THE PRODUCT SHOP NYC JAMIE T INTERVIEW

Product Shop NYC: 2007 has been a successful year for you. You were shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and received a NME Shockwave award. When did you realize things were taking off?
Jamie T: I suppose it was when people started coming down to the shows and miming the lyrics or whatever. That was really cool to see. I suppose that is when you know you are doing alright.

Were there any bands that gave you a push along the way?
A band called the Mystery Jets, I did my first tour with them. Tom Vek. Hot Club de Paris was really helpful. The Maccabees. A lot of bands – the cool kids in London – kind of help each other out.

What do you think about New York, have you been here before?
It is my second time. I have been here before for like two days but I can’t really remember anything. We went out with this band we knew called the New York Howl, who are from New York obviously, and they showed us around. It was wicked man, wicked fun but I don’t remember anything.

What do think about the bars here?
They are good bars. A lot of the good places in London have closed down, they are all wine bars now, which is awful. It is quite nice to find little independent bars and clubs.

That is sort of happening to on the Lower East Side with all of the High Rise Luxury Condos going up and the artists and musicians are getting pushed out.
Yeah I have heard about a lot about that sort of thing in the past few days. People keep on bring up how the artists are moving further out of the city because they can’t afford it.

Do you see a similar thing happening in London?
Everything is different in London than here. I might be wrong since I am not really involved in it, but you seem to have scenes an places where artist live and congregate. I find in London, especially in music, you don’t really get that. It is kind of all over the place in little pockets but they don’t really live in the same kind of area. It's still very healthy and it's still there. I quite like the New York vibe though.

At one point at the Union Pool show, you dedicated a Rancid cover to the rappers Nice and Smooth. What sort of music were you into growing up?
Well I had a lot of friends who were really into music and they gave me loads of records I might not have found myself for a few years like The Clash, The Specials, and Rancid. They were a band that I spent a long time listening to.

Do you align yourself with any hip-hop artists?
I don’t really listen to a lot of hip-hop. Well I have listened to Wu-Tang Clan and Beastie Boys. If anything, I listen to more UK hip-hop like Roots Manuva or something more instrumental.

How did you start producing? Live it may be on stage with a band but recorded the songs are sampled and more beat driven.
Well I got some money, and bought this equipment and just kind of messed around with it. I don’t really know how to do a lot of things and because of that I had to find my own way around it and do it in my own kind of mixed-up fashion. And not listen to anyone telling me how the music should sound.

And once you got the songs you recordings together what did you do with it?
I didn’t do much with it actually. I would just hand them out to friends and go play live. I think a lot of people thought I was just playing acoustic bass.

Were people confused if you would hand them a CD it was totally different than the show they just saw?
Yeah, it still happens now but I can’t help that. I started rehearsing with The Pacemakers to make a live record but it sounded boring. We wanted more energy so we sped everything up and now the whole set is a lot faster but it is fun. That’s the main thing.

Tell me about your DJ night in London.
Well, it’s called Panic Prevention Disco. I don’t really DJ. I put on songs, you know. I just push stop and then press play on another one.

Is somebody going to continue the party while you are on tour?
No, we never really wanted to be held down by it or take it too seriously.

Who is “we”?
My band The Pacemakers and that whole lot, we just kind of do it for fun.

Have those guys been your friends forever?
Yes, they are all mates of mine from years ago. One of them I have known for about eight months or so and he is the newest person in the group but everyone else I have known since I was about 13 years old.

I understand that you collaborated with a guy named Ben in the studio.
Yeah, Ben is a drummer in the band and he kind of came in and produced the record with me, we finished it off. He knows more about equipment than I do, if I got a problem of bass drums booming all over my track then he can kind of compress them and sort them out better than I can.

How was the transition from recording in your bedroom and then going to a bigger studio where there are way more options for tweaking and polished the sound?
Well we didn’t do it, we went to a studio that was just like my bedroom. It just didn’t have my bed in it. So we got away from that whole thing. It is always good to have restrictions. You don’t want to have everything at your disposal because then you just make crap music.

More kids should just make music in their bedrooms.
Yeah, don’t do the other thing you can do on your own in your bedroom.

Yeah whatever you do don’t do that. Thanks for talking with us today. We wish you the best of luck.
Thanks for having me. Cheers.

JAMIE T UPCOMING US TOUR DATES
Sep 12 :: Great Scott – Boston
Sep 13 :: Bowery Ballroom – New York
Sep 15 :: North Star – Philadelphia
Sep 18 :: Schubas – Chicago
Sep 19 :: 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis
Sep 22 :: Crocodile Cafe – Seattle
Sep 23 :: Doug Fir Lounge – Portland
Sep 25 :: Slims – San Francisco
Sep 26 :: Troubadour – Los Angeles