Sam Lassner (born November 25, 1992), better known by his stage name Prince Fox or his alias SMWN is an American musician, DJ, songwriter and producer from Manhattan, New York. He gained notability after remixing songs for 3lau, Cazzette and SNBRN. He later caught the attention of Casablanca Records, a label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. He was then signed to Casablanca in 2015.[1]
Early life
Lassner began his career by playing guitar, inspired by John Mayer.[2] He started producing electronic music when he first visited Electric Zoo, an electronic music festival.[3] He began using the stage name "Prince Fox" from the book "The Little Prince" based on two characters -– a prince and a fox.[4] However, prior to becoming known by his stage name, his close friends referred to him as Franklin, in reference to his resemblance to the cartoon turtle. He attends his classes at New York University's Steinhardt Music Technology program.[5]
Musical style
His music was described as "future pop".[4][6] His biggest inspirations are John Mayer, Skrillex, and Chris Martin describing them as a "three-way tie".[citation needed]
Career
His Musings EP was released in October 2015.[1] “I Don’t Wanna Love You” was released as a single through Casablanca Records.[6][7][8][9][10]
He released "Fragile", a collaboration with Hailee Steinfeld as a single.[11] He lost his grandfather before the song was created. Lassner spoke of the collaboration, describing it as 'superstitious' fate. His late-grandfather and Steinfeld share the same birthday date (December 11). "Fragile" was first presented to Lassner by his songwriter-friend Lil Aaron. He then re-arranged it and produced with a style he calls "future pop". When he sent the song to Steinfeld before reworking the lyrics to fit her voice.[12]
He later collaborated with Michelle Buzz to release "Oxygen", a single inspired by the death of his god-grandmother Shirley who died due to lung cancer. Lassner described the song as 'one of the most personal, near and dear songs he's worked on'.[13]