There’s nobody quite like Jamie T in modern music.
The south-Londoner also known as Jamie Treays is notorious for his unabashed approach to indie rock, producing a raw blend of snarling hiphop, high octane punk and infectious pop that’s so English and so confusingly endearing.
In 2007, Jamie crashed into the scene with his shirt-fronting debut record, the ground-breaking Panic Prevention.
Two years later saw the release of his stellar sophomore effort, Kings & Queens, which cemented Treays as the face of a fed up youth culture permeated through music.
After an onslaught of touring and overwhelming adoration, the innovative artist was mentally and physically bled dry. Treays decided to step out of the music industry’s limelight to deal with personal matters, however he never anticipated he’d be taking a half-decade sabbatical.
Now in 2014, five very long years after his second album dropped, Jamie T has resurfaced, ready to rock with a new record Carry On The Grudge, which sees the UK songsmith explore the depths of a more mature brooding pop sound, whilst still pertaining to his serendipitous punk-rap drawl.
We had a chat with the 28-year old about the four albums that have changed his life and how they relate to his 2014 release, Carry On The Grudge, as well as his upcoming Australian tour of 2015.
Rancid – Life Won’t Wait
2998, Epitaph Records
“The first album that comes to mind is Rancid’s Life Won’t Wait, it’s a record I was really into when I was younger, and still am today, it’s a good place to start I ‘spose.”
“I was probably about 15 and when I discovered it and it blew my mind. I had just started listening to things like The Clash. It was different enough to not be The Clash or trying to be The Clash.”
“I think it’s definitely impacted the way I write even on this record, there’s a song on this record called ‘Turn On The Light’ the whole time I was writing it I was trying to kind of write my own version of a song on that Rancid record called ‘Hoover Street’, which is one of my favourite songs ever written.”
“I think Tim Armstrong’s lyrics, they paint such a beautiful picture to me, that song sounds like a fucking punk Bruce Springsteen or something, lyrically it’s amazing. Often people have said “ahh yeah you slur to much we can’t understand what you’re saying” and I think that’s because of Rancid, there just painted all over the way I sing.”
Blur – Blur
1997, Food Records
“The Blur album called Blur, the Blur Blur (laughing) it’s a great record, it’s one that I’ve been listening to since I was shit, I dunno, 14, and it stayed with me over the years.”
“It had a lot to do with how this record sounds, certainly the kind of stuff I’ve been producing over the past few years has kind of been based in the same world of that record. It’s a record that’s never stopped giving, the older I get the more I love it as a body of work really.”
Blur, in particular Damon Albarn, bestow a special place with Jamie T, the enigmatic frontman having been a creative guide for Jamie in creating Carry On The Grudge.
“Damon is a friend of mine, he’s been very helpful on this record, he’d go down to the studio for a few months and I’d play him a new bunch of stuff I had, we’d chat about it, he’s a great person to speak to on that level.”
“I think when you’re trying to grow as an artist, he’s a good person to speak to because obviously he’s done a lot of that in his career and a lot of changing his direction, there’s a certain way of doing with some grace and dignity (laughing)”
“He’s definitely been at the forefront with this record, he’s one of the only opinions that I really listen to, for sure, and he’s been really helpful.”
Bran Van 3000 – Glee
1997, Audiogram Records
“The third one is Bran Van 3000’s first record, the album’s called Glee. They had one big hit single off it called ‘Drinking In LA’ that album changed my life.”
“I found it in a random bucket at a WHS Smith Shop and now it’s one of my favourite albums I’ve ever heard, y’know?”
“It’s just a great fucking record. I loved the way they had so many styles put together as one album and it didn’t seem to phase them at all, I really loved the female vocals on it. That record still means a lot to me, actually I’m looking at a big poster of it on my wall at the moment.”
The Clash – The Clash
1977, CBS Records
“I have to go with The Clash The Clash, the first Clash album, it’s just like, I don’t even know what you can say about it. It just epitomises a great punk record really.”
“When I first heard it, it changed everything really, I realised music could be a force, it could be something to change things or try change people’s opinions on things, it’s a great record and always will be.”
“I love the whole record really but ‘(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais’ is my favourite song ever written, ‘Garageland’ and ‘Janie Jones’ are just dope man, the whole record is so fast, it only takes like half an hour to get through the record, I really enjoy records like that are just short but kick you in the face a bit.”
“I remember the first day I heard ‘(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais’ and I seemed to remember thinking that I’d heard it before, I felt like I knew it, it sent shivers down my spine, it’s one of those records that gave me one of those moments in my life and I just decided there and then that music was a good thing to get into.”
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At the beginning of next year Jamie T will finally arrive on Aussie soil for a nation-wide tour.
Touching on his last visit over half a decade ago, he laughed in fearful memory, “this time I think I’m just going to try and survive. I want to avoid waking up in the morning and having huntsman spiders in my room. I just don’t know how you people deal with that shit, it’s terrifying. Apparently they’re harmless but I don’t know, they look they could eat a baby.”
And what can Aussie fans expect from the ‘Zombie’ singer’s live show next year? “We obviously want to play a lot of the new record but we always like to give back to fans and play some old stuff too, so it will be a bit of a old and new.”
Jamie T Australian Tour 2015 Dates & Tickets
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21ST – METRO THEATRE, SYDNEY
Early Bird tickets HERE
FRIDAY JANUARY 23RD– HI FI BAR AND BALLROOM, BRISBANE
Early Bird tickets HERE
SATURDAY JANUARY 24TH – FORUM THEATRE, MELBOURNE
Early Bird tickets HERE
MONDAY JANUARY 26TH – ASTOR THEATRE, PERTH
Tickets HERE
