Jay James had a rocky start when getting into the music industry but 2018 is definitely his year. The former X Factor contestant has a new album that is available to pre-order now and is set to go on tour later this year with the iconic RNB singer Alexander O’Neal.
Incredibly, Jay got into music without really meaning to – his original goal was to become a physical trainer, but this plan was scuppered when he was injured during rugby and had to go on sick leave.
“I got into music when I was 24 and it was completely and utterly by accident,” Jay confessed. “I bought a guitar as a bit of a drunk bet (like you do) when I was in the navy, and 3 months after I decided to actually learn it for real. After my injury music became my new plan.”
Jay, with a sound that crosses the borders of pop, soul and blues, finds it particularly important to write about real life issues and emotions. His writing process is to basically jot down anything that inspires him at any given time and then take a moment to transform his notes into lyrics.
“My work is always really organic and I try and be as honest as I possibly can with my lyrics,” he explained. “I try not to be influenced by others; I discovered after a while that it’s just important to be true to yourself.”
Jay’s journey hasn’t been an easy one – before The X Factor he was signed and released an album, but things didn’t really go according to plan, as he told us: “I ended up leaving the label and going out to the States and working with some really great people who gave me the assurance and confidence that I can do it, but ultimately it didn’t come off, so I applied for The X Factor.
“The industry has changed and there aren’t many platforms for you to try and get your music out there so I thought I would give it a go, as a sort of final push. I sang ‘Say Something’ as a way of saying something needs to happen for me musically – I felt it was a perfect choice of cover song for me.”
The popular talent contest proved to be the best route for Jay, especially since the notoriously hard to impress head judge Simon Cowell took an instant liking to the contestant.
“It was massive to have Simon backing me,” Jay said. “He was definitely someone that I wanted to impress, and it felt like he was really into what I wanted to achieve. That was amazing, and it gave me real confidence, which was great because to be honest with you, the whole situation felt alien to me.
“However, I looked at people like James Arthur, who have used The X Factor as a successful platform and I thought, the industry has changed, so I just had to put myself out there and go for it!”
Jay is currently looking forward to touring with Alexander O’Neal, the legendary 80s singer who has now become a great friend and collaborator to him: “It’s wicked working with Alexander O’Neal – he’s like a big puppy dog!
“He’s a man with an incredible voice and history of music and I was blessed to meet him a couple of years ago. We instantly clicked and last year I went and did some shows with him, after which he asked if I fancied doing the tour, so yeah, it’s really exciting and a real honour.”
Jay James’ new album is now available to pre-order at pledgemusic.com/projects/jayjames.
> Hannah Montgomery
