’s last two albums and was even the band’s live guitarist for a while in the late 2010s. One way or another, it’s fair to say that the track ‘Rotting Hill’ is closely connected to The Prodigy, even though Liam wasn’t directly involved.

It’s also interesting that Sean also collaborated with Rob Jevons – producer of ‘Hounds’, and it was once again Liam Howlett who introduced them. Rob, a talented sound designer, started selling his own sound libraries back in 2007. One day, among his customers, was Liam, which led to an exchange of messages that soon turned into a collaboration. Liam asked Rob to work on some sounds for ‘The Day Is My Enemy’, which was in the works at the time. Though nothing came of it in the end, three years later, Liam ended up using one of Rob’s old samples on ‘No Tourists’ and credited him in the album credits. Rob himself shared this story and more in an interview for the well-known YouTube channel Produce Like A Pro.

Rob Jevons for Produce Like A Pro: “Back to Liam Howlett, then. He had a mate who was a rapper, and Liam asked me to beef up his tunes a bit and make them sound good, whatever, because they were just demos at the time. We were working together for like two or three years, this rapper. Same Old Sean is his name. He’s mates with Zach Starkey, who runs a Trojan Jamaica (he didn’t run it at the time, then). Sean showed him these remakes of these songs that I did. Sean said to me one day, he said, “You’re going to get a call from Zach Starkey.” And I thought, “Wow, that’s pretty cool” And then for a month I never heard anything, and then all of a sudden I got this text saying, “All right, Rob, it’s Zach. D you want to mix this song for me, or make it sound good or whatever?”

Following the release of ‘Reckless’, Same Old Sean performed at Cafe KaiZen (London, England) on 13 November 2014, while showcasing his new tunes. The event attracted several celebrity friends, including Kate Moss, Jaime Winstone and other prominent British stars.

This show was unique in that it was intended to be followed by a full documentary, where Sean would share his creative journey. He posted snippets of the film on Instagram, but it was never released: either the project was left unfinished or shelved indefinitely.

Almost a year later, on October 31, 2015, Sean performed another gig, once again attended by familiar celebrities. During this event, he premiered the track Paranoid, which was intended to be part of his future album. Although the track underwent several revisions, the album itself was never released.

A few years afterward, in 2017, Sean released a music video for ‘Paranoid’ without officially dropping the track as a single. Interestingly, this tune was also produced by Liam Howlett and based on the 1979 track Babylon’s Burning by British punk band The Ruts. Given the year and style of the demo, it’s more likely that this demo was written back in the ‘Jetfighter/pre-TDIME’ days, but ended up being leftover and went to Sean out of old friendship.

The All Souvenirs team completely recreated the instrumental for ‘Paranoid’ from scratch! Our re-chamber is available exclusively for our subscribers on Boosty and Patreon!

Despite the buzz generated by the video, Same Old Sean never released a full album. Along with ‘Paranoid’, other tracks from that period also remained unreleased. A couple of unheard snippets can be found on Sean’s SoundCloud, but the largest collection of unreleased demos can be found on his Instagram.

Eventually, Sean shifted his focus, becoming the producer for the Brazilian rap group Covil Do Flow after moving to Rocinha in 2017. This collaboration with SSHH and Zak Starkey’s Trojan Brasil label seemed promising but ultimately led to silence after the group’s last release in 2023.

By the way, aside from supporting Sean in his musical endeavors, Liam Howlett also helped him with charity projects. Towards in 2018, Liam put together a package of official The Prodigy merchandise for Brazilian children, including caps, T-shirts, and other items. Later, Sean shared photos of these gifts via his Instagram and expressed his respect and gratitude to Liam for his support.

Today, Sean’s current pursuits remain unknown. His Instagram account is private, and rumours suggest he’s now focused on a healthy lifestyle, occasionally sharing politically charged posts. Wherever his path takes him, we hope to hear more of Sean’s solo work and enjoy his new collaborations with Liam Howlett!

Headmasters: SPLIT
Additional thanks to: Sixshot, Igor-X, Faust

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