“Beach is a 6 track album, consisting of one side of songs, and another of composed guitar noises. It was written, recorded and mixed during a week long period of relative isolation in January 2021, one track a day for 6 days. Each song is set to a time stretched field recording taken on the night that it was written, these are all the sound of the road that runs parallel to Brighton beach.
The barely intelligible lyrics of the songs reflect themes of isolation, longing, finding solace in hibernation and hope in the future. Track 6 was composed to fill side B of the tape using only guitar and left over clippings of the field recordings from the songs. It’s a kind of deconstruction of the music you hear on side A.“
A little introduction to the album written by the artist. This album was released on cassette via the British label Eyeless Records. Winnipeg, MN is also from Brighton as my favorite artist Rapt and both their music projects are sounding similarly melancholic. Maybe coincidence, maybe not.., Winnipeg, MN was also part of Z Tapes compilations (Fall 2021, Winter 2022), so for me, it was not an unfamiliar name, when I received this album to check out. Somehow all the artists from the compilations we did under Z Tapes have always special place in my heart and I am always happy to share their music with you.
The album is a powerful melancholic voyage to your inner self. You can close your eyes, shut down your social media and just drift away by the sound of the songs. It can be healing, it can be revelatory, or whatever else you will experience while listening to it. If you are in hassle, wait and listen to it later when you have time. Some music deserves, proper, careful listening and this is exactly the case. I enjoyed the moment when I slowed down and focused only on the music and its atmosphere. It felt special. Can you feel (hear) it too?
I wrote to Jamie and asked him our 3 standard questions:
What inspired you to start making music and what keeps you making music?
When I was about 8 years old I begged my parents for a guitar because I thought it would impress girls and I wanted to be in Busted. Now making music is my way of processing stuff, a lot of the time I write if I’m confused or upset or about something and it helps me to understand it.
What was the most challenging thing in your music (artistic) path?
I guess meeting people who are into similar stuff, and learning to play in bands I found difficult. That doesn’t really apply to this record as I made it all myself but it’s definitely going to be a big thing going forward. I’ve played in bands for years now but I found it really difficult to let go of control at the start as I’d always recorded and played by myself at home.
What would you dream to do if anything was possible?
I’m quite ambitious in general but honestly the answer is just to go on a short tour in a band and okay my music with friends, if we’re talking about music and not being able to fly or owning a nice house or something.