Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: Sure. So I’m a songwriter from Portsmouth, a city on the south coast of England. Portsmouth has a rich military history and is still home of the Navy, it’s also been home for a lot of writers (Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Coyle, Rudyard Kipling…). Being working class and growing up surrounded by the sea, those are things that feature in my lyrics a lot.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Fast Trains”?
A: My fanbase has grown very organically, mainly through live shows. I make the kind of music that doesn’t necessarily click with people right away on record, but once they start digging in they discover more and more to enjoy. Part of that is the complexity of the songwriting, and my sneaking things into the lyrics and artwork for the curious to find. A big element of what I do is not taking the easy route, so that often comes out in some interesting ways of sharing music and creating different experiences. For the people about to discover Fast Trains for the first time… Welcome to ourWorld.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: Tricky. There’s too many to choose from, and everything is an inspiration in some way, isn’t it – a book, a film, an overheard conversation… it all goes in the memory and turns up later in a lyric or two. I’ve never struggled to find inspiration for making music, it’s just in me and I have to do it.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the EP, “ourWorld Volume 2.”?
A: Sure. So the previous EP, ourWorld Volume 1, tackled some big topics – men’s mental health, addiction, tabloid newspapers, self harm. It was me finding my feet as a songwriter and I’m really proud of those songs. But on ourWorld Volume 2, I wanted to look at smaller details – relationships mainly, what makes them tick, funny little phrases and thoughts. If the message for Volume 1 was “it’s ok to talk about this stuff”, the message for Volume 2 is “talking brings us closer together… and sometimes further apart”.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: Escapism.
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “ourWorld Volume 2”?
A: I think the main challenge was stepping outside of my normal recording method of playing most of the instruments myself, building it up layer by layer. On ourWorld Volume 2, I enlisted the Fast Trains live band members for the first time, and we tracked a lot of the bones of the songs live. You have to keep pushing yourself and making new challenges otherwise it all gets stale.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: Gosh, big question. I think the message is that music is a way to escape whatever you need to escape from. My goals as an artist are just simply to keep improving, keep pleasing myself, and enjoy the ride.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: Diane Warren is a constant reference for me. But I’m not sure I’d want to collaborate with her… more just be a fly on the wall as she goes about her business. I’m fascinated by people who dedicate their whole lives to mastering a craft, and she’s the epitome of that in the songwriting world.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: Well if you want to be an artist, make sure you get a job that gives you enough time to actually be an artist. That sounds obvious, but it really does limit the jobs you can do inside the music industry itself, especially if you want to perform live.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: Stop being so shy.
