Interview: Jim Jam

Jim Jam is the exciting new project of singer-songwriter James Newman. Starting his succession of music releases in July, Jim Jam is going from strength to strength and he recently caught up with us to fill us in on all of the details of his new music:

Introduce yourself and your music to our audience.

I am a solo artist currently based in South-East London. Although this is a solo project my whole ethos is to make music with my friends who have all contributed into the Jim Jam sound. The songs I have written have been developed over many years of consistent and thorough experimenting within the traditional singer-songwriter mould. My writing and musical journey has taken me from working on the rural farm in Wiltshire of my childhood to performing in local drinking holes around Kingston and Surbiton. My songs now have taken on a life encompassing more modern inspirations such as Beck, and perhaps in this song Tame Impala. Everything is based around soft vocal lines sitting alongside acoustically written songs that are starting to incorporate electronic sounds that are perhaps reminiscent of artists such as Jose Gonzalez. Essentially they are Low-fi pop tracks with a psych experimental quality.

What's the best show you've ever played?

It’s hard to pick one. But, I’ll always remember when I was about 13 I played guitar at school and nearly shattered the windows my amp was so loud. I was too nervous to turn the amp down so just carried on until I’d finished. Everyone had their fingers in their ears by the end. My early signs of the rock spirit.

Now for a non-music related question. What's your go to meal deal?

I’m always pretty keen on a BLT, crisps and an ice cold water.

You recently released your latest single 'Work', tell us some more about this release.

‘Work’ is the second instalment of a succession of new music I’m releasing this year. On this track I teamed up with my good friend, producer and session musician, Ben Scott. We were actually working on another song (to be release soon) and had a few hours left to kill in the studio and ended up coming up with this song. It is constructed around a beautiful classical piano melody I’d written and we just went from there. I don’t think I’ve created a song from writing to finished piece so quickly, and I’m really pleased with the quality we achieved in such a short space of time.

What would be your dream show?

To be on stage at the Band’s Last Waltz with all those greats would be pretty mind bending. So I’d say that. And I’d have them all playing and singing along to my latest single. That might help with a few sales.

We’re all about supporting new music here at Unison M&E so could you give us a couple of recommendations for some new artists doing great stuff?

My good friend has just released an EP this year under the name ‘Wickerston’. It’s such good songwriting with beautifully produced songs. You really have to give that a listen.

I also really like Orlando Weeks’ new record ‘A Quickening’. I saw him singing on stage earlier this year before the lock down madness and he was really spell binding. His voice really puts me in a trance so I’d give that a big up as well.

Is there anything new in the pipeline for yourself?

I have also been working on the project ‘You, Me & Him’ with my good friend and double bass player extraordinaire Max Goff and we have a completed album ready for release which I’m really excited about. So keep your ears ready for when that appears.

Another lighthearted one to end on, could you give us your favourite band from each decade, all the way from the 60's to the 00's.

60’s – The Beatles

70’s – Neil Young

80’s – Talk Talk

90’s – Oasis

00’s – Elbow

10’s – The Sheepdogs

20’s – Laura Marling (favourite album of 2020 so far anyway)

You can listen to Jim Jam's latest release 'Work' here. A euphoric track making use of groovy yet relaxing instrumentation. With the almost spoken word style vocal this track is truly intriguing offering a great listening experience. We really can't wait to see the musical journey of this project and the tracks yet to be released.