In this interview, we speak with Oakland based Headphone Hair about influences, the new project, and more.
Full Q&A, links, and streams below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
Yeah…I’ve been writing songs with friends and for myself since high school, but I’ve kind of always been limited by my ability to play any instrument really well (besides trombone). I still kept writing songs though because I really love writing songs. I suppose that’s why I’m now landing in a style that relies less on instrumental ability and more on how the song is put together. I only started learning guitar a few years ago when I hurt my knee and couldn’t go rock climbing as much as I wanted to, and since then it’s been really nice to see the impact of that instrument on the music. It’s changed a ton, and the new stuff is sounding better and better.
What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?
I think it’s been a combination of shared love of learning within musical friend groups, as well as some personal obsessive tendencies. Some of my best memories are of playing music with friends, and at the same time I really love the solitary creative editing process, whether it’s songs, videos or stories. I like the idea of taking a bad thing and making it better, even with limited abilities, and learning and growing while doing that. As for pushing it out to the public, after college I told a couple buddies offhand that I’d like to make an EP that didn’t suck before I was 25, and after I said it out loud I realized I kind of had to do it. So I’m a couple years late here, but whatever, it’s happening. Also when I finally have projects of any kind that make me really happy, I always want to share them.
Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?
Friends, for sure, but also movies I watch, and what I’m reading and listening to. My appreciation of music has been really spotty forever because I fixate so hard on certain artists or albums and miss out on the rest of the world. The only reason I’ve had any kind of reasonable musical exposure is because of friends who’ve taken pity on me and shared the stuff they love. And because my knowledge is so jumbled, I’ve always felt like I’m guessing about how something sounds or what it should sound like. So, creatively, I’m always ping-ponging between direct and imagined experience. Most of the stuff I end up writing about is a mixture of my own life, my friends’ lives and what things might have been like if things or people were different. I also love writing from someone else’s perspective–especially my friends, because I know them best, and they’re such incredible people in so many ways. That was the single worst paragraph I’ve ever written.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
As I’m still fairly new to making guitar-oriented music and recording well, I went into this EP with the idea that I would make it sound only as good as it authentically could given my technical abilities and experience. I sort of wanted to make it a snapshot, or a mile-marker of where I am right now in music and as a person. I had no intention of making some great album–it was really designed to be a huge learning experience to set me up to make the music I really love the next time around. Rob Marshall and Nic Gracia of the Canvas Group in Concord, CA have been instrumental in helping me grow through this whole process.
What was the last song you listened to?
‘Fool’ by Frankie Cosmos, but her whole album ‘Next Thing’ has been on repeat for me the past week or so. She so coo.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
MP3s because it’s the way I listen to all of my stuff, all the time.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Well I don’t have Spotify or Apple Music, and I just started a Bandcamp for the first time. I really like finding music via YouTube or friends, and if I really like it, just buying that album from iTunes. I know how much work goes into these things and I feel better paying an artist for their music than I do streaming it, etc.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?
Trying help my YouTube fans appreciate this other side of me. I think most of them only think of me as the ‘gollum sings’ parody guy through the ijameswalters channel. I did that for about a year and a half and accidentally gained some online notoriety, but it was just for funzies with my friends. This stuff I try really hard on and like much more.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?
Definitely through the youtube channel ijameswalters (https://www.youtube.com/user/Ijameswalters) but the Soundcloud looks really pretty, so maybe there (https://soundcloud.com/headphone_hair).
Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?
Yeah! First of all, thank you for this platform. Also, I work with Rob Marshall and Nic Gracia of the Canvas Group (thecanvasgroupofficial@gmail.com) in Concord. They’re hilarious and extremely professional and if you’re a bay area new artist, email them immediately. The art was made by the amazing Stacey Gabriel and Thelonious Elliot here in San Francisco. Anyone looking to make kickass album art with cool people should contact them.
