Jeremy Jay: I’ve recorded my new album already

Jeremy Jay

“We’ve recorded a new album called Splash,” that is what attracted the most attention when we stole a bit of Jeremy Jay’s time during an European tour including a lot, a lot of dates. That tour is then immediately followed by an American tour with – you guessed it – a lot of dates. Not that Jeremy Jay was ever a homebound man. He’s lived in San Diego, Portland, Los Angeles, Paris, and this summer he resided in London. “I took up a room in Broadway Market, London Fields, this summer and I’ve been enjoying my summer here, painting and writing,” he told us. “And I’ve been taking lots of photos.”

That was last summer, but first lets go back a bit further, before his new LP Slow Dance that came out this year, and before he even got signed to one time Modest Mouse home K Records. A time before there were notebooks and fancy portable phones. What did a boy do to get through his childhood? “I rode my BMX, I skateboarded and I hung out with my friends. Once I made a tent with my friend John in my backyard and we listened to tapes.” If that wasn’t outdoorsy enough for you, the man can ride a horse as well! Not much later his teen years were already a prelude to his music career. “When I was in middle school, I had just started playing guitar. Early on I met my friend Nicholas Pahl, who would later play drums on Airwalker and Slow Dance and multiple singles.”

Aside from music and sports, Jeremy knows a bit cinema as well. He is keen on French New Wave Cinema, and he particularly recommends films with Anna Karina, “Anything with Anna Karina. Especially My Life to Live.” Karina is a Danish actress and was Jean-Luc Godard’s wife for several years before they divorced in 1967. My Life To Live, original French title being Vivre Sa Vie: Film en Douze Tableux and partially based on a study on modern prostitution by Marcel Sacotte, was released in 1962, a year into their marriage. She went on to make eight films with the iconic French director. Not that it is only Nouvelle Vague in Jay’s world, mind you. “I love watching Ace Ventura and Mr Bean.”

Jeremy Jay, who was raised bilingually, is fond of France, so when being given the choice of France in the Sixties or L.A. in the Thirties the answer is non-surprising: “Paris in the 60s – with Anna Karina. I would get croissants and baguettes in the morning, and vanilla eclairs. And I would buy her flowers and we’d go hang out on the quay at Point Éphémère.” He is not one afraid for a romantic gesture or two then, something which comes across in his music as well. Not only in terms of sound, but also in terms of themes and the imagery it provokes. Winter is a recurring theme on Slow Dance, which came out earlier this year, so when I ask him what is so romantic about winter he retorts: “And what’s so romantic about winter – haven’t you gone ice skating before with an awesome girl?” The pace on this album is a bit faster than on the LP’s predecessor. “The songs on Slow Dance were more of a live show, and it translated onto the record.”

Whether his new record will follow in similar fashion we have yet to find out, but Jeremy did say that last summer he recorded a new album, at the present titled Splash. It is not mastered yet so it still has a way to go, but the tentative release date is somewhere in 2010. Which is vague, I know, but the news that the man already has new material lined up is positive regardless. If you cannot wait that long you can always go to the record store and try and find the single ‘Breaking the Ice’ released earlier this month, featuring an alternate take of ‘Winter Wonder’ and the Buddy Holly cover ‘Words of Love’. If hopping to a store is not your style (and whose is it these days? Vinyl aficionados excluded, but they’re a bit daft really, aren’t they? And yes, I’m kidding, and supportive of the whole record store going enterprise), you can also hear it here.

Special thanks to Emily Moore for setting this up, and to Jeremy Jay for lending us some of his valuable time while on tour.