James Bay
James Bay
James Bayis a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost part. It borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario; islands within the bayare part of Nunavut. The James Bay watershed is the site of several major hydroelectric projects, and is also a destination for river-based recreation. Several communities are located near or alongside James Bay, including a number...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth4 September 1990
CityHitchin, England
When I'm writing, I need to amplify my thoughts and feelings on just a conversation that I might have had with somebody - somebody close to me. It's often the case that the people closest to me are the people on my mind the most.
I'm still like an excited kid playing guitar in front of the bedroom mirror.
I write about personal experiences. I write about things that have happened to me and the people around me, so you just sort of keep this antenna up and on the lookout for things to say.
Some of my songs are about the feeling you belong somewhere else. But there's also something grounding about coming from a small town.
My songwriting process is painful. Songwriting is brilliant. It's a load of fun - when it works. It's really difficult as well.
My songwriting process, and maybe loads of other people's, is just this sort of smashing together of emotions and stuff to make some music. It's kind of simple and really complex at the same time and, as you can see, incredibly hard to explain.
To drive though the streets of Manhattan to sign a record deal was like a movie. It was crazy - pretty hard to put into words.
Growing up, when I was at live shows, I was always hoping someone would come out on stage and say, 'The guitarist is sick and couldn't make it... does anybody know how to play all the songs?' That was always my little dream. It was a massively inspiring thing to be in a space with live shows.
I bought a guitar CD-ROM because we had a new computer, but I had no attention span for that. I spent about three hours on it desperate to be brilliant. Eventually, I got some proper lessons.
Both Springsteen and Michael Jackson, who had these huge productions, could always scale them back down to just a song and a melody. All of that influences me. I also try to be a fictional writer, and sometimes I get close, but the things that resonate the most with me - and with everyone else - is what's real.
Up until the last minute, it was art and drawing for me. That was the first real and natural thing I thought I was good at and loved to do. But I developed a similar kind of love for music.
My family quite innocently don't understand the ins and outs of it all, but they see things like the Burberry show and the Live Lounge, so they understand the gravity of those things, but they're proud - it's cool.
The thing about 'Hold Back The River' that I like is that it's a good starting place, and it was the perfect first single.
I used to dress up like Michael Jackson. I didn't have the glove, but I had a red jacket like in 'Thriller.'