From The Surf To The Studio With James Abberley

James Abberley, with his warming, coastal acoustic sounds and gently pulsing minimalistic beats has just released his new single 'You're The One' (out Oct 30).  We got in touch with him to talk about the release, his approach to performing and his tour in NZ at the beginning of the year.

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Congrats on the release of the new single James. Can you tell us what the inspiration was behind the track?

The song is about that moment when you are trying so hard to fall asleep, but no matter what you do you just can’t get that special person out of your head. It’s amazing to me that you can feel like a slave to your own thoughts. Ironically I couldn’t get the melody out of my head late one night, so I crawled out of bed and quickly recorded it.

What's the process like for you with songwriting, recording to having a finished product?

Its honestly different every time! Sometimes it takes minutes, and you cannot stop the flow of creativity, it’s like you’re just a gateway for words and cords. Other times you really have to force the point and have a fight with the song until you have bashed it enough that it just gives up and lets you hear it. I think there would be even more music in the world if Artists were able to hold themselves accountable to finish everything they started. I think most people finish less than 10% of what we start.

When performing live, how do you go about blending your electronic sounds into your set and what kind of equipment do you use to make this happen?

I play sitting down most of the time behind a kick drum acoustic guitar and a mic.

I tend to strip the songs back when I play live, I have always enjoyed how some of my favourite Artist's play different versions of a song when I go see them live. I think the execution and the performance is more important to me than the production and that has always been at the forefront of performing for me.

At the beginning of the year you toured in NZ, what was that like and where would you tour next when it comes time?

The tour was a lot of fun! My good mate and fellow musician Askya and I had been wanting to do a tour in New Zealand for some time, and it was really worth it when we finally got over there. We hadn’t played there before so it was really nice and humbling to sell out 4 of the 6 shows. 2020 I really wanted to book a European tour, but I think it could be a while yet.

Having already played so many shows since restrictions have eased, how would you summarize WA's return to live music and the support of the fans?

It really is scary to lose something you love, as an artist playing live music and creating an energy and a vibe that everyone can enjoy has always been so liberating and fulfilling for me. For others it may be the love of supporting live music, or maybe you might feel more mentally healthy socialising with good friend’s end enjoying music together. Music is good for the soul and It is obvious that we are all glad to be able to enjoy it all together again. 

There are some long drives in between shows for you on the West-coast, what do you do to keep yourself entertained?

I drink A LOT of Coffee and sing a lot of songs haha

I definitely like to use the time to listen to my music catalogue and try and reflect on some of my pending projects. 

 On a perfect, sunny day off, what are some of the things you'd get up to?

I find it really hard to switch off actually, I love my work and music is as much a sickness as it is a passion for me, the best kind of sickness of course. I also love to surf so I will normally head out for an early morning wave, and then to be honest I just want to work on music again after that haha.

As 2020 is approaching its end, do you have any goals for 2021?

My goal is always the same, enjoy your life and love how you spend your days. 

'You're The One' Single Tour 

Nov 6 - The Aardvark, Freemantle | Event Page

Nov 13 - Vancouver Arts Center, Albany | Event Page

Nov 21 - Little Village, Margaret River | Event Page

All tickets via Eventbrite.com.au