Jay Jay Pistolet in conversation

Jay Jay Pistolet

With the release of his new EP on 17th November, Jay Jay Pistolet found himself in the unusual position (for him) of looking forward to its release:

“Everything I’ve done since I picked up a guitar has been documented in some shape or form - I’ve publicly made mistakes,” although he admits that this is “only cos I’m so impatient.”

As such, his previous release, ‘We Are Free’, was, in his eyes, not quite the finished product hoped for, with lyrics the artist found embarassing and a little naive. Not so with this though:

“Songwise, I’m really happy with it. I’m already capable of better, this is a fair representation of where I am now… Without blowing my own trumpet, I’m really happy with it,” and rightfully so.

With a little help from his friends, Justin Hayward-Young has put together four love songs on his ‘Happy Birthday You EP’ capable of touching the coldest of hearts without sounding overtly soft. The support he has had in creating this is something for which he is proud and grateful, but he is also quick to point out the dangerous ignorance of being labelled as just another part of the same engine:

“If you’re being mentioned in the same sentence as other respected acts obviously that’s helpful, but only to a certain extent.” There have been many instances of popular acts paving the way for soundalikes who are encouraged by a lazy media, as well as a few genuinely talented people who have been waiting for their opportunity, and “when you start lumping people into a scene, one or maybe two acts survive and everyone else sort of sinks, where as if you let people get on with what they’re doing I don’t think that happens as much.”

“Get on with it” definitely seems to be an important part of Jay Jay Pistolet’s vocabulary as he starts to achieve more and more. Whilst he has recently been seen playing to “the perfect crowds” on tour with Laura Marling, he had also been invited onto Katie Melua’s UK tour which culminated in a show at the O2 Arena last Friday, an event he found “incredible” and “pretty daunting.”

“When I play, I find it more intimidating playing to less people and it is more personal, and I kind of prefer playing to less people. It (the o2 arena) is definitely more impersonal, it’s more scary ‘cos you think “I’m really loud and if I f*** up then loads and loads of people are going to see me”, but because it’s not as personal you don’t feel personally responsible…”

Taking the headline slot at that kind of gig then isn’t an immediate aim, although as he points out, “People would be lying if they said they didn’t want to do that, but it’s so inconceivable that it doesn’t really enter my mind.” His view is one of a more incremental climb up the ladder, rather than just being dropped at the top. At the moment he is just happy that “people want to phone up and interview me… the more you achieve the more you want,” which seems to be a well grounded attitude that should set him in good stead to take a few more steps.

Perhaps his most public review came in song, a reference which has elsewhere been described as heavy hyperbole, all of which is taken in this young man’s stride. He graciously accepts the compliment and then concedes his critic is probably correct, but only for the time being. At only 21 there’s plenty of time to progress in his chosen industry, with many people “a lot older than you thought they were,” there’s no rush to take hazardous giant leaps forwards.

Jay Jay Pistolet’s plans don’t seem to stretch much further than a quiet Christmas; he intends “to write some more, demo some more, maybe do another EP, headline tour…” (probably no festive single, though). For new material he says he is “trying not to write so many love songs, but sometimes I can’t help myself,” as he admits he is “a bit of a romantic” (but not a poet).

Tomorrow then doesn’t seem of much concern,  and he’s pretty confident is he that making the right choices now that will set his future in good stead regardless of what happens around him: “I just want to be here to stay, to play to the right people… I’m not going anywhere.”

http://www.myspace.com/jayjaypistolet

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