Jameson Burt is a US singer-songwriter, a man with a voice and a guitar and something to say.
He’s been support act for Rival Sons, Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard, and most notably the Italian rock legend Vasco Rossi on a stadium tour of Italy in summer 2019, playing for crowds of 60,000 per night and lists his biggest influences as Van Morrison and Tom Waits, Al Green and Prince, Peter Gabriel and Radiohead. Jameson’s catalogue of passionate, heartfelt & innovative songs landed him a publishing deal with BMG Berlin in 2015 and since then has maintained a steady stream of creative output and toured extensively in Europe and the U.K.
Today’s the day when his brand new single Coming Down Slow comes out and what better time than to ask the man some questions about life, love and The Hunt for Red October.
indieRepublik: How does the songwriting process work for you / in your band?
indieRepublik: I’m generally kicking around about 5 or so song ideas at once, bouncing back and forth between different music ideas and then also stockpiling lyric ideas that I sort of chip away at every day until something feels “done.” Then I record it immediately. A song might take a week or a year to write. I never force any song to be finished, but I’m pushing a bag of songs up the hill everyday.
+++ Check out our earlier take on Jameson Burt’s Deeper in The Dream +++
indieRepublik: If your music was a movie, which genre would it be in?
Jameson Burt: Romance. You know, drama, not romantic comedy.
indieRepublik: How did you get together as a band?
Jameson Burt: I’ve been blessed over the years to always have incredible musicians around me to collaborate with. The live world and the studio world have always been two kind of separate things because I like to play a lot of the parts myself on the recordings. The last several years I’ve been working with my long time friend Andrew Carter to co-produce everything in our studio. And we’ve got Devin Beaman on drums and Greg Velasquez on percussion for all the live shows, and sometimes in studio as well. It’s an incredible group of players, we’re missing playing live right now a lot. On this new single I played a lot of the instruments myself, with Andy co-producing and playing bass and synth, and Devin sent us some hi hats remotely from his spot. We’re really proud of how it took shape.
+++ Check out our lowdown on Lisbon, Portugal and all the indie venues in this cool southern town! +++https://indierepublik.com/en/lisbons-thriving-indie-scene-the-music-venues-and-hangouts-that-make-the-city-what-it-is/
indieberlin: Tell us a secret about yourself.
Jameson Burt: I’ve watched The Hunt For Red October hundreds of times, I don’t know how many times. I used to watch it while I was falling asleep. Something about that movie, I just love it. Thanks, Alec.
indieberlin: Where do you get your inspiration from?
Jameson Burt: Whatever I’m going through at the time, good or bad. I’m not really someone who writes about outside “events” or topics. For me the writing and the music has always been a way for me to process my own experiences and emotions and create something out of them. Hopefully something other people relate to.
indieberlin: How do you feel about covering a song?
Jameson Burt: I feel like if I can bring something new to a classic song, just if I’m able to inject enough of my personality into it and create something that feels like it’s mine, then I love it. But there’s a lot of songs I love by other artist and would love to cover, but I know I’ll never touch them. Out of respect for the material.
indieberlin: Do you prefer to play big festivals / stages or smaller club gigs?
Jameson Burt: I enjoy both for different reasons, really. I almost get more nervous for the smaller ones but I do enjoy the intimacy of those. If I had to pick, I’d have to say the bigger the better. There’s nothing like being on stage alone in a stadium full of people. I feel more comfortable in that environment than I do playing a song for you in the living room of your house. But again, I love both.
indieberlin: What music do you listen to when you’re touring?
Jameson Burt: A lot of the time on show days I don’t like to listen to music at all, just to feel kind of cleansed and fresh when I go on stage. But sometimes when I’m traveling I’ll listen to movie soundtracks, instrumental stuff, or something ambient like Sigur Rós or those old Brian Eno ambient records.
indieberlin: What was your biggest stage fuck-up?
Jameson Burt: Probably starting a song in the wrong key when I was playing with my band. Put the capo on the wrong fret of the guitar. I don’t remember what gig it was, but I started the tune and when the other guys came in it was like “Oh shit, what have I done?!”
indieberlin: In ten years you look back to today and think __?
Jameson Burt: Thank God for the music. Honestly it’s been a really challenging period for me on a personal level, and for everyone as well dealing with a lot of social isolation during the pandemic and all. I think I’ll look back and realize the music got me through it. And hopefully look back and feel that some great songs came out of a rough time.
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