{"id":23193,"date":"2014-09-26T07:00:46","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T21:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=23193"},"modified":"2014-09-25T20:15:02","modified_gmt":"2014-09-25T10:15:02","slug":"jamie-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2014\/09\/jamie-t\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamie T"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cI think I\u2019ve grown up probably quite a lot in the interim period, I think that\u2019s kind of made my music a bit more inward\u2026 the early stuff was more kind of outwardly looking at things and stuff, whereas this record was probably a bit more inward.\u201d<\/p>\n

From release: \u00a0\u201cJamie T\u00a0is releasing his third and much-anticipated new album\u00a0Carry On The Grudge<\/em>\u00a0on 26th September. The album is his first album since 2009\u2019s\u00a0Kings & Queens<\/em>\u00a0and reintroduces one of the most distinctive voices in British music over the past decade. The album announcement follows the incredible reaction to\u00a0Don\u2019t You Find<\/em>, the first piece of music Jamie has released in over four years. Carry On The Grudge<\/em>\u00a0is a big step forward. Musically and lyrically, it\u2019s a boiled down, intense listen, with not a word or note wasted. The likes of\u00a0Zombie<\/em>\u00a0recall the urgency of Jamie\u2019s past records but it\u2019s balanced with the likes of\u00a0They Told Me It Rained<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Mary Lee<\/em>. The old influences of punk, folk and reggae are all still here, but reshaped into something new whilst still defiantly the work of\u00a0Jamie T.\u201d<\/p>\n

We chatted to Jamie T at home, and he filled us in on his new album as well as touring, cover songs and more\u2026 you may not know him, but we sure think he\u2019s one of the Best Things You\u2019ve Never Heard\u2026<\/p>\n

Thanks for your time today, Jamie, now, this is your first album in five years, why was now the right time to release new music?<\/strong>
\nWell I suppose the music was ready, that\u2019s it, it was always just relying on when I thought it was ready to release, so I suppose that\u2019s the answer really.<\/p>\n

So you took some time off to write the new music and it all just came together at the right time essentially?<\/strong>
\nYeah I think so, there were a couple of times when I thought that maybe the album was finished, but after leaving the studio for a few weeks and having a listen I thought I just wasn\u2019t there yet, so I went back in and I didn\u2019t want to release until I was completely happy with the record.<\/p>\n

I know this is corny, but as it is your third album, can you give me three words that you feel sum it up perfectly?<\/strong>
\nThree words that sum it up\u2026 ‘I don\u2019t know’\u2026 there you go, that\u2019s a good one, you have it! *laughs*<\/p>\n

Your album is called \u2018Carry On The Grudge\u2026\u2019 so is there a meaning behind that you can share with us?<\/strong>
\nKind of, it\u2019s a vague meaning really, it came from a conversation I was having with a friend about trying to form your own opinions as a young adult and trying to take away all the stuff you\u2019ve been taught, or lead to believe by other people, and I\u2019d been sitting down setting aside a lot of grudges that other people have given you, you know? That\u2019s kind of where it comes from, it also sounds good, there\u2019s that too.<\/p>\n

So in the time between albums, was there a major inspiration behind the songs that became the final result?<\/strong>
\nThe major inspiration behind it, I can tell you sound wise what the inspiration was, there was a couple of records I really enjoyed listening to in the time, things like Blur \u201813\u2019 and a particular song by a band called Marcy\u2019s Playground called \u2018Sex and Candy\u2019 which I really liked, and I really wanted to make records that sounded like those records and quite kind of thoughtful stuff. So I certainly had an idea of what I wanted to do, but it took me a long time to get there in the end.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most important part of song writing for you?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know, I suppose taking in information, reading books, listening to music, watching movies, I think that\u2019s really important, and I like reading a lot because I like seeing words on pages, it gets my mind kind of snapping and it keeps me from writing the same thing over and over again, so I think just kind of being a sponge from what\u2019s in front of you is the most important thing.<\/p>\n

I love the \u2018Zombie\u2019 video, can you tell us a bit about the song and how much fun it was to make the video?<\/strong>
\nThe song is about kind of being in your mid-twenties and feeling teenage angst and kind of not understanding why. The video kind of obviously came out of the title of the track, but it was the hottest day of the year over here, so filming it was a fucking nightmare\u2026 to be honest, it was a pretty fucking horrible day but I\u2019m glad we all got through it. There\u2019s one thing you don\u2019t realise which is until all your friends around you are dressed up like dead people\u00a0 is that you kind of look at your friends faces for some acknowledgment that you exist, and when your friends all look like they don\u2019t exist, it makes you a bit anxious to be honest\u2026<\/p>\n

I must say, it was a cool clip, in particular your bass player with only one arm\u2026<\/strong>
\nYou know for some reason he\u2019s a talent, I was saying that if for some reason he ever wanted to leave music he could go into acting on some level, because I was pretty amazed by how he did it.<\/p>\n

How do you feel you\u2019ve grown as an artist from when you began until now?<\/strong>
\nI think I\u2019ve grown up probably quite a lot in the interim period, I think that\u2019s kind of made my music a bit more inward\u2026 the early stuff was more kind of outwardly looking at things and stuff, whereas this record was probably a bit more inward. So it\u2019s certainly kind of taken me there, as a song writer I think I\u2019ve become less concerned in what\u2019s going on around me, certainly on this album anyway. So who knows where we go next, but it\u2019s been a strange one as people have obviously watched me grow up through music as it were, and everyone has a fucking opinion on it, but I\u2019m not sure that ever really matters.<\/p>\n

Well as long as your opinion matters that\u2019s the only opinion that matters\u2026<\/strong>
\n*laughs* yeah I think so.<\/p>\n

With the new album out now, has that re-lit a fire under you and are you still writing with a chance of newer material sooner rather than later?<\/strong>
\nCertainly playing live is something I missed doing while writing for this album because playing live and having an audience to bounce things off is really helpful, so to an extent yeah, I have always written daily, and I still do now, but I tend to write for myself before I do anyone else and that can make the songs just sound like other people\u2019s songs, so then I have to stop writing for myself and write professional music for a living. I have been writing but I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s anything I would release, it\u2019s kind of like I\u2019m in training for writing a new album if you know what I mean. So I\u2019ve got time\u2026<\/p>\n

Maybe you can try and write Blur\u2019s \u201814\u2019 or something like that\u2026<\/strong>
\n*laughs* yeah maybe, I don\u2019t know if it would be as good, but I\u2019d give it a go.<\/p>\n

Touring wise, you\u2019re selling out UK shows all over the place, what else can we expect in terms of touring on the back of this album?<\/strong>
\nWell I\u2019m hoping to quite a lot of touring, I mean I have to be a little more careful how I tour this album as in the past I\u2019ve hurt my voice from touring too excessively, so that\u2019s something I have to keep in mind. I think I can kind of tour more if I tour less if you know what I mean? Shorter periods of touring but hopefully I can span it over a year a year and a half\u2026 I would like to tour a lot but we\u2019ll just have to see how much of it I can do really.<\/p>\n

So when do you think we can expect to see you in Australia?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019d love to, it\u2019s certainly on the cards I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll make it down there at some point very soon, I don\u2019t think anything is in the diary as of yet, but I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be with you before you know it. We\u2019ve been down there a few times in the past and I\u2019ve got family down in Australia, so it\u2019s a place I\u2019ve got a lot of affection for really. So I\u2019d love to come and play again, it\u2019d be exciting for me.<\/p>\n

Is there one song from any artist or any band that you consider perfection?<\/strong>
\nYou know what? As of today, I was listening to Jeff Buckley\u2019s \u2018Hallelujah\u2019 and I know that\u2019s not written by him, but that version is fucking perfection, personally I prefer that version, I think it\u2019s fucking amazing, but as of today I\u2019ll say that song. It\u2019s done so well and as a cover as well, it\u2019s just killer. He totally brought it back and did it in his own right, it\u2019s an amazing song.<\/p>\n

If there was one song that you\u2019d want to cover, what would that be?<\/strong>
\nThere\u2019s lots of songs I\u2019d love to cover, and there\u2019s one I\u2019m looking forward to doing that I think we\u2019re going to do next week on a radio show over here, is a song by a man called Townes Van Zandt so it\u2019s a song called \u2018Waiting Around To Die\u2019 and I\u2019m a little nervous about covering it because I can already hear some kind of a voice in the back of my head going \u2018you heathen, you charlatan, what are you doing to this beautiful song you fucking lowlife\u2026\u2019 but I\u2019m really looking forward to covering that, so that for the moment, hopefully we\u2019ll try and play that live a few times I think.<\/p>\n

So with a new album out does it get harder to structure a set list or do you ensure you throw in a lot of newer material?<\/strong>
\nYeah it\u2019s a bit hard as the new stuff is quite a bit different from the old stuff so there is quite a bit of a struggle putting it together, but I think part of the fun of recording new albums and going out to try and promote them is that your old self can take a bit of a back seat and start with the new stuff and towards the end of the set start bringing back some old songs for the fans and stuff. So I\u2019m not going to worry too much about it, those kind of things tend to sort themselves out after like ten gigs you have the really good set list, and I normally run like seven set lists and we interchange them throughout the tour.<\/p>\n

Lastly, let\u2019s predict the remainder of the year, so finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2014, Jamie T will\u2026<\/strong>
\n*laughs* be in your neighbourhood\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> London, UK<\/p>\n

Sounds like: <\/strong>Singer Songwriter with a whole range of influences<\/p>\n

Latest Release:<\/strong> Carry On The Grudge (EMI Music Australia \u2013 September 26)<\/p>\n

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Websites:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.jamie-t.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n