In anticipation of the 'Globe Jam Presents…' FREE gig at Rich Mix Arts Centre this Wednesday, headliner Nate James was kind enough to chat with us about what's in store for the Shoreditch show. Read the interview below and be sure to catch the gig this Wednesday, also starring Tommy Ludgate, Sarah Grace and Cousin Avi.
So how did this gig come about Nate?
The organisers contacted me and Tommy Ludgate is a friend of mine and she said “I’m organising this great gig at Rich Mix, would you like to be a part of it and I said yeah.
Yeah, because we spoke to Tommy the other day about this gig and she said that you first met after one of her performances when you told her that you enjoyed her set.
Yeah, we were down at the Bedford in Balham and a friend of mine, Tony Moore, runs a great night down there for established and for unsigned artists as well. It’s a singer-songwriters night and it’s called the Bedford Bandstand and she was performing. I was like “Oh my God, where’s this girl from?” And it was sort of around the time that Adele and the like had come out and it was such a breath of fresh air to hear someone who had that same kind of sassiness and craft in their voice but at the same time still different from the norm that’s out there. So we just kept in touch on Myspace and Facebook and obviously on the phone as well. It turns out she works with a lot of the same people I work with, whether here or in Europe or wherever and we just became friends and she said I’m doing this great gig would you like to be a part of it and I was like, ‘Yeah.’
So in that case, you’re looking forward to performing alongside all the artists that are going to be on Wednesday’s bill?
Yeah. To be honest I haven’t heard many of the them but I’m looking forward to a night of music and celebration and just enjoying the night basically.
What are you going to be adding to Wednesday’s performance that should encourage people to come and check you out?
Well I’ve now got a raging hi-top on my head. So I think that should entertain above all else. But, yeah, I enjoy performing my soul music and I’m looking forward to be able to come down, have a little dance and enjoy the vibes.
We’re doing this in association with vinspired, the service that encourages young people to volunteer. What would be your ideal volunteering job?
Well I actually volunteered last week. I know it’s a conflicting organisation but I offered to volunteer for Orange RockCorp. Obviously, that was about getting young people involved in volunteering and just making the world a better place and that’s why we were there. Volunteering wise – I volunteered to DJ and that was my first time DJing, so that was good fun.
How did that go down?
It was really cool. Like I say, it was my very first time DJing but everyone was saying it was a wicked set. Obviously, it was tipping down. Typically, it had to rain on my day of DJing. So it was all about raising people’s spirits really. So I was going from Dee-lite ‘Groove is in Heart’ to things like ‘Love Shack’ and some 80’s pop and cheese thrown in for good measure. It was fun. So, yeah, I suppose that would be one of my favourite bits of volunteering work. But I also quite liked it when I was younger and working with elderly and helping people, I wouldn’t say less fortunate than myself but just things like taking an elderly lady to the shops to buy some food or babysitting. All that stuff. Just helping other people is what I like about it.
Why do you this kind of volunteering is important for people who are younger?
I mean, to be honest, we could generalise and say “Oh, the youth of today, they’re not quite the way we were when we were younger” and all that stuff. But to be honest, just instilling that kind of value in someone from an early age means that it will stick with them for life. So, maybe people who are younger are a bit more impressionable, and it’s helpful to say to them “This is a really good thing to do from a young age” whereas maybe when they’ve got a bit older and found beer and girls the worry is that they’d think “Oh sod off, I’m not interested.” I think anything you learn from a young age sticks with you to your last days so it’s great to start early with something like this and really get into people’s heads that they should help each other, volunteer and do things for free and not just because you want to get paid.
So what’s next in the pipeline for you then?
Basically, I’ve just finished off a new album. It’s a collaboration album with a friend of mine called Matt Gooderson from the Infadels and we’ve basically formed a new collective called Sugarsmack. The record comes out in November. It’s sort of electro-pop-soul, Gnarls Barkley-esque. Kind of a 80’s synth-influenced pop-soul fest. The first single’s called ‘We Are’ and it comes out on the 21st of November.
To find out more about Wednesday's Rich Free gig, check out our Events page.
For more information on getting involved with volunteering: http://vinspired.com/
Listen to the interview here:
Lake of Stars Nate James by LakeofStars
