The new single from Arkansas funk/ R&B artist Jaymes Brass titled “The Tinder Song” was written during a time when Jaymes joined a cover band. While it was a great opportunity for him to stretch his abilities and learn how to work the crowd, it ultimately became one of the hardest periods of his life emotionally and creatively. Even though he was playing to packed bars every weekend, Jaymes was constantly lonely. At the height of these dark emotions, Jaymes sat down one day and wrote anything and everything that came to mind, which would ultimately turn into “The Tinder Song”.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Jaymes about the new music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
My hometown is Dumas, Arkansas! I like to create what I call psychedelic soul/R&B. When I sit down to create music, I try to treat each song like a recipe because of my background. When I began playing the drums, I learned how to emulate Prince’s Linn drum and other famous drum machines from hip hop. As I started playing the guitar more often, I studied Hendrix riffs and Nirvana. My singing voice came from singing in the church, morphing into more R&B territory as I’ve grown older. It’s all over the place and I love it.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Music has always been in my family & has surrounded me since birth. My mom always had an Al Green or Stevie Wonder CD blasting in the car. On top of that, my family was very active in church; my aunt played the piano and lead most of the songs. Aside from playing the drums at church as a kid, I didn’t take music seriously until my mom passed away at age 11. I would listen to Hendrix and the Beatles while sobbing because listening to that music made me feel less alone in the world. As an only child, I would lock myself in a room with my guitar & play until I felt better.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
I mainly wanted “Kind of Blu” to be cleaner and more concise than “R.I.P Brad”. “R.I.P” served as a mile-marker; I wanted to clearly indicate where my style & sound was at the time. With “Kind of Blu”, I was actively learning about jazz (on guitar) while teaching myself production & recording techniques. For this record, I chose to work with mixing engineer Blake Eisemann and Mastering guru Steve Corrao for a more sonically pleasing experience. Mainly, I want a song from “Kind of Blu” to catch someone during a bad day & make them dance or smile.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this over saturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Ooh, this is a tough question. It seems as if everyone is creating music, which makes it harder to appear unique to the average listener upon first glance. When I first released music, I felt ashamed to say that it was on Soundclould because the running joke in the area was/is “oh, you have a soundcloud? Interesting” I personally loved the platform, but jumped to using Bandcamp while trying to get this record mixed. Bandcamp just sounded more official. Technology is SUPER helpful because with the click of a button (or with the flash of my wallet), I can access tones and recording techniques that inspire me. Currently, I have been toying with a tape machine plug-in & the Varispeed function in Logic Pro x for trippy sounds. My cover of “Tomorrow Never Knows” isn’t 1000% finished, but it’s getting there : )
What was the last song you listened to?
‘Hunnybee” Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Ruban’s voice is super relaxing and the video seems to imply that even when everything can go disastrously wrong, fate determines all.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I PREFER vinyl, but I’ve gone through three record players in the past two years. Normally, I just listen to Youtube (my current favorite Youtube Musicians are Marc Rebillet, Charles Cornell, and ZackGrooves)
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Tidal. Tidal was the first to get Prince’s unreleased material after his passing & like most kids in the 2000’s , I…used Limewire to download music (and fry my aunt’s desktop). I HAD to get my hands on his infamous “Black Album” and other rarities, but immediately felt bad after finding out why he was so adamant about the rights of songwriters & musicians. SO I felt like the only way to make amends was to pay for his music
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
To connect with me, you can always visit my Instagram @jaymesbrassmusic or my website www.jaymesbrassmusic.com (I’m also working on setting up an official reddit). For new music, check Spotify and Youtube.
Anything else before we sign off?
Thank you so much for this opportunity & for checking out my music!
