James Mackenzie

James Mackenzie new single Heart’s On Fire out 9 October 2020

James Mackenzie has been busy writing, recording and touring. The Invernessian artist has been living between Germany and the UK, and first caught our attention a number of years ago when we saw him showcasing at XpoNorth. He’s been championed by BBC Radio Scotland’s flagship daytime programme The Afternoon Show as well as BBC Introducing (Rapal) and Amazing Radio. The first of four singles taken from his forthcoming debut album The Honeymoon (which he crowdfunded thanks to a large and loyal fanbase) is titled Heart’s On Fire (<< click pre-save) and is released on 9 October 2020.

See below for our recent catch up with James ⬇️

-You’ve been living in Germany for a while, how is it, are you fluent? What’s better, what’s worse?
I’ve been living in Germany for just over 3 years now - it’s brilliant. Coming from Inverness, where you can walk everywhere, it’s a big change. It took me a good few months to work out all the routes and get around, but every hundred metres or so there is a train or a bus, the transport system in general is far better. Germany is obviously a bit culturally different and it’s more organised and definitely cheaper than the UK too. A geeky (maybe Scottish) observation I made was unlike back home you can walk around the streets drinking a beer haha (the novelty wears off after a while). I’m not exactly fluent, but I’ve got enough of a grasp of the language to have a job. I make and sell coffee at one of the biggest roasters. However, I’m terrible out in the open and doing things like writing emails and reading.

-What’s the German music scene like, we noticed you’ve toured and supported a few big UK and American acts there? 

It’s such a vibrant scene here. I’d say the crowds are a little bit more subdued (or maybe polite) compared to the UK. But everywhere you go, every venue, cafe or wherever, you’re treated so much better than the UK - you are well fed, and there is always an endless supply of beer! In general, I think there is a bit more money put into the business here - venues can afford to look after the artists, so it does feel like they go the extra mile. But it’s not as overcrowded (not in a bad way) as the scene back home. Bigger country means more venues per capita so therefore there are more opportunities for artists. I’ve been lucky enough to do tours with Newton Faulkner and Tom Speight as a solo artist and with Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and SAGA with my band. 

-You crowdfunded your album The Honeymoon (which is brilliant), what made you set up a Crowdfunding campaign? Would you recommend it for other musicians and if so any tips / pointers, any advice if you don’t recommend it?

It was actually a suggestion from an artist manager I had a meeting with. They couldn’t actually take me on at the time, but one of their recommendations was that I start a Crowdfunder. It was a nervous yet exciting time, to say the least. If you don’t reach your target, you don’t get anything! I definitely recommend it though, don’t be scared to make a decision like starting a funding campaign, your fans will support you! Make sure you have some good rewards, a nice video and plenty of promotion! 

-Tell us more about writing and recording the album, we understand you travelled around a little?

I got to fulfil a dream, twice! Firstly I went to Sydney, spontaneously, to co-write and record some tracks with someone called Glenn Sarangapany. He’s in one of Oz’s biggest bands called Birds Of Tokyo. I’ve loved them for years, although they’ve never toured the UK or Europe. We spoke on Instagram and it took off from there. What an experience! I got to hang out with someone from one of my favourite bands - we still keep in touch, which is great! I then did exactly the same thing but this time with Matt Noveskey from Blue October (you might remember their emo-classic ‘Hate Me’ ) in Texas. I met him in Munich at one of their shows and I arranged to head out to his studio in Austin to work on the rest of the album. I had most of the songs penned, they just needed some tweaks. He didn’t really change much, though. Him and his engineer, Matt Meli, came to Germany in February and got to work. We recorded 9 tracks in 5 days! 8 vocal tracks in one day. Crazy! You can hear that in the record, the emotion and liberation going through the songs. I wanted to write an album about my experience so far as a musician, letting people know that chasing your dreams and making mistakes is totally fine. Matt and I clicked on that, so he knew what he wanted the record to sound like.

-How has Covid affected you, perhaps it’s a bit different in Germany compared to the UK (for example we noticed, with much envy the furlough / support scheme)? Has anything positive come from the pandemic or is it all negative? 

I’m super super lucky to have other work outside of music and that has helped me, financially, during this time. I’ve been doing some live streaming shows, I even played / have some live gigs coming, mainly outdoors, and as mentioned you get well looked after here in Germany. It was the plan before the pandemic but I’m focussed on getting my album out, and saving for my (postponed) wedding and hoping for a better 2021.

 -You are playing live in Germany soon!! Realistically, we can’t see that happening in the UK until 2021, and even then who knows how it’ll work, third capacity etc. How come you are able to play live in Germany, just better organised or outdoors or what?

Yes! I’m finally playing a few shows. I actually played a small show a few weeks ago, we had face masks on in the venue, on the stage during soundcheck and basically keeping to a good standard of safety throughout. I have a few more shows in the calendar. I reckon it’s important to stay positive! The UK is a couple of months behind Germany as far as I can tell so if it works here, it’ll work there too.

 -What’s next for the rest of the year and into 2021? 

I’m going to release a couple of singles this year, do some videos, live session recordings and then into next year I’ll be announcing some tours which will will hopefully include the UK. Then I’m getting married and I’ll release my debut album!

-Career highlights so far? 

All of it to be honest. Getting to tour with Runrig is top of the list, though. I won an award in Inverness, met Fran Healy, flew to Sydney and Austin and I’ve seen a lot of Germany playing so many shows. I can’t complain so far! 

-What’s your favourite venue and favourite festival in the UK and in Germany?

My favourite venue in Germany is in a place call Monschau which is near Aachen by the Belgian border. It’s a castle. I was opening for SAGA and it was mesmerising. I played an Open air festival last year and I was due to play festivals with bands like Biffy Clyro and Billy Talent this year, but that’s obviously been postponed. My favourite venue in Scotland has to be Ironworks. Just because it’s got so much nostalgia for me. It’s my hometown venue. I’ve worked there, I’ve partied there and of course, played there. Likewise Belladrum Festival (near Inverness) has so many memories for me. I’m booked to play next year and I can’t wait! It’ll be the first time my German band will visit the UK too!