In this exclusive interview with DSCENE Magazine, Music & Culture contributing editor Nikola Bajovic engages with the multifaceted singer James Marriott about his debut album, “Are We There Yet?“. James opens up about the nostalgic influences behind the album’s title, reflecting on childhood memories and lines from popular media. He delves into the narrative journey of the album, metaphorically traveling from the UK to Spain, paralleling his own life experiences.
James Marriott also discusses the impact of online platforms like Spotify and TikTok on his music career, the evolution of his YouTube channel, and memorable moments from recording his album.
Join us as James Marriott reveals the depths of his creative process and aspirations:
Congratulations on your debut album, “Are We There Yet?” – Can you share the inspiration behind the title and what the album means to you personally?
Quite funnily I tried to include a lot of lines from popular media from when I was a kid so I think, is it in Shrek when Donkey goes “Are we there yet?” I think it might be. I think that resonated with me but I remember joking about that a lot when I was a kid when I was the car, my sister and I would always ask my parents “Are we there yet?”. The album opens on my first word – “My mother told me my first word, I asked for more and haven’t stopped since” – I quite like the idea of pulling phrases and sentences from my childhood so that’s why it’s called Are We There Yet? It’s also a journey, the album, so that’s why I wanted it to feel like you were kind of going somewhere throughout it.
Your album narrates a story. Can you discuss the overall concept or narrative you aimed to convey with “Are We There Yet?” and how does it unfold across the tracks? – So I wanted to create an album that detailed me hypothetically leaving the United Kingdom and going back to live in Spain, which is where I spent half a year whilst at university. That’s why on the front cover you can see little trees and stuff and little buildings in the background – that’s meant to represent Granada in Spain. The songs kind of detail me leaving the country and kind of coming to terms with the fact that wherever I might be I will still suffer the same way that I would have if I was somewhere else physically, you know? And so, in ‘Denial’, I loosely speak about coming back home to the United Kingdom and in ‘White Noise’ the “I’d quite like to go home now” is a detail about my trip back. Then I use ‘Don’t Blame Me’ as a kind of cyclical song melodically so you hear a motif in ‘You Are Here’ that repeats in ‘Don’t Blame Me’ so you end where you start. The title for ‘Don’t Blame Me’ for that song is essentially “don’t blame me for still being pessimistic” and then the album can kind of repeat. It feels like it’s kind of a loop in that sense, so the journey never quite ends.
With ‘Don’t Blame Me’ making it onto Spotify’s Viral 50 and ‘White Noise’ gaining traction on TikTok, how do you feel about this rapid online success? – I take it in my stride. I think I love the fact that there are some people who’ve never heard of my music before or perhaps have heard my name but haven’t listened to my music accidentally stumbling across my music. I think on Spotify one of the highest ways in which I’m found is through a playlist called ‘I’d Quite Like To Go Home Now’ which is people going off of the TikTok sound and trying to find my song online and I love it. I just want to create connections with people online and through my music so I’m grateful that more people are giving it a chance.
Your YouTube channel has evolved significantly since 2012. What guides your content choices, and how has your YouTube journey transformed over time? – I honestly started that YouTube channel as a musician I wanted to put these little acoustic instrumental songs out there and I very quickly realised that that won’t garner any success! So I had to somewhat lean into more, you know, things that would gain views online and when I really started to take off on YouTube it was when commentary was very big – well I guess it still is – but it was a growing genre. People would talk about other things that were going on online which was not really done before then, so I leant into that style of content. These days I’m fortunate enough to have people that will watch me react to things or talk about whatever I’d like so that’s kind of what I’ve leant into more these days, on different channels obviously. I don’t really use my main one anymore as I feel a lot of pressure on it weirdly. I just try and do anything that I enjoy these days but a lot of times in the past I was kind of forcing myself into lanes which I thought would get me views whereas now I don’t really mind.
Recording an album is often filled with unique experiences. Could you share some standout moments or stories from your time in the studio? – I think one that really stands out to me is when I recorded ‘In Between’. It was in the second group of sessions that we did, I think it was in late June/early July. I remember having a really emotional day, I was really tired, and I recorded ‘In Between’ and I remember just getting very emotional because it was very difficult to sing it but also it was a very difficult theme. I remember being asked to be left alone by the people who were recording with me – Alexie and Jonno – and having a big old cry in the vocal booth. That moment really stands out to me because I think it gets across in the song and it feels like you can feel how tough it is, which I think sometimes for those kinds of songs is very important. Other than that, I’d say I loved having a bunch of my friends come into the studio at different points in time and just being a part of the gang vocals. I only wish I’d been there when the strings for ‘White Noise’ were recorded, unfortunately those were done in Finland and I was busy at the time, so I didn’t get to hear them. Lots of good stories!
“Denial” has to be my favourite song of the album. The song and its video are captivating. Who conceptualized the video, and what’s the story behind creating this song? – I remember I released the ‘Don’t Blame Me’ video and everyone thought “he’s creating a story, he’s got the balloon in ‘Romanticise This’ and ‘Don’t Blame Me’ is after that I wonder what’s gonna come at the end of the story when the final music video releases?” And I remember thinking “Wow these guys really expect far too much of me, I just wanted to have a music video towards the end with a silly lens”. So at the beginning of the video I used the exact same colour profile as ‘Don’t Blame Me’ because I wanted people to click on it and go “oh my god here we go, we’re about to find out what happens next” and then it zooms out into the silliest format I could find. I really wanted to get a Little Big Planet style video where it feels like I’m bigger than the world, like anyone who stood near the camera looks like the size of the world. So I managed to find the Go Pro Max and used that. I kind of like setting the precedent that every project there will at least be one music video where I film it with a really stupid camera – it was ‘Grapes’ in the last project with the fisheye lens and this one we used the Go Pro which I have here at my side. Who knows what the next project will have?! I’ll just make sure every single time it becomes more and more stupid until eventually becomes something that lacks so much coherence to the point where no one will actually want to watch it.
In what ways do you see “Are We There Yet?” reflecting your growth and evolution as an artist, especially considering your background in YouTube content creation? – I see it as a true statement for I’m here to stay. I’m not just gonna throw songs at a wall and hope that they stick I’m gonna commit to projects because I wouldn’t feel as satisfied creatively if I felt like I was holding myself back. I want to tell longer stories, I want to go in depth on more emotions within a longer project, I want to contradict myself and learn more about myself in the process and Are We There Yet? is just the first amalgamation of these things. I hope to continue to write projects and start to frame them across my house. I want to write as many albums as I possibly can, as long as they’re good… I’m not just gonna squeeze ‘em out. But I would say if Are We There Yet? is the question, then the answer is no. I don’t think I will ever feel ultimately creatively satisfied. I just love making things and I want that to be my life.
As fans are already listening to the album, what connections do you hope they’ll make with your music, and what messages do you wish to convey through your songs? – There’s no wider message that I want people to adhere to. I think being honest is the one thing which I’d say if you’re creating something and being an artist, I want people to be honest because I think when you’re honest is when you create the most connection. If you write dishonestly then you will create a dishonest connect. So I will always try my best to be honest, even if at times it makes me cringe. There’s a lot of songs on the album that kind of go into an era of my life where I was a bit more promiscuous and that is kind of cringe to sing about, but I was thinking about it at the time, was kind of going through it, so I thought “I’ve got to be honest with myself” and I’m glad that I was. So I’d say honesty is a big thing for me.
How do you engage with your fans, and what role do they play in shaping your content and music? – There’s a lovely interview by David Bowie where he says “Don’t play to the gallery”. I appreciate my audience so much because they let me try out a lot of different things and be myself in whatever format. I will never make music which I expect people to want or expect people to like. I will make music that I want to make and that I will like, and I hope that they enjoy it, but if they don’t then as long as I can pay my rent I’m okay with that. I don’t need to be a millionaire, I don’t need to buy a boat, I don’t need an island. I don’t need much. I just like my instruments and my friends and my cat. So as long as I have those things and I’m able to buy my cat the best food possible and write music and write big bodies of work then I’m happy.
Now that your debut album is out, what are your aspirations for the future in terms of your musical career? Are there specific directions or themes you’re excited to explore in your upcoming projects? – I’m excited to write happier things. I think the album came from a place where I was really not very happy with myself and that’s why it ends so pessimistically. But I’m really looking forward to writing something which… I’m always going to have darker thoughts, I’m always a very sentimental person, but largely I’m a very happy person these days and I kind of want to get that across in the music more and be a little more whimsical and a little happier and smile a little bit, but also have enough heart wrenching moments to keep the people that like that. I just think in general I’m a lot happier these days and I’d quite like to make some music which can make people happy in the same way that something like ‘Golden’ by Harry Styles does. I remember I used to listen to that song over and over again because it just gave me such a good feeling. I wanna have some music that makes people feel like that. Like ‘Grapes’, I feel like even though it’s very lyrically sad, it feels quite happy so I’m looking forward to writing some happier sounding things.
Listen to James Marriott’s album “Are We There Yet?” on Spotify.
love james marriott! rising star indeed !
adore hiim!