“Swipe Right” il singolo di debutto di JAY-D

Lo abbiamo annunciato lo scorso 9 luglio con il teaser e finalmente stasera a mezzanotte esce SWIPE RIGHT su tutte le principali piattaforme di streaming e, in contemporeanea, anche il video!

Il singolo di debutto di JAY-D, cantautore / produttore e polistrumentista britannico, è stato scritto come antidoto al “mood da lockdown”: perfetta la combinazione del funk-soul della vecchia scuola, rivisitato in chiave moderna con un testo che parla degli incontri tramite social, che spesso nascono come divertimento e in modo leggero.

L’abbiamo ascoltata più volte in anteprima per voi: un bel groove di batteria, basso e chitarra funky accompagnato da archi e fiati, ci ha portato subito in atmosfere disco di estate spensierate.

Il nostro master Riccardo Lancioni di Alta Infedeltà su Orme Radio lo ha intervistato: 5 domande chiave, in attesa di poterlo avere ospite in diretta dai nostri studi nella prossima stagione.

Ci piace molto l’idea di JAY-D di aver pensato all’Italia come luogo per debuttare oltre alla sua Gran Bretagna, siamo onorati di averci scelto e ci piacerebbe sapere sui nostril social cosa ne pensate!

E dunque, buon ascolto, buona visione e buona lettura!

E non dimenticate di seguirlo su Instagram, per le prossime novità musicali di JAY-D!

5 DOMANDE A JAY-D

D. Cominciamo con una citazione di David Byrne: “Come sono arrivato qui?” Raccontaci un po ‘di te e delle tue precedenti esperienze prima di questo nuovo singolo

R. Sono un cantautore-produttore con oltre 35 anni di esperienza in creazione, registrazione, produzione di musica e concerti dal vivo. I miei gusti musicali spaziano dal jazz al metal con quasi tutti i generi rappresentati nel mezzo. Adoro particolarmente l’era discoteca-soul della fine degli anni settanta e dei primi anni ottanta, principalmente per degli straordinari talenti di alcuni bassisti di questa era, che mi hanno ispirato prima di tutto a diventare bassista.

D. Il basso è in primo piano nelle tue canzoni: sei più un Mark King (Livello 42) o Louis Johnson (Brothers Johnson)?

R. Direi che Bernard Edwards, Jerry Jemmott e Carol Kaye della famosa Wrecking Crew, così come altri musicisti come la leggenda dei Motown James Jamerson sono i miei punti di riferimento. Sono stato anche fortemente influenzato da Jaco Pastorius, Rocco Prestia e, in seguito, Norman Watt-Roy della band di Ian Dury, The Blockheads, con cui ho avuto modo di conoscere e persino lavorare nel 2012.

Adoro sia Mark King che Louis Johnson, preferisco creare un mio groove a fianco del batterista, “slappando” se necessario, tecnica meno popolare adesso rispetto agli anni ’80.

Anche se il mio strumento principale è il basso elettrico, mi ritengo un polistrumentista: suono la chitarra, la batteria, le tastiere (durante le registrazioni) e di tanto in tanto, anche il contrabbasso.

D. Le tue canzoni sono prevalentemente edificanti. È un messaggio chiave che vorresti recapitare?

R. Penso che il mondo abbia bisogno di essere guarito già da ora, l’umanità ha bisogno di curare se’ stessa e tutti abbiamo bisogno di respirare aria pulita. Credo davvero che il pianeta abbia bisogno di riposo dall’umanità e da tutti i mali. La recente pandemia ci ha insegnato che la vita è veramente breve e che nessuna somma di denaro può riacquistarla una volta andata.

Provo a scrivere canzoni edificanti, che riflettono come mi sento e spero che gli ascoltatori provino lo stesso.

D. Come vedi il futuro dei musicisti e della musica dal vivo dopo il lockdown?

R. Penso che la musica dal vivo tornerà, non sono sicuro in quale forma o quanto tempo ci vorrà, ma dovrà essere dopo che tutte le restrizioni saranno state revocate. Spero molto presto.

Q. I tuoi dischi da “isola deserta”?

R. (in nessun ordine particolare, ce ne sono centinaia ma questi 10 pezzi mi farebbero sopravvivere per un po’)

1.Ai No Corrida (Quincy Jones)

2. Heat Wave (Martha Reeves & Vandellas)

3. Best Of My Love (The Emotions)

4. Could You Be Loved (Bob Marley)

5. Rock n Roll Star (Oasis)

6. Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (Ian Dury & the Blockheads)

7. Birdland (Weather Report)

8. Saints of Los Angeles (Motley Crue)

9. Good Times (Chic)

10. Old Time Rock & Roll (Bob Seger)

IL NUOVO VIDEO – SWIPE RIGHT – JAY-D (dal 18 luglio)

Seguite JAY-D su instagram, per non perdervi le prossime novità musicali!

Instagram: @jaydmusic_

Ma anche su Spotify, Deezer, Amazon Music, I Tunes, Apple Music, Tik Tok

LA REDAZIONE

ENGLISH VERSION – INTERVIEW & BIO

Q. Let’s begin with a David Byrne quote: “How did I get here?” Tell us a bit about yourself and your previous experiences before this new single

R. I am a songwriter/ producer with over 35 years of experience in creating music, recording, producing, and live gigging. My tastes in music range from jazz to metal with almost all genres represented in between. I particularly love the disco/ soul era of the late seventies and early 80’s, mainly due to the extraordinary talents of some of the bass players of this era, who inspired me first and foremost, to become a bass player.

Q. Bass playing is at the forefront in your songs: are you more a Mark King (Level 42) or Louis Johnson (Brothers Johnson)?

R. People like Bernard Edwards, Jerry Jemmott, and Carol Kaye of the famed Wrecking Crew, as well as other early players such as Motown legend James Jamerson. I was also massively influenced by Jaco Pastorius, Rocco Prestia, and later, Norman Watt-Roy of Ian Dury’s band, The Blockheads, whom I got to know and even work with on one occasion. I love both Mark King as well as Louis Johnson but prefer to create a groove and sit there tight with the drummer, I do play a little slap bass if needed but it is not as popular these days as it was back in the ’80s.

I am a multi-instrumentalist, although my main instrument is electric bass, I also play guitar, drums, percussion piano/ keyboard (when recording) and double bass occasionally.

Q. Your songs are predominantly uplifting. Is that a key message you’d like to deliver?

R. I think the world needs healing just now, humanity needs to heal itself and we all need to breathe clean air for a while. I truly believe the planet needs a rest from humanity and all it’s evils. The recent pandemic has taught us that life is sometimes cut short, and no amount of money can buy it back once it has gone. I try to write uplifting songs, that resonate with me, reflect how I feel and I hope the listeners feel the same.

Q. How do you see the future of musicians and live music after the lockdown?

R. I think live music will return, I’m not sure in what form or how long that will take, but it will need to be after all restrictions are lifted. I hope very soon.

Q. Your desert island discs?

R. (in no particular order, there are hundreds but these would keep me going for a while) 

1.Ai No Corrida (Quincy Jones) 2. Heat Wave (Martha Reeves & Vandellas) 3. Best Of My Love (The Emotions) 4. Could You Be Loved (Bob Marley) 5. Rock n Roll Star (Oasis) 6. Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (Ian Dury & the Blockheads) 7. Birdland (Weather Report) 8. Saints of Los Angeles (Motley Crue) 9. Good Times (Chic) 10. Old Time Rock & Roll (Bob Seger)

JAY-D BIO

I was born in Rotherham, a mining and steel producing town in South Yorkshire on March 10th 1967, and took a very keen interest in music from being around five years old. My Father, a guitar player in bands and duos throughout the working men’s club circuit in the sixties and seventies, bought me first, a kids drum set, then a nylon strung classical guitar but I hated that, because that came with lessons in an after school guitar class. All I really wanted to know was how to play rock and roll, I quit soon after and started to play along to records of the time in an attempt to learn, as well as teachings from mates who seemed to know what they were doing.

Eventually however, I found the electric guitar and electric bass and became proficient enough to bang out basic chords and set them to words that seemed to rhyme. I played both bass as well as guitar for many years before transitioning full time onto electric bass in late 1989. My early guitar and drums experiences would serve me well as I became more and more involved in writing and producing music, plus the chord work and soloing experience of being a guitar player were always very useful when I was recording stuff. Whilst I enjoy being in bands and having the friendship this brings, I do like to record on my own, just using session musicians if needed, but mainly, I do everything myself, that way I can work at my own pace and take as much time as I need, plus I keep control of the recording this way.

Through the 80’s and 90’s series of bands followed, including Stiletto Rox, a Manchester based outfit, that was signed to a small, now defunct inde label, Slik Records, and its sister publishing company. SR released two singles and recorded a third as well as an album. Neither of the latter ever saw the light of day, and the band broke up in late 1988.

A mixture of other bands followed until the mid 1990’s which saw a hiatus of a few years, a chance to get a day job, finally have some money, and to buy things like my first house, get married and divorced (twice) and to have two beautiful daughters. In the meantime however, my basses, guitars and other gear were gathering dust until one day, whilst browsing in my friend’s music shop, my imagination began burning a big hole in my credit card, whilst seeing a demo of the latest Cubase recording software.

I was sold, and left the store with over a thousand quid’s worth of recording equipment, but no clue how to use it. The song writing journey though began all over again, with a keen interest in production, once I had learned the basics of Cubase. For many years this was on the strict basis of “for my own pleasure only”. I never intended to try and achieve anything from it until one day, I floated a couple of songs on my Facebook page and was pleasantly surprised by a few positive comments.

By this point I was back on the road and had got the gig with Hooson, a four piece blues rock band fronted by Jenna Hooson that was smashing it’s way all over the UK on the British Blues scene, we had many memorable times such as playing the main stage of the British Blues Festival in Colne, the Hebden Bridge Blues Festival and headlining Sunday night at the Orkney Blues Festival, with support from Gregg Wright, (ex Michael Jackson touring guitar player).

As was planned ahead of time though, we had decided to call it a day after the Orkney Festival and announced it just before the set on the Sunday night. I returned to the mainland the following day without a band and decided to give gigging a rest for a year or two until an old mate from my past came calling.

Mark (or Stan as he was better known) had been my band mate in Stiletto Rox some thirty years before, but was now the drummer in a soul band called The Basement. They were looking for a new bass player and so for the next three years I ended up back on the Sheffield pub circuit playing soul, R&B and funk covers and absolutely loved it, but eventually the time to leave that band came, the draw of creating became too much to ignore and I needed to focus all my energy on that.

So following on from The Basement, I began writing, expanding into and experimenting with different genres of music. As mentioned before, I loved the Soul/ Jazz Funk and Disco eras, so trying to blend that retro feel with a modern approach to lyrics for example “Swipe It Right” which is a 70’s soul/ Funk groove set to very modern lyrics about on-line dating.

My main interests these days, as an aging dude with a still smouldering ambition, is to one day write that hit song that someone else turns into a multi-million seller, and to get into TV and film score.

In the meantime, I would like to release a few songs, if there is enough positive energy for them, who knows, I may go back on the road.