Interview: Band of the Week - Jay Nash - Page 2

We wanted to make the right record and we did it on our own. We did it with some really groovy people. And now we have, what I think is a really special record, so we just want to make sure that anybody who is involved is really passionate about it.

Where do you find your inspiration for your music?

Everywhere. Anywhere. Honestly it could be anything. It could be what's going on in the world politically, it could be an experience riding a metro bus, could be an argument with a traffic cop, a rainy day, it's hard to say when you're going to feel inspired enough to reflect on it. That part of it is sort of alchemy, and it happens when it happens.

Do you enjoy writing songs?

Of course! That's the best part. I've heard other artists say “I don't care about anything else, I just care about the creative process”. But for me I really enjoy all the links in the chain. Writing a song can be painful at first but then it's like the greatest thing in the world when it's finished. Like actually birthing that song into the world, it's an amazing experience. One minute the song isn't there and the next minute it is.

Does the song ever change? Can you get to the recording studio months after writing the song and find that the lyrics or the music are wrong?

Yeah, sure. I mean nothing is set in stone I don't think. It shouldn't be anyway. We're always changing, the world's always changing, the music should change if the situation dictates it. The thing that can be really interesting, sometimes I'll write a song and I'll have a whole set of meanings behind a set of lyrics. And I'll sing it, then I'll sing it again two years later and it'll have a different meaning to me. I'll realise I was foreshadowing the events that were coming in my life. That I sort of knew where going to happen, subconsciously, but I wasn't ready to consciously accept it. So later on down the road songs and lyrics will have more weight, more resonance with me than they did when they were first written. It's kind of fun.

Article Author: A.L. Harper

I'm a writer and music journalist originally from Salt Lake City, but now living in Scotland. I was a Punk/Goth in the '80s and these artistic influences have stayed with me; although a love of Chopin, chamber music, and Spanish guitar would seem to belie this. …

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