Here's a brief interview -James in advance of Los Angeles´ show coming up at the Roxy...
Photo- James in Sasquatch Festival yesterday :
Thursday, May 31, rock n’ roll royalty returns to the fabled Sunset
Strip with Beatle progeny James McCartney. Having painstakingly crafted
his own critically acclaimed and unique pop sound, McCartney has for
years been patiently stowing away musical gems, until he felt both the
music, and a career as a solo artist, were ready to stand on their own
merits.
Retrace this road to solo stardom, as the humble and heartfelt scion
of Sir Paul speaks about the personal stories behind his songs, his
off-duty hobbies and embracing his legendary lineage.
You didn’t release your first solo material until 2010? Why wait so long?
Well honestly, I just wanted to wait until I had the strongest
possible collection of songs before introducing them to everyone. And I
wanted to do this in the right way; so I waited until I felt both the
music and myself were ready.
I would imagine you would be pretty stressed/apprehensive
about releasing your own solo material given your lineage? Do you worry
or care much about “expectations?”
I’m not really… I mostly want to enjoy letting it all happen as much
as possible, and then just be who I am. I like to embrace the
connections to my family and my lineage, without either running towards
it, or running away from it.
Tell us about the track “I Love You Dad.” Is there a particular story behind it?
Well my dad had just written “Dance Tonight,” and he’d been playing a
lot of mandolin. He gave me a mandolin for Christmas, and I loved it
and started playing it a lot. I was walking around my kitchen and
playing this riff––quite like he’s doing in the video for that song in
fact––and I was thinking of my dad. That riff became the basis for the
song. In some ways, it’s a bit like my own version of his song “Here
Today” in that I was trying to say something very heartfelt to him, in
the same way he does to John in his song.
When you’re not playing music, what do you like to do in your spare time? What are your non-music related hobbies?
Meditation is a big part of my life, and I often do work with the
David Lynch Foundation. I also love painting, sculpture and reading.
Recently I did something really fun… I did some voice-over work for a
cool animated feature called The Beach Chronicles, which was an official
selection at the Miami Film Festival this year. That was great!
This is your second show on The Sunset Strip. Does this area hold any significance for you personally?
Oh, just great memories mostly… hanging out with my family, Jeff Lynne (ELO), Dave Grohl. Yeah, I love L.A.
What are you most proud of in your life?
Of being a songwriter, of writing songs. I really love this new song I just wrote in fact…
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