POP / R&B ARTIST JEFFREY JAMES TALKS NBC SONGLAND WITH MARTINA MCBRIDE AND RYAN TEDDER, AND WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE “AFTERMATH”
STREAM THE NEW SINGLE “AFTERMATH” BELOW .
Q+A
YOU WERE ON MONDAY’S EPISODE OF NBC SONGLAND FT. MARTINA MCBRIDE. TALK ABOUT HOW THE OPPORTUNITY CAME TO BE, AND HOW THIS WEEK HAS BEEN FOR YOU.
SONGLAND was an amazing experience. As far as I know, they discovered my music while researching artists & songwriters for the show. Late last year they reached out and asked me to submit a few songs. I found out in late January that one of my songs had been chosen, and I flew out 3 days later to start filming! It was a whirlwind. But they really treated us well. The show, on camera and behind the scenes, really is all about the art of songwriting.
This week has been a blast! I was a little nervous about how I’d look in the episode. It’s easy to psych yourself out over something you filmed 4 months earlier. But the response has been so great! So many people have reached out about my song and my performances, and I’ve tried my best to connect with every one of them.
YOUR MENTOR ON THE SHOW WAS RYAN TEDDER OF ONE REPUBLIC. WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH HIM?
I had a bit of an out-of-body experience, working with Tedder. I remember, watching myself standing next to the piano as Ryan played my song, and I sang - It was crazy! It was also a confidence booster in one sense. Because honestly, I felt like I held my own while writing with him. Also, he pulled up Rhymezone on his phone at one point! It’s something most every songwriter will do when they get stuck on a rhyme, but you don’t think about the “big guys” doing it. It was a nice reminder that there’s no magic trick.
The two main changes he made to my song made all the difference. He suggested one melody change in the chorus that was literally just singing one note differently. And he added all the extra choir parts to the top of the chorus. It changed the feel of the song completely and for the better. I was like, oh yeah, that’s why he’s the dude.
TALK ABOUT WRITING THE ORIGINAL SONG “WE CAN BE HEROES,” THAT WAS BROUGHT INTO THE SHOW.
I wrote the original version of “We Can Be Heroes “ with Jennifer Hanson and Nick Brophy here in Nashville in late 2019 - they are a production team known at LONIS. We honestly just wanted to write something uplifting and inspiring. It’s easy to write a sad or moody song. So we worked hard to get something that was happy without being cheesy.
YOU’VE BEEN LIVING IN NASHVILLE WRITING FOR QUITE SOME TIME, IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT THE PROCESS THAT AN OUTSIDER WATCHING SONGLAND, A SHOW ABOUT WRITING AND DEVELOPING SONGS, MAY WANT TO KNOW.
We write A LOT of songs. On the show, you hear four songs. But each songwriter submitted multiple songs from their catalogs that are filled with god knows how many more songs. It takes writing all those songs to get to the one song that might be great.
AS AN ARTIST AND A SONGWRITER - TALK ABOUT WHAT SONGWRITING MEANS TO YOU AND HOW YOU BALANCE THE TWO.
Songwriting is what led me to being an artist. I didn’t think about being an artist when I first started writing songs. I just knew I loved writing words to the melodies in my head, and that it came pretty easily. But I very quickly realized how much I loved singing my own songs. It’s definitely a balancing act though. You can write every day (and should write many days), but you also need to take time to connect with your fans, build up your fan base, practice to perform live, and promote your music that is already out.
WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Alec Benjamin released a song called “6 Feet Apart,” recently. And it’s so damn beautiful. I can’t stop listening.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MARTINA MCBRIDE SONG?
I mean, This One’s for the Girls is a freaking bop!
YOU RECENTLY RELEASED A NEW SINGLE, “AFTERMATH,” WHAT ELSE CAN WE EXPECT FROM JEFFREY JAMES?
Aftermath is following my EP, “East London”, that I released in February. I put out that EP and realized I had a few singles I had been sitting on for one reason or another, and there was really no reason not to put them out! So expect a couple more singles to be releasing very soon! I’ve also been loving doing IG & FB live concerts. I’m going to keep doing those even after the quarantine is over.
CHECK OUT THE NEW RELEASE, “AFTERMATH”
