INTERVIEW: Jamie Grind

LC is lucky. Why? Because we get to sit down (virtually, via the internet!) with incredible artists and ask them silly questions about their production ethics and piracy. Enter, London by way of Leeds transplant, Jamie Grind. What follows are the results of our brief, albeit informative chat. 

Life Crushed (LC): For a moment, forget previous artists and past musical endeavors. Do your environment and/or mood effect your production in anyway?

Jamie Grind (JG): My environment is my bedroom, and recently I’ve just been making tunes in bed… so make what you will out of that.

LC: I have found that your music, with reference to its stylistic and highly conceptual nature, though at some points arguably introspective if not also retrospective, tends to exude an overall sentiment of elation. Especially when it comes in contact a club/organized atmosphere. Do you attempt to create exuberant albeit immensely cognizant music or is said boisterousness a mere cataleptic phenomenon?

JG: Yes. 

LC: Taking that under consideration, what should we as both supportive fans and an audience take away from your melodies? In other words, what do you attempt to express through your production?

JG: The usual vibe is generally quite upbeat; I listen to a lot of hip hop and rnb so it probably comes out in my music. It starts as something quite personal but then you’re putting it on display for anyone to hear so you’re always going to get people who feel what you’re trying to do/say and likewise those that think its shit. A Spanish couple recently sent me a message telling me how one of my songs had inspired them to get back together, and today I saw someone saying that they ‘couldn’t stand’ one of my songs. Everyone reacts to music in different ways and interprets it differently; some tunes have actual emotions attached to them while others are just stupid tracks with vocals in that nobody can understand (because they actually really don’t say anything).

LC: In prior interviews, with respects to our friends Generic People, you’ve stated that you, “don’t care if people download (your) music for free or not, (you) just like to release music on vinyl as it smells nice.” What are your thoughts on pirated material with regards to the bass community as a whole? Do you believe music should be shared freely or does it necessitate compensation?

JG: It’s a bit of a tricky one, because although I have no problem with my music being shared and downloaded for free, it’s not really fair on the labels putting it out. If these independent labels aren’t making money back on their ‘investment’ they’ll be reluctant to put more records out in future… As a producer, the exposure comes from releases which ultimately lead to bookings so the actual record sales to me aren’t that important - but it’s important for people to support the labels in order for the music to keep getting released. I guess if people enjoy the music they download for free they should buy a record. What bothers me is when you see certain producers on an ego trip complaining about people downloading their shit for free - if it wasn’t for file sharing they wouldn’t have as many fans as they do and they wouldn’t be getting paid extortionate amounts for playing records in clubs. The bigger people get, the greedier they get.

LC: ‘Free Tracks,’ despite being an outstanding EP is also somewhat subversive in nature, as it breaks the paradigmatic and, at times, just plain painful procedure of purchasing music digitally. Was it your intention to be the bass community’s reputed arbiter of both generosity and sedition?

JG: Some producers release free tracks when they hit a certain amount of fans as a reward for their popularity, but I’m not going to start begging for ‘likes’ on Facebook, it just seems desperate. If someone wants to follow me because they like my music then surely that’s enough of a reason without having to wave a musical carrot in front of them. Giving away an EP of free tracks wasn’t a statement; I didn’t really put much thought into it other than zip 4 tunes up and put them on Mediafire. I asked Noah Brown to design some artwork - I didn’t even give him a tittle for the EP so he just came up with that on his own.

LC: In closing, when playing at a show, mixing, or producing new material what can we do as fans to support you in this process?

JG: Paint murals of me throughout your village.

Download ‘Free Tracks’ from Jamie’s Soundcloud.

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