WEBVTT - ITS Home Edition: James Bay 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:05.160 Welcome to Inside the Studio presented by I Heart Radio. 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:17.560 I'm your host, Joe Leaving. Okay, so probably none of 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:22.640 you are surprised that the sales of things like puzzles, sweatpants, 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:27.160 and pajamas have been booming during the pandemic, But it 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:29.960 was news a few weeks back that the sales of 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:36.400 guitars was searching as well. So it turns out that, yes, 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:40.239 strumming is soothing, but learning to play the guitar or 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:43.480 any new instrument is good for you. The New York 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.960 Times talked with a neuroscientist, Daniel Levitton, who wrote a 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:49.720 book called This Is Your Brand on music, and he 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.760 explained that taking up a new instrument requires you to 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:55.640 grow new neural pathways, and I think we can all 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:59.240 agree we'd like as many new neural pathways as we 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.160 can lay our reins on. Anyway, if you did buy 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:05.600 a new guitar, you actually had the opportunity to take 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.440 some lessons from the guest on this episode of the 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:12.240 home edition of the show, James Bay, who has been 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.959 spending two days a week during lockdown on Instagram teaching 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:19.800 fans how to play his songs. We started the home 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:22.679 edition of inside the studio to let you know how 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:25.600 the pandemic has impacted the lives of artists and how 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:28.800 it's affecting the way they make music. But this is 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:32.360 just a great example of how one musician decided to 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.280 combat the isolation we've all had to deal with by 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:39.880 giving back. And James Bay told our Quarantine correspondent Jordan 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:43.600 Runtog all about the album that he was finishing in 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:48.240 Nashville just before Lockdown, working with the producer Dave Cobb, 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:51.760 who has made amazing records with artists like Jason Isabel 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:56.000 and Brandy Carlyle. James also talked about how his music 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:59.440 has taken a turn towards the positive. So if you 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.280 enjoy the episode, be sure to check out the I 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:07.200 Heart Radio podcast that Jordan's hosts. It's called Rivals Music's 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:19.000 Greatest Feuds, and it's available wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, everybody, 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:21.120 My name is Jordan run Tug, But enough about me. 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:24.560 My guest today is a British singer songwriter whose soulful 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:26.960 voice has been compared to the late great Jeff Buckley. 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:31.120 His explosive debut in earned him three Grammy nominations and 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:33.560 global hits like Let It Go and Hold Back the River. 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:36.679 Earlier this year, he went down to Nashville's historic r 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:39.600 C A studio AD to work on his upcoming third album, 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:41.519 and in July we heard a taste when he dropped 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:44.480 his latest single, the sensual Chew on My Heart. I'm 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:47.520 so thrilled to welcome the extremely suave Mr James Bay. 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:50.600 Thank you, wow, kind words. Thank you for that wonderful introduction. 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:56.079 I'm good. Uh, it's a strange time. I'm sure we'll 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.240 kind of stop there one way or another, but it's 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.560 still nice to be talking to you. It's so great 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:02.520 to have you. I mean, as you said, the last 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:04.200 few months have been tough on all of us. How 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:08.040 have you been staying grounded and feeling good? Um? Well, 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:10.960 it was an interesting one because I got home from 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.560 Nashville and twenty four hours later Lockdown began in the 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:16.640 UK for the first time. So that was like, it 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:18.520 was such an amazing start to the year. I was 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.600 writing right up until I went to the studio for 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.240 this third record, and then I traveled over to Nashville. 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:26.079 We did what we did, had a great time. I 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:28.080 came home and that happened and there was a beat 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:32.760 in time where everybody, including the music industry, kind of 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:36.600 went can we go on? Can we go forward? Or 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:38.440 is or is this kind of it? And are we 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:42.560 going to have to weather quite an intense stall. But 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:46.000 I suppose I'm feeling good today. Obviously that was a 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.440 few months back now that lockdown stuff started in anybody's life, 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.000 definitely in mind here in the UK, and I'm feeling 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:54.640 good because it was only a beat in the music 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:58.000 industry that that that we felt like we couldn't go forward. Obviously, 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:00.680 live is still very tricky playing show and stuff, but 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:03.320 I've obviously been able to put out a new single 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:05.480 despite the times, and that is really exciting. So I'm 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:07.880 feeling pretty good. That's so good to hear, you know, 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.000 single two of My Heart, which is I don't think 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:13.080 I've ever heard the expression of love phrase quite that 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.600 way in music before I tell me about that song, Yeah, 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:18.160 no one seems to have, and neither hard I. It's 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:20.640 not I'm not like I haven't keep it a secret. Um. 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:25.880 I suppose that was actually a really exciting moment. It 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.839 is I think for any songwriter and you feel like 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:30.919 you might have coined a phrase like kind of for 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:32.840 the first time, and there's no telling whether it will 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:37.000 catch on at all, but it jumped out at me. 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:41.240 I was sat with my guitar, singing around kind of 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:44.840 melodic ideas, you know, any kind of version of la 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:47.600 la la, and sort of shaping vowel sounds and never 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:51.640 quite saying complete words. And what sounded I suppose like 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.960 a phrase too, or my heart came out and and 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:56.720 it formed itself and I kind of in the room. 0:04:56.720 --> 0:05:00.719 I went chew on my heart that whatever was, I 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:02.960 said to myself, and I remember this, well, I have 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:06.000 to have it. I have to I have to turn 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:08.920 it into And this is a pretty sort of textbook 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:11.560 moment for any songwriter, whether it's a phrase you've heard 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:13.960 before or not. If you're attached to it, if it 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.400 if it's attractive, then you want to work it. Unless 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:20.520 you've already come to the sort of songwriting situation with 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:22.640 something to say and something want to write about. The 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:25.760 other way of doing things is this one where you go, okay, 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:28.760 cannot apply to something real, something that's real for me, 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:31.599 something that's that I really want to kind of get 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:33.880 out in the form of song. And I was able 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.520 to do that, and I'm really glad because it's a 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:40.159 probably Zaney sort of phrase entitle and those ones are 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:42.479 always the best ones to sort of go with. There 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:44.839 is an interview gave recently in the UK where you said, 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:47.600 in the past, you've been writing from a place of sadness. 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:50.200 I guess I'm thinking about your EP or my messy mind. 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:54.479 What's responsible for this new bout of of musical optimism. Oh, 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:59.960 good question, because it's true. I found, even on Okay 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.039 Asians where I was feeling pretty level and pretty up, 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.359 I just enjoyed kind of drawing from a place of 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:10.800 heartbreak and a place of sadness, and it's it's there's 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:14.520 something that seems to sort of feel like it means 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:18.359 so much in a songwriting environment, in a songwriting capacity, 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:21.440 when you draw from that stuff. So this has been 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.080 a sort of surprise to me. I made all this music, 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:27.840 and I only realized after when the lockdown thing began 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:30.720 and I had this this suddenly natural moment to listen 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:34.640 back that I've drawn from this kind of positive place. 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.360 It was quite a private place as well. I've been 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:42.080 with my girlfriend for thirteen years. We were kids really 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:45.080 when we sort of got together. We were definitely friends 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:48.760 beforehand from the same small town. We've been through it all, 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.880 through thick and thin, through the absolute roller coaster that 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.279 that life is for anybody. But life has certainly been 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:56.440 for me and for us through you know, the meeting 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:58.799 record labels and touring the world and all of that stuff. 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:01.800 And she's she's the rock, you know, I know it's 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:08.240 She's not Dayne Johnson. She's my rock. Imagine she's U 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:14.040 and I and I found myself paying tribute to that, 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:18.080 and I didn't. I'd never I can say. It's a 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:20.200 private part of my life, so I've always been careful 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:23.720 with it, but it couldn't help itself, and it came 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.720 out through songs and I'm I'm in love with the music. 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:28.840 So I'm really kind of pleased I did it, even 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:31.640 though I sort of almost told myself, without ever telling 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:33.800 myself in the past, that I wouldn't, you know, just 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.520 for the sake of maintaining a bit of privacy. But stuff, 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:38.160 when it's got to come out, it gets out. And 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:40.160 that has to be tough. I mean, you you've decided 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.280 to be this public figure, and I imagine your girlfriend 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:45.600 Lucy did not, and so is that is that difficult 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:49.240 to balance that yes and no, you're you're absolutely right, 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:51.120 I signed up for all of this, and you're absolutely 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:53.520 right she didn't. But as long as you were well 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:55.880 aware of that, and I think that as long as 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:59.000 we communicate that to each other and we're constantly and 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:03.080 it's constantly kind of a conversation, then it becomes normal 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:05.160 and un kay that I signed up for it and 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:07.880 she didn't, and it's and it's and it's a much 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:11.080 deeper understanding is had of that. It can be a 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:13.640 strange one to navigate. It can be a difficult one 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:17.560 to navigate. It's never completely straightforward. It's sometimes easier than 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:21.640 other times and sometimes harder. But I guess it's testament 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.800 to how chinned into each other we are, and how 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:27.280 we are one thing. You know, we are a unit, 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.600 and it's testament to all of that that I'm able 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:33.480 to at this point sort of let it into my work, 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:35.760 because that's a real crossing of wires in many respects 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:38.160 as well, but let it into my work in this way. 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:42.760 It's never that's also never a kind of clean cut 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:44.559 thing work in life. When you do what I do, 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:47.280 they blend, whether you want them to or not. And 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:50.400 she also played, I've heard a big role in your 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:54.520 own musical history. She encouraged you, right, yeah, if you're 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:59.560 that massively. I mean to the extent that we met 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:02.360 in this small town that we're both from, and I 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:04.600 was playing in some bands, and like I was always 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:07.400 in a band with my brother, and then another very 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:11.720 very close friend of mine, Tom, who is essentially a brother. 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:13.920 I mean, we're not blood related, but we might as 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:15.920 well be. And he still plays bas in my band today, 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:17.680 and we've known each other since we're about three years old. 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.000 It was a small town, tight knit sort of atmosphere, 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:22.120 and we were playing and we all met when we 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:24.800 were teenagers, and Lucy was excited to go and see 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:28.040 bands in town like and and and sort of followed 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:30.600 local music, and so one way or another we all 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:32.720 became friends. And she always thought it was cool in 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:34.760 that respect. But there was a moment where I suppose 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:36.800 there's a moment where because this is at the time 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:39.400 when school was still a big real thing for everybody, 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:40.920 and what's happening with that, and is someone going to 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:44.080 get a job? Are you gonna, you know, how are 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:46.120 we gonna There's that moment when you're a teenager, when 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:47.839 your parents aren't giving you kind of an allowance or 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:49.760 anything anymore. And it's all about like, well, there's a 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:52.680 supermarket that's employing people, and it becomes all of that. 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:55.680 And as we moved through those years, I was always 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:59.080 most hungry to hold onto playing music one way or another. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.720 What I'm trying to say is Lucy essentially got serious 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:05.960 about it before I did. As far as me me 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:07.640 wanting to kind of she she would say to me, 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:09.760 would be sat in on a sort of week night 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:12.800 watching TV and maybe like watching a gig or something 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:15.719 on TV, or see some music thing. Once again, I'd say, yeah, 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:17.199 you know, I really wanted to be me one day 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:20.080 so inspired and I could do that, And she would 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:21.920 kind of turn to me and go, okay, well, there 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:23.640 are a couple of pubs in town that have an 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:26.280 open mic night happening right now. Why are you sitting 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:29.360 on the couch. You know, if you're really serious, surely 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:31.800 you should. And it was never it was always encouragement. 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:34.720 It was never like a negative thing. It was always like, 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:38.000 you know, if you're serious about it makes some moves, 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:39.880 go and go and do it. And that I mean, 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.079 that's priceless, priceless sort of moment in my life. Really, 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:45.640 at what point did you go from being somebody who 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:47.959 loved music and a fan of music to actually writing 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.280 it and making it yourself. Was there a decisive moment 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:54.160 or just sort of gradually happen. It gradually happened, but 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:57.840 in a way, there was a decisive moment as soon 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:01.400 as I picked up an instrument that I didn't just 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:04.040 want to learn other people's stuff. Boy, is it vital 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:06.040 that you're learning other people's stuff and working out how 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.560 things are done and sort of opening your mind to 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:12.120 how you could do things yourself. But life has said 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:14.480 about me and Tom and my brother Alex, like when 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:16.520 we were little kids, well, when we were very young 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:19.480 teenagers and just starting out going from listening to music 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:21.360 our whole lives to start to try to play instruments. 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:23.760 There was also other kids in town do the same thing. 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:26.160 As you can imagine, every generation has loads and loads 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:28.520 of kids trying it out. We were really one of 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:34.040 the only bunches of kids who were interested in original material. 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.880 We were willing and I didn't even realize at the time. 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.840 I only recognize in hindsight it's it's of course we 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:42.240 have this kind of blind sort of confidence and faith 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.640 in ourselves that if we turned up with something original, 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.560 it was already awesome because it was original, you know. 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:50.720 And I'm sort of so glad that nobody ever really 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:52.400 got to us and said, you know it kind of 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:54.960 it's not It's like it's like barely five out of ten, 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:58.720 but good for you for trying. We believed it was great. 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:01.200 Everybody else was own lead. They could only handle doing 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:03.240 covers because they thought it was safer for playing songs 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.040 that people know, and there's something really wise about that. We, 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:09.280 I guess weren't so wise. So you know, we did covers, 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:11.720 and we really enjoyed playing covers to people, and obviously 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:13.720 the reaction was always amazing, whether we were in a 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:16.719 bar or a pub or whatever. But it was from 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:18.959 moment one that I and my brother in all this, 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:22.439 we were willing to just make stuff up and call 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:24.800 those our songs and then rehearse them and go and 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.240 play them. There was no there was sentially no worry 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:30.040 about that we were. We sort of thought, well, if 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:32.080 if we want to be the Rolling Stones, that's what 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:46.920 they did, so they've got to do it too. Now 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.720 your your most recent album, as he said, it's filled 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:53.520 with uptimism. I assume that this was done prior this 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:56.040 was Have you been working on the album in lockdown 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:58.680 or is it completely done and ready to roll before 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:01.000 before all this went down. The only stuff that we're 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:03.040 doing in having to do in lockdown is is mixing. 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:06.040 Usually i'd be in the company of the person mixing 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:08.600 and and sort of putting my two cents in helping out. 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:12.960 But um, I can't do that, can't travel in that capacity. 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:17.120 So I started writing this album towards the beginning to 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:21.960 the middle of tens springtime. I think it's when I'd 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:23.720 say I really sort of starting to get my head 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.200 down and think about it and write for a third record. 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.679 But um, so I was doing that all through the 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:32.600 rest of and from the very beginning of and really 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:34.920 right up until the last week. There was suddenly like 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:36.880 there was a there was a few conversations went on, 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.839 and I was I was made aware that this brilliant man, 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:43.560 Um Dave Cobb, who's a great producer in in in 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.640 Nashville in America, UM was keen to work together and 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:51.000 there was a window of time. Essentially, I thought, well, 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:53.120 let's just go for it. I feel great about the songs. 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:55.160 He'd heard some of the songs and felt great Aboutum, 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:56.679 let's just give it a shot and see what happens. 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.080 There's always a little sort of element of kind of 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:00.920 throw caution to the wind, sort of gamble a little 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:05.000 bit and just try. Um So, yeah, I really rolled 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:08.640 from writing right into Nashville and recording. Spent about five 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:10.920 weeks doing that there, and we got everything done, even 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:12.880 though for the last couple of weeks the atmosphere in 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:16.480 the well in the world changed, and we felt it 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:21.160 even in our bubble in the studio. Um So, it's 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:25.840 it was all written very much before all this lockdown stuff. 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.400 But it's been interesting the ways in which it feels 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:30.440 like it resonates with the current times as I listened 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.480 to the songs now in this global context. What was 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:35.480 it like working with Deve carb I know it sounds 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:38.080 like he had to do a lot of tracking live 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:40.240 and do a lot of full takes live. What was 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.360 that like? Was that like all right, lights on, gotta 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:44.680 hit it right? It really was like that, I think so, 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.760 And it's I really am so grateful that I worked 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:53.200 with him for particularly for those reasons. Um Davis willing 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:56.280 to you know, speaking of almost sort of blind faith 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:58.960 and being willing to kind of go with your gut. Um. 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:03.160 Dave's extremely experienced and well versed, but he still sort 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:07.160 of wholeheartedly believes you just gotta play, and you play 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:11.800 to that feels right, and you don't labor it. You don't. 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:13.600 I mean, you can do fifteen takes, you can do 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:15.880 twenty five takes and do fifty takes, and there's nothing 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:19.000 wrong with that. That's absolutely fine. Whoever you are, whatever 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:21.480 you want to do, it's it's just as valid. But 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:25.240 I love Dave's spirit is we've probably got it and 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:27.360 takes two to four, but we'll do five or six 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:29.720 just to feel okay, but then we're moving on and 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:31.800 like that. So that was something I was really drawn to. 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:36.280 Um and And and he obviously he goes and finds 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:40.040 fantastic musicians. Um and I let him very much in 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:43.280 producer capacity obviously do all that stuff as well. Assemblar 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:48.360 Band um the big one from a pop perspective, Whoever 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:51.320 you are, whatever you're doing, whatever your music is, if 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:53.240 if it's if it's in one way or another pot 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:56.200 you will record to a click track and there's people 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:57.560 out there listening who may not know what that is, 0:15:57.600 --> 0:15:59.600 and there's people who who will. It just means that 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.560 you are a dedicated tempo that doesn't shift. Usually when 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.200 you play and you get to the chorus and the 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:08.240 music and the momentum are driving things, you'll probably speed 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:09.640 up a little bit when you get to the chorus, 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:13.120 not too noticeable. But these days people play only to 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:15.600 a click so that the tempo doesn't shift and you're 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.560 locked in. There is something wonderful, and Dave is a 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:22.680 massive advocate for this. There is something wonderful and that 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:26.480 has so much spirit about not playing to a click. 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:31.080 Let the atmosphere lead and drive you. Let the spirit 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:34.240 of a song, of a chorus um, you know, make 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:36.000 you put your foot on the gas a tony bit more. 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.360 And that was again, that was the sort of I 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:41.680 was kind of following Dave into that place. It seemed 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:43.680 like a darkness to me, but he knew it was okay, 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:47.080 so I followed him and I really enjoyed working with 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:49.400 him for that as well. I let me tell you, sorry, 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:50.920 I've gone on about this one, but let me tell 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:53.440 you this. I went into the experience with Dave in 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:57.000 Nashville knowing I was so up for that doing it, 0:16:57.520 --> 0:16:59.880 actually doing it, and sitting back and listening to take 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.880 and noticing with my sort of twenty one century pop 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:06.399 ears that like sometimes it's sped up in the I 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:08.480 was really uneasy. I haven't even really sort of talked 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:10.360 to Day about this yet. I was kind of uneasy, 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:12.520 and I was I was trying to sort of dedicate 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:14.520 to be followed. And as I listened back today, as 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.040 we're finishing off mixes, and it's the same moments, a 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.120 sort of speeding up or whatever or slowing down, and 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.120 it's all going very much with the flow. I love it. 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:25.480 It's so it's so human, it's so real, and the 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.560 momentum is so natural and it ebbs and flows so wonderfully. 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.199 So I'm I'm I'm glad I trusted him and followed him. 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.680 You know, he knows what he's doing. He's we've got 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:36.640 the saw on those things. And speaking of saw, you're 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:39.760 in our c A studio A what was it tell 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.080 me about that? I'm a huge music history both that 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:46.600 what was that feeling like? So, for one, you're standing 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:49.159 in a building that is about a meter and a 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.960 half away from another building. That building is our CIA 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:56.000 studio B that place. Google that for a for a 0:17:56.000 --> 0:18:00.280 list of a historic list of Elvis Presley bangers, Like 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:03.120 that's where Studio B is where all that stuff went down, 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:04.680 and you could it's a bit of a museum these days, 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:06.360 but you can go in there, and I think it's 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.600 still used and it was very cool. We got a 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:10.280 moment or two to step in there and so see 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:12.840 what was going on. But Studio A, which gave me 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.760 slightly gave me the sort of Abbey Roads Studio two fields, 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.480 because it's this beautiful big room, one big open space. 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:21.359 There's a control room slightly separate, um, and there's this 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:23.800 like big lovely staircase in the room, so you can 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:25.960 sort of do all sorts of things with sort of 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:31.480 microphone height. UM. Nowadays people take their laptop to any 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:33.320 room on the planet. They open it up, they've got 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:35.680 pro tools, they've got logic, they record and they can 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:38.639 get exactly the same sounds wherever the other plugins. And 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:42.239 right back then we didn't they didn't have that. So 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:45.919 the chat actings decided to build the same room, the 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:47.960 spec being exactly the same around the world, like it 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:49.159 was there like seven or eight of them. I think 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:51.040 it was like four or five in America, three or 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.919 four in the in in Europe. Um, this is the 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:56.639 only one left. The one in Nashville is the only 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:58.480 one left. All of the rest of them are knocked down. 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:03.320 But I remember when we went in at the very beginning, 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:05.240 and I was just hanging out with Day for an afternoon, 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:07.960 being in the space, talking about plans and stuff, and 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:10.280 he told me a little about the history and he said, yeah, 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:12.440 they've made all sorts of music in here. He said, 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.800 probably about where you're standing. Sometime in the sort of 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:19.240 late seventies, Dolly Parton was standing there and in the 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:23.080 same three hours she sang down, I Will Always love 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:26.560 you and Julian no pressure, no pressure. I was like, sure, 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:30.479 no pressure. That's just the rest of her life completely made. Um. 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:32.919 So they made so much brilliant I mean, I'm just 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.040 more recently. I'm sure you've heard this one. But there's 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:37.399 a fantastic record called by the Way I Forgive You 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:40.879 by Brandy Carlyle that Dave Da've made. That it won 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:42.960 all sorts of Grammys, and it's a beautiful piece of music, 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:45.600 collection of music, and that was made in that room 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:47.320 as well. So loads of great stuff been made in 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:51.119 the one of an incredible place. Crazy You've you've talked about. 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:54.600 There's a great video on YouTube of you talking about 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:57.520 Eric Clapton's Laila being a huge influence on you as 0:19:57.640 --> 0:19:59.960 as a as a young student of music who is 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.840 mother class A grad guy guns that really really inspired 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.199 you when you were younger. There's lots There's lots and 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.800