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" As a singer-songwriter, a solo artist with a guitar, I can only write so many weepie little bedroom songs. "
James Bay
Solo
I Can
Guitar
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" Some of my songs are about the feeling you belong somewhere else. But there's also something grounding about coming from a small town. "
James Bay
Small Town
Small
Feeling
" I love the intimate, single spotlight, troubadour-y quiet, delicate moments. But I also love Springsteen and screaming and shouting. "
James Bay
Moments
Spotlight
Quiet
" I used to dress up like Michael Jackson. I didn't have the glove, but I had a red jacket like in 'Thriller.' "
James Bay
Red
Like
Jacket
" When I'm writing, I need to amplify my thoughts and feelings on just a conversation that I might have had with somebody - somebody close to me. It's often the case that the people closest to me are the people on my mind the most. "
James Bay
Thoughts
Writing
People
" I write about personal experiences. I write about things that have happened to me and the people around me, so you just sort of keep this antenna up and on the lookout for things to say. "
James Bay
People
Me
Say
" Growing up, when I was at live shows, I was always hoping someone would come out on stage and say, 'The guitarist is sick and couldn't make it... does anybody know how to play all the songs?' That was always my little dream. It was a massively inspiring thing to be in a space with live shows. "
James Bay
Live
Space
Sick
" Being exhausted is all part of the fun. I'm cool with it. I'm not going to wish that it would slow down. "
James Bay
Slow
Cool
Down
" My songwriting process is painful. Songwriting is brilliant. It's a load of fun - when it works. It's really difficult as well. "
James Bay
Painful
Well
Difficult
" My family quite innocently don't understand the ins and outs of it all, but they see things like the Burberry show and the Live Lounge, so they understand the gravity of those things, but they're proud - it's cool. "
James Bay
Live
Family
Cool
" I'm very close in age to my older brother, and we had a field at the end of the road where we could run around, climb trees, play football. "
James Bay
End
Age
Brother
" Growing up in Hitchin was comfortable and easy enough. My parents had some great records - and some not-so-great ones - and that's where I got introduced to Motown and the Stones and Springsteen. "
James Bay
Easy
Parents
Enough
" There should be an element of mystique between the fans and the artist. That bit between the stage and the audience. I think that's necessary. "
James Bay
Audience
Stage
Think
" I like drawing people in the airport or on the bus or in venues. I like catching people in the moment. It's a similar inspiration for me in terms of songwriting. "
James Bay
Drawing
Me
Moment
" Up until the last minute, it was art and drawing for me. That was the first real and natural thing I thought I was good at and loved to do. But I developed a similar kind of love for music. "
James Bay
Music
Art
Good
" When I was 15, if anything, I thought I was going to be a Delta bluesman, which is so ridiculous. "
James Bay
Thought
Ridiculous
Anything
" I loved pop music as a little kid. Things like the Black Eyed Peas. If it had a catchy chorus, I was into it. "
James Bay
Black
Kid
Like
" There was a guitar that my uncle owned and never learnt to play. He sold it to my dad, and when I heard 'Layla', that was the tune that really grabbed me. I said to my dad, 'Wait, there's a guitar, right?' "
James Bay
Me
Play
Wait
" I hope to have a long career, and I don't want to be defined by things that aren't the music. "
James Bay
Things
Career
Hope
" How I set myself apart is by creating the sort of real and honest music, which is who I'm also trying to be. "
James Bay
Music
Honest
Trying
" I like it when things crescendo to a huge moment like 'Hold Back the River.' "
James Bay
Back
Moment
Like
" I bought a guitar CD-ROM because we had a new computer, but I had no attention span for that. I spent about three hours on it desperate to be brilliant. Eventually, I got some proper lessons. "
James Bay
Attention
Three
Brilliant
" Both Springsteen and Michael Jackson, who had these huge productions, could always scale them back down to just a song and a melody. All of that influences me. I also try to be a fictional writer, and sometimes I get close, but the things that resonate the most with me - and with everyone else - is what's real. "
James Bay
Me
Sometimes
Song
" When I was 16, I spent a year pushing trollies around a car park, and that wasn't fun. I didn't love working in a supermarket; it wasn't for me. It is for some people, and that's totally cool. "
James Bay
Fun
People
Me
" I spent two years playing open mic nights in Brighton, and I heard more and more people saying, 'You should give it a go in London.' "
James Bay
You
People
London