Phone
interview James Clay
December 19, 2004
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Kick him as hard as you can, you are not going to keep James Clay down. At only 22, this well-seasoned singer/songwriter has worked harder, struggled longer and grown wiser than most people twice his age. He has traveled a rough road just to reach the starting line, but with his self-titled Inpop Records debut, James Clay is experiencing the hard-earned reward of his long labors.
Dennis: Hey James it is great to catch up with you
man.
James: Hey Dennis. Well thank you very much
for having my album featured on your site this month and uh, and I am
very honored to be the the featured artist next month too. I'm really
excited about that.
Dennis: So after looking at our site were
you surprised to see we had you featured?
James: Yeah, a little bit haha. But us
Missouri boys gotta stick together.
Dennis: haha That's what your wife had said
yesterday. With our site, we normally pick harder bands but after
listening to your cd and reading your bio it really hit me. We described it as straight edge acoustic blues
rock. What influenced you
to get into this genre and who have been your musical influences?
James: Well, for a long
time, from the age at about 11 or so to about 16 I really didn't have
television or radio or the influence of popular music. A lot of it was
Christian music, but Christian music at the time from the radio stations
I was getting were well Jesus Freak with DC Talk and I listened to that
a lot as a kid. But Christian radio was Avalon and stuff so I was
just never really into that style of music ever. So I would set at
home and I had a chord book so I would put chords together and just
start playing. After I moved out of my mom's house I started playing in
a blue's band. We were covering Hendrix and Zeppelin and all the old
blues stuff. The blues is a huge influence. Acoustic music
is where the blues came from and before Muddy Waters there was no
electric guitar in the blues. The reason the cd is because it
doesn't just encompass the blues, there is also some Brit Rock and
reggae sound. I started digging around and found I liked Zeppelin.
So I looked to see who influenced them and I found Jimmy Page for about
a year only listened to Bob Marley and the Whalers. So I thought,
you know I kind of like reggae and I grew up on the beach. So we
would have people like Jimmy Cliff and artists like that would come
through on the outer banks and a lot of the older kids really liked
reggae. We would go to the beach and be sitting on our blankets
and be hearing Marley playing and it would make you want to get up and
dance. Also my grandfather played blue grass and I would be
sitting in the barn with him while he was wood carving water fowl. He
would have blue grass on with Patsy Cline, Merl Haggard, Johnny Cash and
artists like that. And when I was younger I hated it haha. You
know reggae and the blues is absolutely folk music in its own right.
I think that may be where my passion is mostly at with folk music.
I mean artists like Merl Haggard and things told stories. Like
Dylan with "Slow Train Coming" but they were 8 minutes long
and dealt with 10 different subjects. But artists like that is the
what folk music is, it is music for the people from ordinary people and
I think that is what I am about.
Dennis:
Yeah, one of the big things I found when listening to your cd was you
tell stories. They were heart felt and sincere. Like the
song "Franklin Park" and others.
James: ...I was told you can pretty much
say one profound thing in a song. If you say more than one then people
start to get distracted. Also, the best
songs say what you want them to say, they get stuck in people's head
both melodically and lyrically and they are about 3 1/2 minutes long,
you know what I mean. Not saying that an 8 minute song can't get
stuck in your head melodically and lyrically but you wont remember all
of it. If you really want a song to stick in someone's head then
you want them to be able to sing along with the whole thing. It is the
economy of words like Shakespeare. You want to say the most you
can with the least amount of talking. One of the things that
really impacted me when I first started writing music was I heard Sheryl
Crow talking about Bob Dylan. She said that every line in a Bob
Dylan song could be the very first line. It is good enough to be the
first. I want my writing to be like that.
Dennis: The lyrical content on your cd is incredibly deep
and deals with real life and struggles you have dealt with. I
know asking this next question is like asking which of your kids is the
favorite. But what songs on your album mean the most to you?
James: It is funny you mentioned my kids
because the song "Judah's Song" has a ton of sentimental value
to me. It is one of the reggae cuts on the album but actually I would
classify it calypso. I grew up for quite awhile without the influence of
a Dad. My parents were divorced and lived a thousand miles away
from my dad. From the time I was 10 until about 17, I then made contact
with my dad. I went through 7 years of very important years without him.
I never want my son to have to go through that and not have me there.
When I found out Ashley was pregnant I kind of knew he was a boy. I
didn't want to just name him James Clay. James means the planter
in Hebrew. It means someone that will do whatever it take to get
his way. And then Clay means the earth. It is like man of the
earth which is kind of where my music comes from. I didn't want my
son to be tied down to just that so I named him Judah Arial which means
praise the lion of God in Hebrew. "Judah's Song" says
praise the lion of God for His children He will come. It talks
about what it means to be a man here on God's planet and to have
authority. I wanted him to have that and wrote that song before I
even knew he was a boy. It landed exactly where it should.
Dennis: Well, I mentioned "Franklin
Park" as one of my favorites but I also have another and you did a
remake of the song “I Still Believe” by The Call.
What led you to deciding to remake that song and have you ever
sent eh movie “The Lost Boys” in which the song was premiered in the
late 80’s?
James: You are the first person that has
interviewed me that even knew that song was from that movie! I remember
watching that movie when I was like 6 years old...
Dennis: Oh man I was in Jr. High when I saw
that movie haha.
James: haha Well it was funny because my
label didn't even realize it was from a movie. The reason I did a cover
on a debut record was because it was a major classic hit with Christian
music, get the song re-released and to get people to notice I did this
song. But the people in charge of radio singles decided to release
"Franklin Park" but turns out this song is being released in
January. So there you go, the month I am being featured on your
site, "I Still Believe" will be released.
Dennis:
I have read a lot about you and your life and you have been through a
literal hell at times. One
of the things that grabbed me was we deal with a lot of teens who’s
parents are going through divorce.
Yours was one step above that in the sense was your mom took you
and your siblings from your father and joined a cult.
Could you tell us a little more about that experience and how
that affected your early teens years?
James: Yeah, Christmas is a weird time for
me because the way my mom left my dad was we went to visit my
grandparents for the holiday and then I was told we were never going
back so all we had were the few clothes we had packed for that one
little trip. You mentioned cult, yeah it turned into a cult like
situation but it isn't like you realize you are signing up for a cult
you know what I mean. I mean it started out like a group of people
that had either been offended by the church or thought the church had
fallen apostate because the things that had gone on. So they in
their lives restricted their lives and became like bondage. It
started as a home church where everyone believe the same and no one has
television or radio or contact with the outer world. We had no
contact and just lived out in the woods in Missouri. At first it almost
seems like it was going to be very clarifying
and I would even recommend going without tv or radio for awhile because
you would be surprised what it will do for your relationship with God.
But by doing that it does not make Him love you more. Those poor
people, I mean one of the families had mental problems, there was always
strife and you had to keep track on every one else. The Word was
used to beat you up. Sixth grade was my last formal education and
I still do not have a high school degree. However, I am educated
at a high school level and probably college because I just kept going to
the library. From 10-14 I was only allowed to read the Bible and
that was my only source for anything at all. That wasn't always
forced but being made to memorize and the lifestyle was so legalistic.
Dennis: So is your mom still in the
organization?
James: No she's not. My mom has
changed a lot. She has come around quite a bit. She still
has her personal convictions. All her children are adults now and
she has a great relationship with her grandkids now.
Dennis: So do you have much contact with
your dad now?
James: Yeah, God has really healed my
relationships. You know there are still some scars and there are
some things we dont really talk about but those things are being opened
up. One of the things I really hope to do is not only to show by
example of what a true relationship with Jesus can do.
Dennis: We have people that
send us emails that have problems with our website. What is your advice
to those Christians that have themselves wrapped up in legalism and have
literally got them themselves bound by a list of laws instead of
Jesus’ grace?
James: Yeah, most of those people probably
have a problem with the musical styles. The group we were involved with
told us anything that had drums in it was wrong because Africans used
drums to draw up evil spirits. I have seen both sides of the
extreme. You know I have seen a church that was full of
homosexuals that thought if they did enough good in their own eyes or in
the world than their abnormal and unnatural sexual desires then God is
ok with that. We have a responsibility to be a witness on this
planet until he comes back. Those that are judging and legalistic
need to judge on fruit. I mean is it making you peace or
strife...is it making love towards other multiply or judgment, that is
what Jesus said to do. If people truly have a personal conviction
then do it but dont think that thing makes you more righteous with God.
The only righteousness is in the blood of Jesus Christ.... It is like
when Paul said, "He who tries to keep the law will be condemned by
the law because if he has failed in one part then he has failed it
all." That is why legalism doesn't work. I believe those that
believe Jesus is the Son of God, died on the cross, rose from the dead
and living inside of them. People that believe that are Christians
and will say that before men. All the other stuff is not a
salvation issue.
Dennis: We have teens that are just literally going
through so much crap in their lives that they are loosing hope and
faith. What is your advice
to those teens that are in that dark place and feel no light?
James: When it comes to
issues of morality or immorality, our basis is the Word of God. It
isn't society, a denomination, another person but nothing bad will ever
come from studying the Word. Understand what God says is right or
wrong. You might find some things that God says is right might be
wrong with the church and some things what the church says is right may
be wrong with God! A lot of views that teens have about what is right or
wrong is by what man tells them. The only way to really know is to
live for God. His spirit will tell you what is right or wrong.
Your conscious will be at its highest functioning level!
Dennis: We have a focus on our site that not all
Christian music is good and not all mainstream music is bad.
We try to focus in on the impact of the lyrical content.
How do you feel lyrical content affects listeners?
James: Music goes straight
into the subconscious whether you like it or not. You could be singing
lyrics you dont agree with but you will sing right along 
with them. We know with
James, that he tells us that in the tongue is life and death. It
is a small rudder but steers a big ship. So if you are singing lyrics to
yourself and not thinking about what you are singing, you may be talking
about killing your mom or gunning someone down, those things dont breed
things of the spirit. There is a major issue with lyrical content.
There is major issues on lyrical content is Christian music. There have
been so many times I have listened to a Christian artist and felt
depressed with what they have to say. You know like life sucks and we
can't feel God. What do you mean you cant feel Him!? That's bull.
I mean you are a Christian, don't you read your word, He is inside you!
I hear people say they just haven't spent enough time with God...what do
they mean! He is inside you! He is with you always!
Dennis: Man, that is a sermon. haha
James: Oh, yeah, that'll preach haha.
Dennis: Yeah it is important for Christian
artists to be honest but they must offer hope you know!
James Clay is an incredibly friendly and unbelievably outspoken Christian man. His passion and desire to live for God is amazing and inspiring. I encourage all of you to check out his debut cd and order now. James is currently in the studio and making plans for an upcoming tour to be named in the near future.