My passion for making music began at the age of 14 and for 3 very good reasons:
1. After trying violin, piano & choir the school music teacher told my parents I didn’t have a musical bone in my body - when people tell you you can’t do something you tend to want to prove them wrong.
2. I listened to music non stop, always had headphones on (and still do to this day)
3. I wanted to get girls!
I washed a load of cars, raised enough money to buy a second hand electric guitar and amp then sat in my bedroom for hours/days/weeks/months on end playing along to Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Oasis, U2, Pink Floyd and The Beatles on my stereo.
Throughout my teens and early twenties I played in bands, performing a mixture of covers and original content. While at university in Birmingham my band, Skeezer, had some success, winning a battle of the bands competition and supporting some established acts but we were so disorganised we never made it to record deal stage. I graduated, got a ‘proper job’ and put making music on hold for a few years, until now…
A couple of years ago I put together a small recording studio at my home in SW London, it’s more like an insulated garden shed to be honest, but it’s got everything I need to make music.
I released my debut album ‘Living The Dream’ last year and was overwhelmed by the positive response. It really was a labour of love - years of suppressed passion for music finally unleashed! 10 songs, 44 minutes all written, performed and produced by me in my music shed.
When asked to describe my music I always struggle, best to have a listen and make up your own mind really. It’s guitar based, rock/indie/pop with some psychedelic tendencies. I love bands like Tame Impala, Queens Of The Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys as well as all the oldies that got me started as a kid. Over the years I’ve become a bit of a guitar collector so I use a lot of different instruments to get a variety of depth and tone on the songs. For any guitar geeks reading this, my favourite is my 1961 Gibson ES-330, it’s epic, lots of pics on my Instagram! For the non-guitar geeks - it’s the red one ;)
I love catchy melodies and layering vocal harmonies, check out ‘Shining On’, ‘Living The Dream’ & ‘Don’t Drink My Wine’ and you’ll see what I mean. I like to throw in cheeky guitar solos every now and again, have a listen to ‘Stolen Spark’ & ‘Be With Me’. I try to put surprises in each tune to keep the listener guessing and add contrast - the outro to ‘Pink Jackets & Sunglasses’ is a good example.
Lyrically, I write about life experiences, observations and aspirations. I’d like to think the songs make sense if you listen to them but I’m a big believer in interpreting songs the way you want. I was asked about ‘Pink Jackets & Sunglasses’ in a radio interview recently and gave a terrible explanation so I’ll set the record straight here - I went to see The Last Shadow Puppets last year, Alex Turner was wearing a pink jacket and sunglasses and was super cool on stage! The song’s essentially about believing in yourself.
I’m currently working on a new EP/album, haven’t decided which yet, but I have 3 songs recorded and another 2 I’m in the process of recording so watch this space. I expect I’ll release something before the summer (British summer) so give me a follow on Twitter/FB, subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow me on Spotify etc to get the updates!
BIG LOVE!
James B
Links
WEBSITE - www.jamesbtunes.com (buy album here)
TWITTER - https://twitter.com/jamesbaconx
INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/jamesbacon/
FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/jamesbtunes/
YOUTUBE - www.youtube.com/jamesbtunes
