Lost James Interview
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: I always wanted to play the piano. Instead I ended up playing the flute but at 16 I decided enough was enough and I taught myself the piano. Being able to read music obviously helped, I never wanted to be a classical musician but sometimes wish I had had piano lessons. At the time I was writing lots of poems which were basically lyrics. I was obsessed with Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure when I was a teenager so it was all quite dramatic and theatrical. At art college I started playing Nick Cave, Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell and REM covers at open mic nights. Then later when I moved to Bristol I started playing my own songs at open mic nights and gigs. There was a venue in Bristol called the Folk House and I loved playing there - they had two grand pianos which is a rare treat and I didn’t have to plug-in my crappy but faithful Casio keyboard.
Q: Your release Chapman's Pool is inspired by a small cove on Southwest Coast in Dorset, UK according to your Bandcamp page. Can you delve more into that and what some of the other themes are running through your music?
A: Chapman’s Pool is the setting and a place I visit a lot especially in recent years like an annual pilgrimage. Each time I’ve been there its been a very different experience and I started to think how we project out feelings onto the landscape and how much we link nature to our emotions.
The opening song “Sunday” is about a childhood trauma and how I took comfort in nature in being alone and the effect it had years later. “Toast” is the adult version of “Sunday” and it twists and turns, delving deeper into the effects of trauma but it’s also about the everyday common place things. The songs really are moments in time over the years. “Wintersong” is really about my difficult relationship with my parents and coming out. When we recorded the songs I was going through a breakup and I realized the songs all had a thread running through them and how much I reference nature, something I hadn’t noticed until the songs were all together. The song “Volcano” is about frustration, a breakdown in communication and isolation where as the title track is about release, the inevitable and giving in to it, knowing that there is no going back.
The name Lost James really comes from this period of my life and feeling like I had lost my way in so many ways but in being lost there is also always hope and the ability to accept and forgive.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: These days it’s a bit sporadic. There are periods of creativity where songs and ideas come very easily - having a full time job sometimes doesn’t allow for creativity at the end of the day.
The songs are usually born at the piano just playing and then something clicks. “Toast” for example came very easily - the outro came a few years later because I felt like something was always missing.
I grew up buying cassettes and cds and I loved pouring over the artwork and really appreciated a well put together release. The series of polaroids I took at Chapman's Pool have a circular frame and were not photoshopped. They helped me shape the overall feel of the record and were used for the artwork on the cassette. So in that respect imagery also plays an important part of the process and really helps shape the record and in some ways helped me work out what I wanted each song to sound like.
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: I always wanted to play the piano. Instead I ended up playing the flute but at 16 I decided enough was enough and I taught myself the piano. Being able to read music obviously helped, I never wanted to be a classical musician but sometimes wish I had had piano lessons. At the time I was writing lots of poems which were basically lyrics. I was obsessed with Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure when I was a teenager so it was all quite dramatic and theatrical. At art college I started playing Nick Cave, Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell and REM covers at open mic nights. Then later when I moved to Bristol I started playing my own songs at open mic nights and gigs. There was a venue in Bristol called the Folk House and I loved playing there - they had two grand pianos which is a rare treat and I didn’t have to plug-in my crappy but faithful Casio keyboard.
Q: Your release Chapman's Pool is inspired by a small cove on Southwest Coast in Dorset, UK according to your Bandcamp page. Can you delve more into that and what some of the other themes are running through your music?
A: Chapman’s Pool is the setting and a place I visit a lot especially in recent years like an annual pilgrimage. Each time I’ve been there its been a very different experience and I started to think how we project out feelings onto the landscape and how much we link nature to our emotions.
The opening song “Sunday” is about a childhood trauma and how I took comfort in nature in being alone and the effect it had years later. “Toast” is the adult version of “Sunday” and it twists and turns, delving deeper into the effects of trauma but it’s also about the everyday common place things. The songs really are moments in time over the years. “Wintersong” is really about my difficult relationship with my parents and coming out. When we recorded the songs I was going through a breakup and I realized the songs all had a thread running through them and how much I reference nature, something I hadn’t noticed until the songs were all together. The song “Volcano” is about frustration, a breakdown in communication and isolation where as the title track is about release, the inevitable and giving in to it, knowing that there is no going back.
The name Lost James really comes from this period of my life and feeling like I had lost my way in so many ways but in being lost there is also always hope and the ability to accept and forgive.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: These days it’s a bit sporadic. There are periods of creativity where songs and ideas come very easily - having a full time job sometimes doesn’t allow for creativity at the end of the day.
The songs are usually born at the piano just playing and then something clicks. “Toast” for example came very easily - the outro came a few years later because I felt like something was always missing.
I grew up buying cassettes and cds and I loved pouring over the artwork and really appreciated a well put together release. The series of polaroids I took at Chapman's Pool have a circular frame and were not photoshopped. They helped me shape the overall feel of the record and were used for the artwork on the cassette. So in that respect imagery also plays an important part of the process and really helps shape the record and in some ways helped me work out what I wanted each song to sound like.
Q: The EP revolves around piano and vocal which are the anchors to your music. There are however other sparse elements. Can you talk the concept of simplicity as it’s related to your music?
A: This record was only ever intended to be piano and vocal. The fact that other elements made it on are a wonderful bonus to the whole process and only help to emphasize the tone of the record. I wanted it to sound as raw and pure as possible, almost as an antidote to a lot of music we hear on the radio and where as that has its place this record was not about that. I didn’t want to hide behind anything and I wanted all the imperfections to be heard.
The pedal noises of the piano especially on “In Bed,” the sound of the hammers hitting the strings through a sheet of felt and the shimmering of brushed cymbals are all I wanted the listener to hear to create a sense of space. “Like being in a dusty room filled with light” was how I said I wanted it to sound and I feel like we achieved that here, to me it’s a very special moment.
At the end of “Volcano” there’s a loop saying “waiting” and you can just about hear my friend Richard who is responsible for recording and production saying “are you ready?” I’m not sure how he made this loop but it wasn’t with the simple click of a button, and as the loop played it deteriorated and I was obsessed with how accidental and simple it was and how it added that final touch to the song I needed.
Q: What is your approach to writing lyrics?
A: Sometimes it’s so easy and they come like on “In Bed” (which is inspired by Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No.1) I knew I wanted something pastoral, it was all about nature and sex. I woke up one morning and I was lying in my bed and literally I saw a woodlouse, a spider and moth in my room and the lyrics came very quickly. Later I found the house I had moved into had a moth infestation... that’s not what this song is about but sometimes it’s something so simple that can spark a whole scenario and take you from your bedroom to a field. Sometimes it’s a book or a film, a moment, a line that resounds with me perfectly. Songs are never (at least for me) about one thing, so something so simple and common place can be the launch pad for a wide range of emotions.
“Volcano” is only a couple of lines because I just couldn’t find the words. I tried for so long but it just wouldn’t fit. Nothing would fit with it! Then I realized what it was about - I saw it as a satellite endlessly orbiting a distant planet and it needed no other words because it was a loop and this song is a message, a signal or a warning, and I accepted that the song was complete.
Q: Besides other musical artists what else in the world has inspired you to make music?
A: I wanted to tell stories. I held on to some darkness for a long time and this was the only way I could work through that. I think most people see the world differently when they create music. I’ve always found my songs as a kind of therapy or teacher. When I can’t find the words to say to someone I can sing them, I can give those feelings a voice I can give them context. Sometimes I will write a song and then it’s almost as if I can let it happen, I can move on. Also my love of the piano continually inspires me it’s such a magnificent instrument and can be so delicate then so powerful in a heartbeat. It can really take you places.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: There were six songs that didn’t make it on to the record. It wasn’t their time but they are coming and they are epics. I cannot wait to record them and release them into the world!
A: This record was only ever intended to be piano and vocal. The fact that other elements made it on are a wonderful bonus to the whole process and only help to emphasize the tone of the record. I wanted it to sound as raw and pure as possible, almost as an antidote to a lot of music we hear on the radio and where as that has its place this record was not about that. I didn’t want to hide behind anything and I wanted all the imperfections to be heard.
The pedal noises of the piano especially on “In Bed,” the sound of the hammers hitting the strings through a sheet of felt and the shimmering of brushed cymbals are all I wanted the listener to hear to create a sense of space. “Like being in a dusty room filled with light” was how I said I wanted it to sound and I feel like we achieved that here, to me it’s a very special moment.
At the end of “Volcano” there’s a loop saying “waiting” and you can just about hear my friend Richard who is responsible for recording and production saying “are you ready?” I’m not sure how he made this loop but it wasn’t with the simple click of a button, and as the loop played it deteriorated and I was obsessed with how accidental and simple it was and how it added that final touch to the song I needed.
Q: What is your approach to writing lyrics?
A: Sometimes it’s so easy and they come like on “In Bed” (which is inspired by Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No.1) I knew I wanted something pastoral, it was all about nature and sex. I woke up one morning and I was lying in my bed and literally I saw a woodlouse, a spider and moth in my room and the lyrics came very quickly. Later I found the house I had moved into had a moth infestation... that’s not what this song is about but sometimes it’s something so simple that can spark a whole scenario and take you from your bedroom to a field. Sometimes it’s a book or a film, a moment, a line that resounds with me perfectly. Songs are never (at least for me) about one thing, so something so simple and common place can be the launch pad for a wide range of emotions.
“Volcano” is only a couple of lines because I just couldn’t find the words. I tried for so long but it just wouldn’t fit. Nothing would fit with it! Then I realized what it was about - I saw it as a satellite endlessly orbiting a distant planet and it needed no other words because it was a loop and this song is a message, a signal or a warning, and I accepted that the song was complete.
Q: Besides other musical artists what else in the world has inspired you to make music?
A: I wanted to tell stories. I held on to some darkness for a long time and this was the only way I could work through that. I think most people see the world differently when they create music. I’ve always found my songs as a kind of therapy or teacher. When I can’t find the words to say to someone I can sing them, I can give those feelings a voice I can give them context. Sometimes I will write a song and then it’s almost as if I can let it happen, I can move on. Also my love of the piano continually inspires me it’s such a magnificent instrument and can be so delicate then so powerful in a heartbeat. It can really take you places.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: There were six songs that didn’t make it on to the record. It wasn’t their time but they are coming and they are epics. I cannot wait to record them and release them into the world!