James Walsh has been off a London plane, on Australian soil, for about three hours. After the tiniest of kips he is, he reckons, “A little bit spaced out but not too bad…” Nonetheless I am taking it easy on him, knowing that his mind might not have caught up with his body yet. I needn’t. His jetlag hasn’t kicked in properly, and the ex-Starsailor frontman is as considered and lucid as I imagine he would be in the best of circumstances.
His trademark shyness is present – an endearing quality in a man who’s angelic voice and gifted songwriting has taken him around the world and propelled Starsailor into a fantastic ten year run of album sales (in the millions), superstar performances and supports. Having toured with everyone from the Rolling Stones to The Police and The Killers, as well as fronting festivals in the vein of Glastonbury and T In The Park, you can imagine it would be quite a different beast touring as a soloist, without the backing of your school friends and bandmates.
The funny thing is, says James, “You feel like you’re ready now – and you’ve already had the big album [laughs]…I’m probably more mature and experienced to cope with the things that go along with having success now. But I’ve still got the opportunity to come out and play on the other side of the world, so…” it’s certainly not all bad.
It’s true that he has taken to a solo career with aplomb – exploring different projects, accepting collaborative experiences at his leisure – though he confesses that working without a band, as it were, can definitely be “a double edge sword” where the best and the worst aspects are almost in conflict.
“The best,” Walsh says, “is definitely the freedom; particularly with the band, we were all friends so we were all very honest with each other having grown up together since we were 15 or 16. If anything was ever crap you certainly hear about it; we’d tell each other. But now, whatever influences me or inspires me can go into a song. I guess the downside to that is not having them to lean on with their input and their good ideas…”
Naturally, that lends itself to a certain trepidation when faced with the prospect of releasing his first solo record. (An EP Live At The Top Of The World was birthed in November 2010).
“I guess so, yeah, ’cause it’s got to stand up with the Starsailor material. I guess that’s why it’s taken so long, and the balance that’s hardest to strike is in creating something fresh and original that’s still got that strength. Not wanting to alienate your fanbase, but not wanting to churn out the exact same thing for them again and again – it’s trippy,” he drawls, in such a way that the plague of jetlag sounds eminent. The album itself, was primarily slated for an early 2011 release. 12 months later and James admits it’s a couple of months away still.
“Hopefully by the end of the year. It’s been delayed by all the other projects that I’m involved in,” he says, conceding that too much work is a pretty good problem to have.
“What’s happening is I’ll write a few songs and then go away and write with other people for soundtracks or whatever and come back with a whole new set of ideas. I think we’re really close [to properly defining the tracklisting] – it just took a while to get the key tracks right, and make sure we had a few bona fide ones.”
Writing with other artists – he has been working with Suzanne Vega, Christina Perri and Sacha Skarbek (Duffy/Adele) for example – has proven to be a surprising source of inspiration, one he is embracing wholeheartedly. Rather than being reluctant to hand songs away to other artists, Walsh’s experience has the exact opposite effect.
“It is really inspiring. It’s great to write a track with someone and for them to take it out on the road. [As well,] to meet new people and get new respect from a new batch of songwriters and artists coming through – I’m always really chuffed. Like, I went to see Christina Perry the other night and she played a track that we wrote together and she said [to the audience], ‘I wrote this one with James,’” He laughs shyly. “That was fantastic, I was really honoured.”
Obviously, though, says James, when collaborating he can only do so much: “The emotional content has to come from the artist. I can come up with lyrics and melody ideas but it’s got to relate to you and your experiences.”
In his own material, as with many songwriters, the simple pleasures in life often prove the most inspiring, lyrically. “Oh, definitely. Being a dad and being a husband and all the joys and brilliance and downsides – although there’s not been many of them – goes into the song sometimes. My daugher’s nine now, which is a brilliant time,” he laughs at the thought of her, and, probably, her burgeoning opinions on what’s “cool”. “She’s starting to develop her own taste in music.”
It is poignant that James discusses his little girl as he has just now returning to Australia. The last time he toured down under, she wasn’t even a twinkle in his eye, and the celebrated band, Starsailor, were the toast of Europe and the UK, riding an enormous wave of success. Touring here with Alex Lloyd (remember him?) James best remembers the people, rather than any debaucherous rock’n’roll tales.
“What was most funny was that sense of humour and sarcasm that us Brits seem to also possess. We’d come from doing shows in Europe where we’d had all this ridiculous praise thrown at us. It was like coming back to earth coming down to Australia – in the best possible way”
“It was like, ‘Yeah, your music’s good, but calm down a bit…’ That’s what I liked about the place. There’s a respect there and people appreciate good music but there was none of that hero worship like in other parts of the world. It was, ‘Well, you’re a normal bloke, you can come to the bar and have a beer with us,’” he laughs.
An Australian tour, in fact, comes highly recommended from James Walsh: “It’s good for any artist’s ego to come to Australia and realise the end of the day you’re just a guy. I think it’s great – it’s the best attitude to have. It makes you work that little bit harder.”
James kicks off his tour tonight in Brisbane.
Special guest supports are Sarah Mcleod And Jackson Mclaren.
Brisbane: Friday 16th March – The Tempo, www.oztix.com.au
Byron Bay: Sunday 18th March – The Great Northern www.oztix.com.au
Melbourne: Friday 23rd March – The Esplanade Hotel www.oztix.com.au
Sydney: Saturday 24th March – The Standard www.moshtix.com.au
