Jim Salveson of XS Manchester talks to Saul Davies about each track on the Laid album and bonus Yummy content
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Ahead of the release of their eighteenth studio album, James guitarist Saul Davies chatted to TotalNtertainment about how the band have not only actively swerved turning into a “Greatest Hits” band but still as excited and fired-up to write new music. In this interview, Saul also talks about how their relationships with each other have changed over the four decades they have been a band, the special connection they have with their fans and his thoughts on their new album ‘Yummy’.
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“People I think get into James, regardless of where they are, because there’s lyrical content that they can identify with and there’s an uplift in a lot of our music that people really appreciate.”
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Saul Davies from James brings his wealth of music experience to our latest chat, where he peels back the layers of their upcoming album’s creative process. The record, a concoction of nostalgic 90s aura paired with fresh sonic adventures, emerges from raw jam sessions, a testament to the band’s commitment to pure, unadulterated songwriting. This special episode offers an exclusive glimpse into the unfinished demos included in the deluxe album – a truly rare offering for James’ fans, as Saul shares insights on the band’s approach to music creation and their tendency to leave old sketches behind, sparking curiosity about what these raw sounds could morph into on future records.
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“Yes it does. But for us, the challenges are where the magic is. We love the push and the pull. There’s not many acts that can do what we do. And true James fans don’t need the hits, that’s not what they come for – they come for the rarities.”
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One of the things that is the most difficult for a band who have been going for around 40 years is to make new music that your fans will appreciate. I think that this is one of the things that sets us apart from other bands, it is very easy to fall into the trap of playing our twenty massive songs that a lot of the world knows.
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“There are people very close to me that have to use food banks and the numbers have increased. We can’t put our head in the sand. People will and that’s their choice but I’m choosing not to do that and say, at least try. We’re limited in what we can do and I’m not in denial that we’re a bunch of musicians who’s lives are very different day by day by day by day. But I do feel we should try and do something.”
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Saul is known among James fans for his raucous stage persona and his skill at provoking audience members into exuberant singalongs. In this interview, Saul shares his latest project
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Yeah it’s very exciting. It’s been 12 years since we last did a tour like this. It’s definitely a nice way to mark the 40th anniversary, and the venues are a bit smaller than we usually play which obviously a bit in unusual but definitely in a good way, it means the shows should be a bit more intimate.
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The only problem we’ve got is the logistics of getting, like, 45 musicians on the stage. Right ? Some of them aren’t that big … We’ll make it work. I mean no, I don’t think there’s nervousness, I think we’re in really good form. And it’s genuinely a pleasure to go and take these arrangements out to people because I feel we’ve done a really good job.
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Extracts from interview with Saul Davies:
The tour in the Autumn is with Happy Mondays, are you all friends with each other?
No, not really – there is not a great connection between our bands. We are very different kinds of people culturally and all the rest of it. I joined James in 1989 and the year before that James took the Mondays on the road with them as a support band and I think there were great differences then and I think there still are now. We represent different musical traditions and different lifestyles. I think there is huge respect from both camps to each other, I hope there is – there certainly is from James to the Mondays. I think they are an amazing band who have had some incredible moments but we would not live our life like they have lived theirs.Has the song Sit Down been a blessing or a curse to the band?
Totally a blessing. Globally, Laid is our biggest song by far, so for example in the States it is Laid, not Sit Down. You learn where you are and where you are going to that people and they have their favourites. You are known for different things in different places, I have no problem at all that Sit Down proceeds us. It is only difficult if you do not know what to do with it and I think we worked out many years ago what to do with it – which is not to play it all the time and never ever, don’t ever, give it for synchronisation into a film.Do you listen to any new artists?
There has never been so much new music as there is now, the trick is getting through it all to find the stuff that connects with you. I have done a bit of work with a Manchester band called Rosellas, they have some fantastic songs. They have only been going a couple of years but they have a lot of potential. They have that Manchester swagger about them – just a real confidence and a cheekiness but underlying it all [and] the songs are fantastic. I discovered them through a friend of mine and I’m involved in a charity called Everybody Belongs Here and at the end of January this year we did an on-line concert with some of the biggest artists in the world and we called it Music Feeds. We raised a million pounds for food charities. Sam Smith was there, Liam Gallagher, Newton Faulkner and it was also an opportunity to showcase some new artists and Rosellas were involved in that. I was fortunate to be able to go to The Met in Bury and record Rosellas there for the event. It was remarkable really and an amazing day for me.There is another band too called Sound of the Sirens, two girls from Exeter who have a very English sound – they have been going for a little while now but I have been working with them too. Yes there is a lot of new music around you just have to be brave about trying to find it.
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Podcast interview with Saul Davies, where he and host Mark Millar talk about All The Colours Of You, touring, and musical favourites such Pink Floyd, Tom Waits and Dire Straits.
See link below to listen to podcast.
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