On May 17th 2004 Chicago Tribune published an interview with Jim James, done by Joshua Klein. The original interview can be found here.
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My Morning Jacket handles hype
Few buzz bands live up to the hype as they make their way from the underground to the mainstream. But so far, My Morning Jacket has done so with aplomb.
The band's excellent third album, "It Still Moves"--a dynamic tour de force of spacey, classic rock-styled gems--has expanded its audience enough that the Louisville group is still touring behind the disc eight months after its release.
RedEye spoke with My Morning Jacket singer/songwriter Jim James about the band's growing fan base, name changes and hip-hop.
Is the music changing now that you're playing to larger crowds?
The thing that I've realized after playing so many shows is that people can only handle so much information at any one time. I've always had a lot of songs lying around, and I'd always try a lot of songs. We try to keep to where we're playing songs that people know, but at the same time we throw in two or three new ones. We're touring with M. Ward, and we're going to be backing him up for three or four songs. We're trying to think of as many things as we can do creatively, to have fun and to keep our minds stimulated.
Do the bigger audiences mean more pressure?
I think as long as you're giving people their money's worth, it's a good time. I've seen bands play where you've paid a lot of money and there's a lot of hype and you're expecting a good show, and they come out for 45 minutes, standing around on stage looking at their watches just waiting to be done playing. That just pisses me off, so we try extra hard--maybe too hard sometimes--to let people know we're really grateful for being there.
You changed your name from Jim Olliges to Jim James. Did it ever occur to you that going by a single name--Sting, Cher, Madonna, Prince, Bono--might have been more lucrative?
It just happened to me at an open-mic night, since it's so much easier than my real name. No one has to worry about pronouncing it. But I guess I didn't have any good ideas.
Hip-hop's the most popular music in the world, and most of those guys have great names. I think that's half the fun, making up fake names.
So will you be working with the Neptunes on the next record?
That's right, they're already on board, and we've got half the album done. [laughs] Actually, I think it would be fun to work with the Neptunes. As annoying as some of their production is, I think they've really contributed a number of good things to hip-hop. They've brought a lot more melody back. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. I've been really into hip-hop, and I've been thinking about finding someone special who was into what we do. We're really into rhythm, and I really want to take that and get someone who will make the next album really hot, rhythmically, make it really intense and locked in. Hey, you never know! Nothing's impossible.
