My triumphant return to journalism...or something

[anwynincognito]

Here is an article I just finished for a local music paper about a British kid called Jamie T who's actually pretty alright. Read, enjoy, comment, whatever.

Wimbeldon Wonderkid

Everybody's Trying To Talk About Him

At seven in the morning it's really hard to like anyone - especially when that person is the reason you are awake at such an unreasonable hour. And yet, this article will contain quite a bit of praise for both this artist and his work.
Jamie T is just that charming.

While I'm waiting for my brain to grumble into gear so I can ask real questions, I start with a simple, "So, how are you?"
Jamie tells me he's in a hotel in Glasgow, in a tone so upbeat and perky I am compelled to be bleak and sarcastic back.
I'm just that charming.
"What's the weather like there?", I ask. "I hear it always rains in Glasgow."
He just laughs at me, and declares "That's a very English question to ask. We always talk about the weather cause there's nothing else to talk about"
I scowl. Dammit, that was supposed to make him LESS chirpy. I inform him the Brits I see here on holidays certainly don't seem to have anything else to talk about.
He laughs again. "Well that's what we're like really, we talk about nothing."

I'm snarky and cynical at him, and he turns it into a joke at the expense of himself and his countrymen instead of getting offended. How could I not like the guy?

So he's nice - but he's a musician with something to sell, and you as a discerning consumer no doubt want to know if he's any good.
The answer from me, NME, and legions of fans is a resounding “yes”.
What is the music like?
The answer from all the above sources is a resounding... “Well...we're not really sure”.

It's kind of rap, but not really. It's more urban folk, but not entirely. There are rock bits, and reggae bits, and all kinds of random soundbites smushed into a big squishy lump that seems to be, quite frankly, a bit of a mess.
Well, okay, rather a lot of a mess.
...And yet, it's incredibly likeable, even if no one can seem to figure out why. His major label début, Panic Prevention, is an album my friends will all be listening to, if for no other reason than to get me to shut up about it.

Jamie got his start in the industry doing club nights and distributing mix tapes of his own devising featuring everyone from Ice T to Ian Drury and the Blockheads. This experience, combined with his own incredibly eclectic taste results in not only interesting music, but a refreshing outlook on creation and inspiration.
"There isn't so much one band that was my one big influence, you know,” he says. “It's all these different songs and it all becomes kind of like one song. I try and capture the vibrancy and the atmosphere around it."
"Every song I write is all about some other song. If you listen to other things and use them, it’s much easier; someone else has done half the work for you. I suppose it’s quite juvenile in a way – just, like, throwing things together – but ignorance is bliss, to just mix styles of music, and not give a shit if it doesn’t sound authentic. ‘He can’t do that, it’s awful!’ ‘Fuck it, whatever!’ Who wants to get old anyway? I’d rather be young and silly.”

Like many people in this day and age, Jamie has very accepting view of so called "copyright violation." Considering his rather "mashed-up" style of music, I was curious to know what he thought of the wave of mash-up tracks that are currently attracting a lot of legal attention from the powers that be.
"I think they're great!" he enthusiastically exclaims. "I was in a pub the other day and they played a Greenday song from the new album laid over that Oasis song 'Wonderwall', and I think it was designed to take the piss, you know, to show these songs are exactly the same, about the exact same thing. That was brilliant! I don't think people should be done for that sort of thing. I think anything people do with music should be encouraged, you know? I mean, I think people should be more relaxed generally, but anything that's got a lot of money involved is always more complicated. If you make a mix of two songs and one of the artists didn't make any money and got dropped, the record label is going to do everything they can to get some money out of it, you know?"

"I've grown up with mix tapes and free music. You gotta give people music for free, and if they like it they'll support it. Personally I like to own a record, something with an inlay and all that, something I can actually own. I don't really like downloading music. But you know, at the end of the day what you want is for people to hear your music, and if it's not then you're in the wrong game."

Considering how much of his output is available free to download from both his official website (Jamie-T.com) and MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/jamietwimbledon), I had to ask how his record company feels about it, and whether he has been under any pressure to change his attitudes since getting picked up. It turns out there is at least one thing this kid is quite serious about.
"I'm very protective about what I do, and have a big ideal of self preservation. I don't do a lot of things because I know they'll take me out of the situation I want to be in. I tend to stay away from my record company as much as possible actually." We both laugh at this, but he is soon serious again, if only for a moment.
"I didn't get into music to change my life, you know, to become something else."

Happily we have the opportunity to get to know Jamie a little better when he plays Candy's Apartment in May. If you can't make it, be sure to pick up a copy of the album Panic Prevention (out now through EMI) and feast on his unique style of sincere and yet silly musical scramble.

Who: Jamie T.
What: Panic Prevention out now through EMI
When: Tuesday 8th May
Where: Candy’s Apartment