Pop-Culturalist.com

Liverpool singer-songwriter Jamie Webster has emerged as one of the breakout artists of 2020. He’s spent years performing in front of live crowds, working his way up to the place where he can say he’s standing on his own two feet in the industry. Today, he releases his debut album, We Get By, which highlights his journey as a musician and man. Plus, we have a special video of Jamie performing “This Place” at Jäger Soho.

PC: How did you discover your passion for music?
Jamie: My passion for music came from me mum. Me mum’s a massive music fan. She’s always had records on in the house, in the car when she was taking me to places as a young kid, and she was the one who wanted me to learn an instrument. She made me go to guitar lessons when I was a young lad and I never really liked going. I just wanted to play sports and stuff like that. But yeah, thankfully, she always said to me that I would thank her one day. I will today when my debut album comes out.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Jamie: Personally, me mum. She got me into guitar. There was a time when I stopped when I was about eleven. But when I turned fourteen, I fell in love with music again. It was the Beatles, Oasis, Kings of Leon who really hooked me into the music scene. I picked up the guitar and luckily there was a bit of muscle memory. I taught myself some chords. Me mum was the first main influence in me liking and playing music. But then once I got into listening to tunes and playing guitar, my biggest influence became Bob Dylan without a shadow of a doubt. He’s definitely my number one. He’s someone that I can listen to in any mood and during any period, no matter what I’m listening to that day. I could always put on a Bob Dylan song that would fit the mood.

PC: You were performing live music for over a decade before you decided to pursue music professionally. What went into that decision and what did you learn about yourself performing live?
Jamie: What I learned about myself performing live was that me main strength was performing live. It’s entertaining the crowd and I can hold and judge a crowd. I’ve played in many, many different situations, and towards the end of those ten years, I came out on top, having won the crowd over.

I got me roots playing music through LFC. That’s where I gained my main platform, which gave me the opportunities I’ve had. I’ve been writing my own songs for the whole time that I was doing the LFC gigs. I played in bands when I was fifteen and sixteen. It got to the point where I was able to live off that, playing those LFC gigs on the weekend, giving me the time midweek to not be on a building site and to be in the practice studio where I’m sitting right now.

Thankfully, I got myself a record deal. I came to a point in my life where I thought, “I’m twenty-five. The time is now. If I’m going to go all out and pursue it as a full-time profession and career, the time is now.” That’s exactly what I did.

PC: Your debut is out now. Tell us about We Get By and what you hope to say with this body of work?
Jamie: It’s a tale of the struggles, the joy, and the escape of working-class life. It’s a massive piece of me and the things I’ve seen, the things I’ve witnessed, the things my friends and I went through both together and separately, the principles and values that I’ve gained through growing up in the place that I have. There’s also talk about politics, but we shouldn’t go into that too much because we’d be here for three years. It’s strongly worded, strong lyrics, great melodies, and the backing band I’ve got behind me is absolutely second to none.

PC: If you had to pick one song off of We Get By that best encompasses who you are as an artist, what would it be and why?
Jamie: That’s a good question. It’s a tie between “We Get By” and “The Joker.” “We Get By” is a great summary of the album and my attitude towards life. It talks about the struggle of the daily grind, the little nitpicks that wind you up on a day-to-day basis that you can’t avoid in life, even to your house not being decorated and stuff like that. It’s all those little quirks that we go through. It’s a hard life, but the little bit we have to spare, we have to have a good time and we need to enjoy ourselves. That’s me in a nutshell. I’m a hard worker. It’s not glitz and glamor. It’s real.

I enjoy the good times that I have. That’s how we should all live our lives, unless we have an opportunity in which we can have those little extra things as luxuries all the time. “The Joker” sums up my views towards the system. It’s big on mental health, that song. It’s about someone being abandoned by the system so many times that they eventually turn into a villain. It asks questions like can we prevent that? Maybe we should take notice in how those people are acting, the fact that they put on a smiling face all the time, the fact that their comedy isn’t to our subject. All those things. There needs to be things in place so that these people stop falling through the grid.

PC: With this being your debut album, did anything surprise you about putting this collection together? What was the biggest takeaway?
Jamie: I’m new to this whole thing. I just started in this industry about a year and a half ago. When it comes to recording and releasing music, I haven’t spent too much time in recording studios. I haven’t worked with management. I haven’t worked with marketing. I haven’t worked with anything like that. To go from a building site basically into this world, everything was a surprise. Every day was a new day. The whole experience was unbelievable. I had one of the best years of me life, traveling the world, playing music, and recording this album. I’d say a third of the album is from years ago—songs that I’ve kept with me that I wrote. But I’d say two thirds of it has been written since I signed that record deal.

But I think that the main takeaway from it was that I feel that I’m on my own two feet in the industry and I know I can do it. I’ll obviously use the resources that have gotten a lot better now, and I’m looking forward to what the future brings.

Watch Jamie Perform “This Place” at Jager Soho

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Jamie: Elton John. Fans might be quite shocked to know that I’m an Elton John fan. I actually went on a holiday with a girlfriend to Amsterdam to see Elton John play. It was amazing. He and Bernie Taupin have written so many hits over the years. Most people will know more Elton John songs than they actually think.

PC: First album you bought?
Jamie: It was either The Documentary by the Game or 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Actually, it might have been the Squeeze. They were quite a big band in the UK years ago. Me mum and dad both loved them. Me mum loved them first. Then me dad liked them because of me. I used to always listen to the albums in the car. I remember asking my dad for one of the Squeeze albums for me birthday or something like that so I could have one for myself. It might have been that.

PC: First concert you attended?
Jamie: That’s a good question. It was a Snow Patrol concert after their first album or it was Arctic Monkeys after their second album. Both were memorable. I went to Snow Patrol with me mum because we both liked Snow Patrol.

PC: An album that changed your life and why?
Jamie: Definitely Maybe by Oasis. I got into the Beatles when I was coming into music and certain Oasis songs like “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back In Anger,” sort of dragged me in. I listened to Definitely Maybe for the first time as a young lad. It spoke to me on so many different levels. It gave me the inspiration to go and pick the guitar again. It was quite similar but quite diverse in its own way. Everything was amazing.

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
Jamie: It’s got to be the Arena in Liverpool. It’s called the M&S Arena now, but I always knew it as the Echo Arena. It’s got to be that. That is where I saw all those big concerts that I mentioned. To headline to ten thousand people would be amazing. As far as a festival, I want to play the Glastonbury. It’s my first place to go. If I was to go anywhere in the world, it’d be Glastonbury.

PC: A must-have on the road?
Jamie: Milk and honey is a must-have. Hot water, lemon, and apple cider vinegar. When I perform, I give it a hundred and ten percent. There’s no holding back. I sing really loud. I sing as loud as I can. Even though there’s a microphone there, it doesn’t matter. I do struggle with keeping my voice in top shape on tour. Those are the things that I need to have to keep the level that I need to be at.

To keep up with Jamie, follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Spotify. Pick up or stream We Get By today.