Interview Answers The Baby Jaynes

Name of members? Adam, Joe and Harry

Based in: Was London, now locally to accommodate need for own space.
When did you decide that you wanted to become musicians?
J: I think I was about 12
H: I was about 8/9, something like that. I did a bit of singing, but then I wanted to
pursue it as a career at about 16.
A: I would say I was about 9 or 10
How long has the band been going for?
A: Id say about 2 years, we started in about June 2013
J: So maybe about 2 and half years since we started.
What genre of artist would you describe yourself as?
J: It is sort of vocal harmony based pop music.
H: Maybe Alternative Pop.
J: It falls under the genre of pop music because it is based off popular music. Like
Harry said, it is alternative because it's not as sweet as Justin Bieber and One
Direction, but it is still catchy and recognisable as pop.
Tell me what it was like when you started out.
H: (erm) It was
A: Flat.
(all laugh)
J: Yeah, out of tune. (all laugh) Yeah it started predominantly through just a
mutual love of singing and just jamming through cover songs and stuff. We
started busking, that was the main thing we were doing,so it was really just
something to pass the time. Something to do in our spare time and it sort of
progressed; we started getting gig offers, so we thought that actually this could
be quite good. So it sort of all spawned from that, there wa never really a strong
intention to take over the world, we sort of just really fell into it
A: It fell into place quite early didn't it.
H: Cause we all went to the same uni, we all did music, all living in the same
place, it just sort of happened, it wasnt forced or put together.

What is your favourite song to cover?

J: Dont know really.

H: The Bucket by Kings of Leon
A: Id probably match that.
J: Id say, when its good, I think Sweet Child o Mine, but its hard to sing that so
I'll settle for The Bucket.
Have you been in any bands previous to this one?
J: (laughs) Yeah. From the ages of 13 to 19 I have been in multiple bands, there
was a time when there was a new band every week really.
A: (laughs)
J: I guess that sort of teenage boy/high school phase, the garage band type
thing. Nothing too serious, different projects and different things along the way
but nothing as serious as this has become.
When were you signed by PWS?
J: I think it was that following January (2014), officially.
H: We met Pete in September 2013, we had only been together about 4 or 5
months at that point, and we had talks and negotiations and meetings, basically
like building up a rapport with him. Then in February 2014 was when we officially
moved down to London, and then in the early March, we signed, we had only
been together, what, 9 months, something like that.
J: Yeah so it was quite a quick process.
Did he go to one of your gigs?
All: Yeah.
A: We used to have a residency in York in a place called the Hop, and we payed
there every other Friday, so when Pete sort of came across us we had played
about 20 gigs and had a bit of a following there. The atmosphere was always
good so he started to come to watch us.
How many gigs have you done?
J: What? Since we started?
A: Well two and a half years.
J: Around 400, Id say. Maybe more our maths is terrible, that's why we are
musicians.
H: On average we get about 1 - 2 a week.
J: There are a couple of weeks where we are in the studio.
A: Lets go 520. Sometimes we play 2 or 3 gigs in one day, and then we wont
play any for ages. t depends on the season; Christmas and Summer are the
busiest times.

J: Yeah we played in Liverpool to switch on Christmas lights in Liverpool1.

What was your best/worst gig?
J: I think the one we are most proud of, the one that was a real highlight of our
career was played as part of Pete Waterman - A Life in Song, a sort of This is
your life tribute to Pete. We were lucky enough to play as a part of that in July.
There was a large crowd, a big stage
H: Yeah, we were buzzing after that one.
J: Every gig has got promise, the potential to be a good gig, and we enjoy all of
them.
H: There has been one or two (bad gigs).
J: I think because we are a vocal harmony band, it is important for us to hear
each other to sing in tune. We rely a lot on the sound.
A: I think youll find a venue wont have a monitor speaker (a speaker that faces
the artist or band so they can hear). When they dont have one it becomes
difficult to stay in harmony.
H: Some of those can be relatively unenjoyable.
J: But youve gotta take those for what they are.
Do you play any musical instruments?
J: We do yeah, we play everything (on our tracks) ourselves. We have a few
session players that come in and do it better than we do it, but when it comes to
a live performance, yeah, weve got two guitars, a drum kit, a bass guitar, a
keyboard
A: Yeah it depends on the type of gig that we are doing really.
Do you write your own material?
J: Our songwriting process at the moment we write all our own stuff in house,
between the three of us.
A: We have no outside input in the creative process; in terms of actual
songwriting.
What influences your songwriting?
J: We try and fit into the [pop market] as much as we can, so we take influence
from the charts, whats popular, stuff that we like. We like to listen to album
tracks, as we find that these tracks arent quite as sweet as the big singles, what
most of the public hear. We pick apart whats in the charts, and that's really what
the song writing foundation comes from. I have more of a traditional rock and roll
background, Adam is more acoustic and melodic based and Harry has got more
of a strong rhythm. The inferno of the song comes from all three of us.
Who are your musical influences?

J: As a band we are very influenced by KIngs of Leon, James Bay, the 1975, Ed
Sheeran, Fleetwood Mac. The Beatles are probably our biggest influence, not in
their sweetness, but we really appreciate their early work. Fleetwood Mac covers
our 80s influence of music.
A: Its important to enjoy the history of music as well as current and the future.
Have you been influenced by any of Pete Watermans previous artists,
or do you see yourselves as completely original artists?
J: James Graham.
H: Great voice.
J: I think we are influenced by the success that theyve had; I mean if you look at
people like Rick Astley who is credible as an artist, he didnt really compromise
too much. He kept his integrity throughout his career which we respect. We dont
see a lot of similarities between us and other artists, but we hold a lot of respect
for many artists and bands.
Have you filmed any music videos.
A: We have a few on our youtube channel
H: they are quite experimental, not official releases.
J: Having youtube as a platform is so vital to the music industry at the moment.
H: Its something to give the people who are following us.
What do you think of shows like the X Factor?
A: Personally, I think its a great opportunity for singers and solo artists to come
forward, because obviously they form bands on there too. However, I think for a
band like ourselves its important to influence our own music and have our own
control over that, which is why it was good for Pete to leave us to our on devices.
On those types of shows it's apparent that you dont get as much control over
the writing side of it, which is important to us as a band.
H: I think it is fundamental and often overlooked. Its seen more as a
entertainment show instead of a music show.
J: Like Adam said, its very credible as an entertainment show and a platform for
launching people who perhaps couldnt break into the industry in any other way.
H: It does seem like nowadays people are more after fame as a job rather than
the result of being a musician, so for people like ourselves who have worked and
have had lessons. its like when you ask someone what they want to be and
they answer famous, no it's not the right answer because you want to be a
musician or another thing that leads you onto becoming famous.
J: It's not the wrong answer, thats their answer.
H: Oh yeah, of course. Thats my answer.

J: It's a get famous quick scheme, I think.

A: You lose the element of real music.
J: But then again, you cant argue with the success of artist like One Direction,
Little Mix, Olly Murs, there will always be exceptions to the rule.
A: Its a good thing for certain people. For us, its not. We would rather be here.
J: Ask us when we are forty, though
(all laugh)
Tell me about your plans for the future.
J: We are currently working on our debut album. We are trying to put together
songs that we are all comfortable with so that we can have one clear sound for
our album.
H: We have about 30 songs, so we have a lot of room to negotiate.
A: We are taking our time with it.
Are there any artists that you would like to collaborate with?
J: Anyone that's in the charts at the minute. But, seriously, The Last Shadow
Puppets are bringing out an album next year, so I would like to collaborate with
them.
H: Bruno Mars, if its feasible.
J:....Its not
(all laugh)
H: Ed Sheeran.
A: As a band, Ed Sheeran.
J: As a band, I think Haim. I think wed do well with them.
A: We love Haim on this table.
When is your next gig?
J: We are playing in London on Saturday (21/1/2015)
H: Somewhere in Kings Cross.
J: It will be fun
H: We get to go to London so thats always fun.