“You’ve got to play a few chords and tell the truth.” Jamie Webster
Ahead of the release of his highly-anticipated debut album we caught up with Jamie Webster to find out about his musical influences and what the future holds after the album comes out.
Liverpool Noise: So, I know you’ve spoken a lot about the football recently, so I wanted to talk about your album more than anything…
Jamie Webster: Yeah, that sounds great, it’s nice to have a nice change.
LN: Can you tell me a bit about the inspiration behind your own music?
JW: Yeah, everyone’s had The Beatles phase, everyone’s had their Oasis phase. I think once I found Bob Dylan, that’s where my main inspiration comes from, the fact that all his songs were so relevant to things that had happened in the world, he seems to just be real and every song that he wrote, well not every single one but, I’m finding people resonating with me just all the time, and he was giving me goose bumps every time I’d listen to a new song. He sort of give me the belief that you can make music like that, you’ve got to play a few chords and tell the truth. If you listen to the album, you’ll see that it’s mainly lyric based, that’s where I’ve spent most of my time, on my lyrics, trying to make them relevant and make people relate to them and bring people together.
LN: Well the singles that you’ve released so far, they are really relatable especially with everything that’s going on at the minute. So, how long have you been writing the album?
JW: Erm, it’s an odd one really, because your first album is always like your life’s work really. You basically get everything down on paper, record, and then see what’s what. I mean, some of the songs on the album I wrote when I was like, 19, and then some of the songs, for example Something’s Gotta Give, was written in the past year around Brexit and stuff like that. There’s another song that’s quite a political one that’s called Change, and I wrote that when I was about 19, and another one called Common People which I wrote when I was about… I think that one’s gonna be the single after This Place, and I wrote that when I was about 20/21, something like that. I’d say a third of the album is from previous years, and then the other two thirds is newer stuff that I’ve, sort of put together when I’ve got better at writing songs the more I was doing it.
Jamie Webster This Place LFC Champions Video
LN: The singles you’ve released have done really well, does that give you high hopes for when you release the album in August?
JW: Yeah the 21st August it’s released, so yeah the singles have absolutely rocketed and they’re still rocketing, it still does like 5,000 streams a day which is just amazing really. Not all are doing as well as that but still for an emerging artist they’re still over 100,000, some are like 300,000 on Spotify streams and it’s just, it’s not something I expected, I thought it’d take a lot more time to see those sort of stream numbers. I think that’s just credit to the fanbase that I’ve built up and to all them for really being into me and listening all the time, and just people liking the music more than anything else. Coz I’ve come from the Liverpool (FC) background, when you step on the stage to sing Liverpool songs you know everyone’s gonna like it, coz everyone in the room is a Liverpool fan, but obviously when you’re playing your own music, it’s like these are your own like, little kids, you know what I mean? They’re like your babies and you don’t know how they’re gonna be received, so when they are well received you’re just buzzing that people like your music, it just gives you so much confidence.
So according to the album yeah, the campaign has been dead strong and the presale numbers are reaching all the time where I want them to reach, and once they come out on Spotify I’m confident that the numbers will be good and it’ll start to make more moves for me and get me up the ladder a little bit. But, if not, it’s not the end of the world. I’ve just put an album out there that’s true to myself and where I’ve come from. I haven’t had anyone telling me what to write, I haven’t had anyone telling me that this song’s not pop enough or it needs to be about this, or catchier, it’s just all from myself. The record label and my management have been brilliant, they’ve let it be my voice, and I’ll just be made up to have an album out there that people can listen to. If people don’t listen, that’s not gonna take no skin off my nose, but for the people that do listen to it, it’s for people like them you know what I mean? And for the rest of my life even if I’m only playing to 100 people after a couple of years, them 100 people are what matter most to me, the people who want to listen to the music, people who I think are on my wavelength. You know when people ask the questions, do you not get bored of playing the same songs in the same places for years and years, and I’ll say no because the feeling that it gives you, hearing your songs sang back at you and cheering with the crowd, that’s what you play music for.
LN: And I think that’s the same for the fans too, that feeling of being at a concert listening to a song that you love, and everyone singing it around you, it’s like a community isn’t it, everyone enjoys it just as much as the artist on stage…
JW: Yeah exactly, you’re part of it, it brings people together, it makes you feel part of something special. Even if you don’t know the other songs and that one song is your song, for that five minutes, you’re in a place that no one can remove you from, no one can take you out of that place, and that is essentially what music is. It’s that escape of losing yourself in the music, in the song, and you can have that same sort of escape when you listen to music in your headphones, but when you go to a live gig with however many other people and that band on stage, there’s nothing like it. Those are the moments in your life that no one can take away from you, you’ll never forget them.
LN: Do you think that this is the start of your own career in music, writing your own songs, away from LFC?
JW: I mean, I hope it is, I want to do this on the biggest scale possible. You want the stadiums, you want the massive tours around the world, you want everyone to know and listen to your music, you want to be heard on the radio and stuff like that, that’s the dream. But at the same time, if it didn’t happen, I wouldn’t beat myself up over it or be bitter, I’ll always be grateful for, you know, any number of fans throughout my career. I’ll always be proud of myself for having a go, and even if I haven’t gone on and done what I wanted to do, I’ve rubbed shoulders and I’ve done certain things that I never dreamt I would do. For example, Weekend In Paradise getting into the top 5 the first couple of days, that’s the kind of stuff I never ever would of thought of achieving, five years ago I never thought that could happen. But, at the same time, I’ll never dwell on what I’ve done and I’m always looking to move forward and improve so, in three years’ time if I haven’t done what I want to do, I still wont give up on it, I’ll still be there cracking my trade and just being myself, coz’ that’s all I can be.Â
LN: After you release the album in full, do you think that will give you an idea on which way your life is heading in music terms?
JW: Yeah I mean, the music industry is a very very difficult industry to crack and things change all the time, but I think I’ve had the best start I could’ve had. If I could build on that, the only place to go is to bigger and better places, if not, I’ll keep working until I’m dead basically. This is my passion, obviously the football is as well, music and football are my two passions. But, like I’ve said, music is something that takes us to places, and you don’t have to go anywhere to get to that place, you just put the music on and it does that for you. Every day is new as well, so you can go into the studio and watch your acoustics, or see your phone recordings turn into these amazing songs, and for them to have reached so many people, it’s a great way to work. Even going to my little practice room every day, where I just lock myself in there and write my songs every day, trying to learn new instruments. And then at the same time I’m knocking round the world playing Liverpool (FC) gigs, y’know for me bread and butter, it’s absolutely… I couldn’t ask for it any better to be honest, I feel like I am one of the luckiest lads in the world with what I do. Obviously it hasn’t come without hard work, but I wouldn’t have ever done it differently. And long may it continue.
Follow Jamie Webster on Facebook and Instagram for updates.
You can get tickets for Jamie’s rescheduled tour here.
We Get By is out 21 August on all major streaming platforms and you can pre-order your Vinyl copies and merch bundles via Jamie’s official website.
Sian Ellis
Feature Image Credit: Sam Crowston_LR
