James Marriott: “I like the fact that there’s levels to me on a public level”
The online creator on why he values both sincerity and humour in his music.
Photo: Press
After attending an Abba tribute concert with his family as a kid, YouTuber James Marriott fell head over heels in love with music. And from that moment on, he knew he wanted to be a musician.
Quickly getting his hands on a guitar, James began to teach himself how to play songs by The Beatles, before swiftly moving on to write his own music, inspired by the likes of The Strokes and Foals.
Yet, James’ music career didn’t start there. Instead, it started 2 million subscribers later, in the midst of a successful online career on platforms like YouTube and Twitch, when in 2020 he released his first single Slow Down.
A few years later, and James is now preparing to release his debut album, so we sat down with him to have a chat about his journey as a musician, and why he thinks both sincerity and humour are valuable in music.
I know you’ve always had an interest in music, but why did you decide to pursue it more seriously in 2020? Especially when you’ve had so much success on YouTube.
I think the easy answer would be Covid. Honestly, though, I think it came down to the fact that even on YouTube I’d started making more of an attempt to explore my creativity and I’d find myself leaning into music in the content that I was making, albeit from a comedic perspective rather than a sincere one. But I’d found that there was a portion of my audience that was starting to enjoy the music that I was making as a joke, so I thought if I can make music as a joke and it be something people want to listen to, then maybe I can try my hand at something a bit more reflective of the way I actually feel about myself or other topics in my life.
Did you expect that your fans would enjoy your music in the way that they have though?
I don’t want to come across as arrogant because I don’t think the early music I was making was actually very good. I think everyone when they’re starting off has to understand what their sound is or the message they want to put across, and I don’t think I’d hit that quite yet. That being said, there’s so many cases with musicians nowadays where if they can make people laugh, then they seem to connect with them on a deeper level when it comes to the more emotional side of their music. Like if you look at someone like Lewis Capaldi, who can go and make content online and be hilarious, and then release some really heart wrenching music to follow up, and get people to connect with him on such an important close level. I think that kind of paved the way for other people to come along and try to be funny and then connect with people on separate emotional levels as well.
Is that something that’s quite important for you then? Do you feel you have to do both things?
At this point, I don’t see it as integral. I just do love both things. I think if I can have a life where I can not take myself so seriously and be able to have a joke with my audience, and let them have a joke about me as well, but then simultaneously be able to express myself through a medium that I really enjoy to express myself through, that’s a great a thing. And it leads to a very happy existence as well.
And in terms of your sound, you seem to lean into a song that builds and where the chorus packs a punch, do you have a formula for that or is it more of a natural process?
Especially nowadays when I rehearse with my band, we like to have music which just hits us. Something that jumps up in energy from time to time. I think with the album that I’m working on, the important step I’ve had to make is make sure there’s music which doesn’t do that. Something which holds tone throughout because I think a lot of pop music these days has consistency in that sense. But I do like packing a punch in terms of I want people to feel the impact that I’m feeling when I’m singing about something that means a lot to me. And I feel like that will never fully go away from my music.
Yet your music also goes into darker, more emotional aspects, with songs like Romanticise This having darker lyrical undertones, which some people probably found quite unexpected. But how was that for you putting that out?
I’m weirdly okay with it. When it’s something specifically about me, I think I’ve worn my heart of my sleeve for so long now – even people that watch me online, I’ve always tried to be a lot more honest with how I’m doing, with what I’m doing to help myself. Or I’ve always been very open about receiving therapy and my sobriety. And it just feels like with music I’m able to go a bit more in depth about specific issues that I’ve had in my life, or ways that I’ve felt. Romanticise This is one of the more severe sides of that. But I like to think that other people can connect to it on a level that they want to connect to it on. Like if they can connect it to something that they’ve been through and we can come together and sing that song for our own issues and our own catharsis, I think that’s very important to me.
Did you sense that feeling of connection when you were performing during tour earlier this year?
Yeah, I started to notice it at the end of last year when we were doing one off shows in Brighton and London. I would go outside and I’d meet people after the shows and it would be a very emotional thing. Just having people come up to me or speak to me specifically about individual songs that had meant a lot to them. I think that’s when I clocked onto the fact that from the perspective of a musician you can make something and you can have whatever intention you want with that song. As soon as you put it out, if there’s an audience there to hear it, it completely changes. It’s not your thing anymore, it’s whatever it is to someone else. Music can sometimes feel omnidirectional in that sense. But I’m so lucky that there’s been people willing to hear what I want to say and be open enough to connect to it, even though I came from a career that was quite derisory. I was just having a laugh a lot of the time, but now it seems people are willing to accept me for something a little more sincere, which I really appreciate.
Well, I think what people catch onto is the fact that you are showing all these different sides to yourself.
Well, that’s human! I think it’s so easy to pigeonhole yourself online or in music. To make yourself one thing and one thing only. One of the things I’m really struggling with but something I really want to do is making my music videos more funny. I think Romanticise This has a good example of that because it was directed by my friends Orr and Maya. And I know Orr especially comes from a similar arena as me – he’s a YouTuber first and foremost – so being able to bring him on, it was very useful to just try and bring on more of a comedic energy for one of my most serious songs. It’s a love story between me and a balloon. It’s not as hard hitting as the song would suggest. I like the fact that there’s levels to me on a public level because there should be levels to everyone on a private level.
And Romanticise This will be featured on your upcoming debut album Are We There Yet?, can you tell us a bit about the album and what the main inspirations were behind it?
At this point, there’s so many little inspirations behind it. I like having choruses which feel Sam Fender-y and Rick Ruben’s production on The Strokes last album is fantastic – I think that’s something we’re connecting to a lot at the moment between the producer and myself. But even then on a level of any indie rock that I’ve heard recently – there was a dodie concert I went to a little while back which made me fall in love with having a string quartet over indie music, which we’ve tried to do something similar to. There’s a song which feels a bit more Delta Sleep-y, which is a Brighton band I love. It pulls from a lot of places. And I think with the album I kind of wanted to get across that I’m not just trying to make the same song over and over again. Nowadays we’re trying to reach a lot of different feelings and a lot of different emotional hits, and I think the album does achieve that.
Are there any unreleased songs you can tell us a bit about?
There’s one whose name changes all the time. I had an interview a week ago and it was a different name so I’m loving the idea that I’ll be able to date when my interviews are by the way that the songs name changes. But I think it’s the best song that’s ever come out under the James Marriott name. I have a song called Don’t Blame Me which is the last song on the album, that we’re releasing before the album comes out. Honestly, when people listen to the song they’ll understand why it’s the last song on the album. And everyone I show it to, it kind of reaches the level of ‘okay, you’re a musician now’. I don’t think anyone will be able to listen to that song and pin me under the whole ‘YouTuber musician’. I think it is genuinely the best thing I’ve ever made so I’m excited to put that one out.
I’m excited to hear it! But… will there be a tour to accompany the album?
Yeah! We’re working that out. I’m really excited for it because the tour earlier this year, I think my band and myself we loved it. It was a really life changing experience honestly. I was going through a lot at the time and as much as it was hard work, it felt kind of like a holiday. We’re really excited for Australia cause we’re doing Australia in October. And then we’re having a look at having a tour at the beginning of next year I think. And hopefully hitting Europe finally.