Jamie King

“My songs all derive from growing up.  The hardships, good times, taking risks, failing and then picking myself up again.  The fear of the bigger picture but also hope.  I guess it’s mostly about trusting in the emotional roller coaster of life” explains Jamie King.  “Music is my obsession and I want to spend the rest of my life making it, as that’s when I feel most fulfilled”.  

Born to Scottish roots in Edinburgh in 1980, King emigrated with his family to Durban in South Africa when he was 2.  Growing up by the coast in warmer climates pushed him towards developing a passion for the sea and a competitive interest in bodyboarding.  “I always thought it would be cool to be a pro bodyboarder, I looked up to all the older guys I hung out with and they always got the girls” laughs King reminiscing about his youth.  However his choice to leave school at 16 and undertake a home correspondence course to further his studies marked a turning point in his life. Through the inevitable solitude of working away from the classroom it sparked his interest in music and led him to hang up his wetsuit and pick up an acoustic guitar for the first time. 

Throughout this time King’s musical tastes were gravitating towards artists as diverse as Ben Harper to Ronnie Size, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Neil Young and he still sites such diversity as the basis for his writings. At first he began song-writing as a private avenue to document and transpose his experiences and feelings through music and lyrics, taking inspiration from the people he met and environments he found himself in. However soon his writing embraced everything he did and his vision changed, “I wanted music to be more than just what I heard on the radio.  I wanted my music to be on the radio!” King enthuses.

Following his 18^th birthday King headed to Cape Town to study graphic and web design, whilst keeping his musical talents quiet apart from when providing the bushfire fairytales at drunken beach parties.  He worked as a runner in the film industry to earn some much needed cash and this introduced a job working as a presenter for a marketing company.  King would present promotional stage shows for big brand clients to large audiences and found entertaining people came naturally.  The confidence boost this provided fuelled his dream of becoming an accomplished singer/songwriter and King became focused on making it happen.

18 months later came the opportunity to go to Norway on an exchange programme and it was during this time in Oslo that King got a shot at producing a demo.  This demo received certain critical acclaim and he was advised to apply to the London Music School to receive proper musical training and direction. He was accepted soon after and happily relocated to London to study vocal technology.  During his time at LMS he found himself propelled into writing and recording ‘These are the days’ and ‘Desire’, which both appear on his self funded debut album, Inner Core.

The natural progression was to find a manager with the ultimate goal being to secure interest from a label.  Through NME King got in touch with PYE Music and his manager Zack Rise, which provided an introduction to Ben Jones a producer with an enigmatic mind and a successful background in music production (12 hits in the UK top 20).  With the music and enough songs penned for an album, a production team in place and a little help from his friends, including Martin Skarendahl from the Hoosiers and Duri Darms on Guitar and Bass and Emma Wilson on backing vocals, it was recorded without delay.   

Inner Core is the result of a collaborative vision from the minds of both King and his production team and can be described as pop sophistication at its classiest.  It’s a feel good plethora of songs, which demonstrate the versatility of this young artist.  An eclectic mix of the of the Dandy Warholes with ‘Let the Good times Roll’, the beach inspired free spirit undertones of Ben Harper and G-Love and the electric sound of Maroon 5 thrown in for good measure.  The inclusion of catchy hooks on tracks such as ‘These are the Days’ and ‘Feeling Love’ and the addition of rap combined with a strong guitar and bass present throughout reveal the willingness to write songs to keep the listener captivated, whilst laying himself bare through the lyrics.

Since completion King has been promoting Inner Core and whilst devoting himself to gigging in and around London, he has also received a lot of air play despite not yet being signed to a label.  His website and Myspace are a hub of activity with his chosen tracks receiving substantial daily plays and his fan base ever growing.  The future is bright and King himself remains upbeat: “without meaning to sound arrogant my mantra is self belief beyond belief, because without it I could allow myself to get side tracked by other things.  This is my dream and as long as I keep writing and performing I am living it!”.

www.myspace.com/jamiekingnet

Feature by Francesca Strange

Chuck
Posts: 1

Re: Jamie King - Singer/Songwriter
Reply #1 on : Fri July 25, 2008, 15:44:33

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Jamie King is the greatest singer EVER!!! I love him.

Xxx

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