On March 30th 2012 The Age published an interview with Jim James, done by Darren Levin. The original interview can be found here.
Keywords: Jim James solo
I have a lingering memory of My Morning Jacket's first tour of Australia that has nothing to do with them looking like Slayer, but sounding like Kermit the Frog fronting Crazy Horse.
At the end of their second Melbourne show at a half-full Corner Hotel in 2003, the band - who had just released their big-label debut, It Still Moves - turned down several parties because they wanted to work on new material at their hotel.
''I just like to jam in my room with my band,'' frontman Jim James said with a shrug to some rather bemused fans at the merch desk.
Nearly a decade on, and with three more acclaimed albums under their belts, does that ethos still apply?
''It just depends on the mood,'' James says from his home in Louisville, Kentucky, where he formed the band in 1998. ''Every day is different - some nights you feel like partying and some nights you don't. Sometimes you feel like being creative and some nights you feel like just unplugging completely.''
I'm speaking to James at a particularly Zen time in My Morning Jacket's existence. It's been almost a year since the release of sixth studio album Circuital and the 33-year-old singer couldn't be happier.
''I've been working on a lot of music on my own, trying to spend a lot of quality family time,'' he says in a laid-back southern drawl. ''I'm feeling good.'' But that's not to say he was pleased with the final product.
''I always have this constant nagging thing that nothing is good enough,'' he says.
''I can always do better and I can always push harder. But at the same time, I'm really grateful and really satisfied that we can pursue making art we love and are still able to pay the bills.''
James recently finished work on his debut solo album, some of which he hopes to unveil during a solo set at Boogie Festival in regional Victoria over the Easter long weekend.
''I just wanted to make a record completely by myself,'' he says.
''I've got string players on it and a friend plays drums on most of the record, but other than that I play everything myself - I've engineered it myself and I've done all the recording. I just wanted that experience.''
