The well-known adage of having an old head on young shoulders could well have been coined with English singer-songwriter, James Bay, in mind. At 23, Bay may only have a couple of decades under his belt but the maturity and emotional depth of his songwriting betray his youth. His musical and personal style, hair casually hanging below his shoulders under his ever present wide-brim fedora, recall the bluesy folk & R&B movements of the 1970s. Echoes of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor haunt his melodies, proof that an appreciation of these artists was instilled in him from an early age.
Though he’s the first Bay to follow a musical career path, his parent’s recreational love of music helped to nurture the artist within, “The only music in my family is a decent record collection. My parents don’t play instruments, but they had a great record collection for me to discover when I was a kid.”
He describes his style as an amalgamation of all of these records:
“Every artist that I’ve listened to and been able to connect with has helped shape who I am as an artist. In the end its all those little influences that create the overall, new sound – my sound. Pinning it down to just one influence or artist is pretty much impossible.”
The sleepy little town of Hitchin in Hertfordshire where Bay hails from may have felt worlds away from the American Heartland to others, but Springsteen’s Americana took a hold on him early on and played a hand in shaping his musical stylings. He told Goldenplec about this major musical influence, “It’s a really early memory, I was only about 4, but even then I remember the music having a huge affect on me.”
Earlier this year, Bay went straight to the source, choosing Nashville, Tennessee as the location where he would put in some serious recording time. He describes the experience as “crazy, all consuming.” Though his next record is still forthcoming, you needn’t wait to hear these sessions as a portion of the fruits of his labour have been made available to preview on Soundcloud.
The creative process is a very individual system for each artist. We asked whether the music or the lyrics take precedence in his songwriting:
“For me its usually music first – a melody, some chords, a guitar part. But once in a while a lyric will form the beginning of an idea, too. It often feels like songs arrive completely out of the blue, and it can be hard to describe where they’ve come from or how.”
With all of those great songs in the bag, it’s only right to share them with others. Last July, Bay was lucky enough to be asked to open for The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park. This would surely be a career highlight for most artists, but it’s testament to the intimate nature of his work that Bay counts a more personal experience as his most memorable to date:
“I played at The Fillmore West in San Francisco on my birthday last year. I opened up the night to a sold out audience and just before my last song I mentioned that it was my birthday – next thing i know the whole room is singing happy birthday to me. That was pretty awesome.”
He has recently embarked on a fairly epic tour of the UK & Ireland. Despite what Hollywood would have us believe, Bay confirmed that life on the road’s not always rock & roll:
“Sometimes it gets a little wearing, and sometimes it gets frustrating never being in one place for more than 36 hours, but the rest of the time it’s just pretty great. I get to travel around, exploring different countries, playing in front of different audiences every night, doing what I love to do!”
Bay will be touring with Kodaline in March on some huge dates, and has supported them previously, even joining them on stage for performances. We asked him if a band who are open to interacting and playing with the support act gives a bigger lift in the search for new fans:
“I guess so, yes. The best kind of touring is when you’re on the road with a band who like to mix it up, interact with the other folks on the bill and surprise the audience each night with something a bit different. That’s what touring together is all about. I can’t wait to get back out there with the Kodaline boys.”
He already let us know what music helped to influence him as he developed his musical style in his formative years, but we wanted to know which artists currently have him in a twist. For Bay, Canada’s Half Moon Run are currently having a major headphones moment as well as a certain singer-songwriter du jour of our very own, “Their album ‘Dark Eyes’ is brilliant and influencing me quite a bit at the moment. And Hozier, from Ireland – gorgeous voice and some very cool songs.”
Having recently signed to Universal Republic with releases scheduled for the coming year, Bay’s future looks very bright indeed. We wanted to know where he hopes 2014 will take him:
“In to 2015, 2016 and further, I hope. I’d like to get to headlining my own shows at bigger and bigger venues – like the Fillmore in San Francisco, or other favourites like Shepherds Bush Empire or The Olympia in Dublin. I want to build my fan base and spread my music as far around the world as possible.”