 It won't be long before #MusicMonday turns into #MusicMonday: Not Really in honour of award season, so how about another Q&A? This week's post features an interview with Toronto singer and songwriter James Clark who is getting ready to release his second album, Yesterday's Misadventures. Check it out below:
How does your second CD compare to your first? My first full length CD, 'Sideshow Unattraction' began merely as a therapeutic exercise. I had no real plan at the time to actually record an album. I had recently experienced a heart wrenching end to a long term relationship and my only way to deal with the emotional fallout was to write about it. Songwriting has always been my therapy. But after writing 25 songs, I began to think that some of these musical declarations would make for a good record. So, that whole album has one overall theme to it. A similar one to John Lennon's 'Walls and Bridges' or Beck's 'Sea Change'. Now on 'Yesterday's Misadventures', each song details a different experience. A different session on the couch, so to speak. I believe that I've grown as a songwriter in the time between these two records. When producer Moe Berg came on board, he really helped to define a sound for The James Clark Institute. A similar sound to the one I had envisioned for the project from the beginning, but was unable to solidify it by myself. This record feels very satisfying to me. I wanted to make a record that was comparable to the great records that I grew up listening to and inspired me to become a songwriter. What have you learned about yourself through this process? That I am not a quitter. That fact really hit home this time around. When I have a vision that I truly believe in then I am determined to see it come to fruition. It truly helps when I work with people who share the same vision as I do, which I was lucky enough to be able to do on 'Yesterday's Misadventures'. Why did you get into music? I grew up in a household that loved music. Neither one of my parents were musically inclined, however I understand that my father played drums for a short time as a boy. That is exactly how I started out. I had an older brother who had been turned onto The Beatles at an early age. He wanted to be John Lennon and he convinced me that I wanted to be Ringo Starr. It really didn't take much convincing at all. So we spent our childhood and teenage years playing in basement bands together. Soon after my father passed away at an early age, I picked up the guitar and began writing songs. I haven't looked back. Music and art (drawing, cartoonist) are my entire being. _________________________________________________________________________________________ For more on James Clark, click here. Check out his new album, Yesterday's Misadventures, on October 24th. |