I perform under the moniker Wintercoats, but my real name is James Wallace. I’m a 22 year old multi-instrumentalist from Melbourne. I really don’t know what else to say. Talking about myself seems quite boring. I’m a very boring person.
What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?
My earliest memory is mainly performing in choirs and brass bands. My mother was a guitarist, so I always wanted to play guitar as a child, but it was always difficult being five and your hands not being able to wrap around the neck of a twelve string. So I just tried a lot of different instruments as a kid before playing guitar. I wasn’t gifted at anything physical as a kid, or still not gifted at anything in particular. But music just always resonated with me.
You supported Beach House earlier this year for their east coast shows; how was it playing with those guys?
The tour was wonderful. It’s always wonderful to be able to play with musicians you admire, but even more when they’re equally as wonderful as people. All the shows were a lot of fun. Brisbane and Bangalow were something special though. Alex actually turned me onto the NFL. I never quite understood American Football, so they all explained to me when Baltimore played the Broncos over breakfast.
And Sarah Blasko on her huge national tour; can you tell us about being a part of that?
Amazing. It was kind of surreal to be playing in concert halls as opposed to small venues, or pubs. It was a wonderful experience. The tour was wonderful, Sarah and her band were incredibly lovely and the shows were surreal. It’s always been my dream to play with an orchestra so I’ve been living vicariously through them.
Your new EP ‘Heartful’ out this week, is the new single ‘Halogen Moon’ a good indication of what we can expect?
I guess so. I mean I guess it sort of condenses the majority of the influences and ideas into one song. The record itself is more vocal, or acapella influenced. The instrumentation doesn’t change so much as the prominence of the instruments in each song. Some are more choral, others more string based.
Considering how dense the arrangements can be in your music, how long does it take to put an EP like ‘Heartful’ together?
Heartful took around 15 months to create. The songwriting process is usually pretty quick, but tracking and mixing the record was difficult. Generally when I’m writing the record I’m always considering what can and can’t be done to allow enough space for each section.
For those of us who haven’t been fortunate enough to see your live show, can you tell us how it all comes together?
Live it’s very much based upon the records but arranged for a more minimalist setup. I’m trying to avoid backing tracks as much as possible, so everything is built predominately out of live vocal and violin loops until I can create the recordings as close as I can live. Although some songs live feature new arrangements.
What and where was the first gig you went to?
Livid festival in Sydney back in 2003. I was actually 12 at the time but I think that’s what influenced me in terms of the music I got into when I was in High School. J5 was mind blowing as a twelve year old.
Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with?
Ah I have no idea, there’s a lot of people I would love to collab with. Maybe Renee Geyer. I’ve always wanted to make a gospel or soul record so that could be interesting.
Do you have a set process when it comes to songwriting or does it constantly evolve?
It’s always changing but I guess that’s just how the natural progression of things tend to go. When I started it was all string arrangement, now it’s more instrumental and vocal based. I mean if it didn’t evolve it would just become boring.
What is your music the best soundtrack for?
Probably a lazy raining day where you can’t be bothered to do anything I guess. Winter music, no pun intended, but intended.
What’s next for Wintercoats?
Well I guess the tour for the EP comes first now that Heartful is out. But the album is my main focus at the moment. It’s all tracked, I’m just trying to make sure it sounds right and all the sounds are coming through how I want them too. The mixing process always takes a long time. But that’s the main focus outside of touring.
‘Heartful’ is available now on iTunes and released via Yes Please / Remote Control.
