End of The Year Interview with James Wills
Second in my series of 'End Of The Year' interviews with the crew from The Sea Kings are James Wills (Vocals/Guitar). Same set of questions as we get to find out about their highlights of this past year, the band’s plans for next year (first full-lenght album..) & last but not least; What's on their Christmas dinner menu?
And check out the fabolous Christmas Present Giveaway that we're doing right HERE - You can get your hand on the following:A 'digital copy' of 'An Introduction To The Sea Kings' EP sent to your inbox.Christmas card in the post from the Sea Kings to include:
-a photograph
-a signed Sea Kings flyer
-Handwritten lyrics to songs from the epInterview time...Thanks for doing this! How was the year 2011 for you?
JW: 2011 has been good for me; as well as working with The Sea Kings I have been recording my own songs and have done a lot of writing independently. Within the band I am most proud that we have (nearly) finished our first album!
2012: What plans and high hopes do you have in store for next year?- Getting the album finished, mixed and pressed early on in the New Year is, for me, the main thing. After that I am looking forward to getting back into writing and developing new songs and increasing our set.What are your favourite band at the moment? Any lesser known bands you want give a shout out?- A friend of mine is doing really well in his band, Brother & Bones – I really like their music and totally want to lend my support. But not any money.
What was your Musical Discovery of the year?
- Ben Howard – another Westcountry boy!Are there any bands/artists or albums that you have high hopes and are particularly excited about in 2012?- The Sea Kings’ first album. There! A shameless plug!If you had to pick one Experience and put it above the rest, what would that be?- In late August we spent some time back in our homeland of Cornwall, where we had organised a Summer Tour. That two weeks was special for me, as well as the solo busking I did, seeing as it was the first time I’d ever attempted it, and the setting (alongside the harbour, with the sea behind me and the summer traffic and tourists passing in front of me) made me feel connected to the town more so than I have felt in the past.Your Album Of The Year?- James Blake’s debut album – not usually the kind of music I’d go for, but I really got into the album as a whole.Your Song Of The Year?- I heard Feist on Jools Holland play “The Bad In Each Other” from their album Metals, and really liked it.
Your Book Of The Year?
- Not a book published this year, but around the time of Remembrance Day I read “Forgotten Voices of the Great War”, which is a truly incredible account of the day-by-day existence of the soldiers (on both sides), as well as those that were left behind.Your Movie Of The Year?- I agree with Jake – must see Trollhunter.
What are your own personal favourite The Sea Kings song or songs?
- Easy! No, not really. I really enjoy singing Lifeboat, and feel Villages really encompasses our feelings towards where we come from. Then again, the surge I get when Sails & Boards kicks can’t easily be ignored…If you could pick anybody from the present or past to collaborate with, who would that be?- My favourite guitarist is Richie Sambora, so it would have to be him. On the ‘dead’ side, I’d probably go for (aside the obvious Elvis/Michael Jackson route) someone like Muddy Waters or Stevie Ray Vaughan.If you could choose from all the songs in the world and make it your own, which one would you have liked to have written?- It’s hard to differentiate between the songs that feel most personal to you, and the ones you want to choose because you’d own an island by now. I think I’d go for either some old standard, like “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”,
or something more modern, like “Wild Wood”, by Paul Weller.And finally as Christmas are sneaking up on us. What will be on your Christmas Dinner Menu?
- Usually it’d be fairly traditional, though perhaps with chicken as my family have gradually realised that no-one much likes the traditional main. Having said that, this year I’m visiting my sister in Holland, so maybe it’ll just be dope!
Merry Christmas!!
