Jamie Webster has just released his new single ‘Living For Yesterday’ we got to spend some time chatting with him about touring, his new single and more.
1. Thanks for your time, could you introduce yourself to our readers please?
I’m Jamie Webster, 25 going on 26. Used to be an electrician now I’m a full-time musician.
2. You’re about to head out for a few dates around the UK and Ireland, what are you looking forward to most about the shows?
Just getting my original music out there to the people. Those who are waiting for more than the Liverpool tunes. Also giving people who aren’t necessarily Liverpool fans a chance to come and see me and see what the hype and fuss is all about.
3. How does it feel selling out gigs and what was your goal when you first started out as a musician?
With my own stuff, especially after only releasing one single [Weekend In Paradise], I was buzzing. Liverpool basically sold-out in a day to 500 hundred people which was great, but when Dublin and London sold-out as well I was amazed with it. There’ll only actually be 2 singles released by the time the gigs actually come round. Granted a lot of them might be Liverpool fans who are supporting me, but I know there are others who aren’t – so thank you to everyone.
4. You played a small gig to 60,000 fans before the Champions League final, what was that like?
It was amazing, a full hour of euphoria. As soon as I finished the gig I burst into tears. It was a boss experience and I think only Dave McCabe and Paul McCartney have played to that many people as a solo artist and been from Liverpool. So I feel like I’m up there with a bit of Scouse history which is something I’ll look back on for years to come.
5. If you could swap places and have the talent of any footballer who would it be and why?
Sadio Mane. Because what he lacks in technique he makes up for in hard work and enthusiasm and I think that’s like me as a person.
6. On a Liverpool football related note, will you be celebrating / drowning your sorrows when Liverpool win the Premier League and how?
I’ll probably go out for about a week straight. I don’t drink that often, but if Liverpool win the league I’m out! There’ll be some sort of end of season party I’ll be playing at, but once me guitar has been put down and the beer’s been put in my hand that’ll be the end of the guitar for a good week or so.
7. Onto your new single then, what’s inspired Living For Yesterday?
It’s about people who live a champagne lifestyle on a lemonade salary. People going out and spending all this money, sitting on big fancy tables when really, they haven’t got two carrots to rub together acting like the most arrogant/smug people in the world. It’s also about the girl or boy who comes from a lovely family who can probably find someone nice to treat them really well, but instead they go for a knob-head who’s got a Porsche. It’s about the false idea that you might be accepted because of what kind of rigout you’ve got on; judged because what you’re wearing rather than what you have to say as a person. My songs embrace the cultures and the cliques, but also questions them as well.
8. Given its musical history, what’s the music scene like in Liverpool these days in terms of venues, up and coming artists, record labels etc?
I think it’s on its way back now. Even on Modern Sky alone there’s Red Rum Club, Lathums, Paris Youth Foundation…I like to think myself as half-decent as well. There are loads of good young bands around the city: The Mysterines, The Sway, The Sonder. The enthusiasm to be a young lad from Liverpool to be in a band is definitely much higher than it was three or four years ago.
There are some great venues…District, I’ve done a lot of gigs there over the years. The Arts Club Theatre, I remember playing there years ago when I was in a band when I was 15 or 16. That’s a cracking venue. The Olympia is a brilliant venue with a load of history. It’s definitely developing and growing all the time, and from I can hear and see there seems to be gigs on in different places all the time. Just great to see so many young, keen artists having a go.
9. Just for fun now: If you had to replace your hands with something other than hands, hooks, or claws, what would you choose and why?
Erm… a lit spliff on each arm so I can just pull on it whenever I get stressed! As long as I can still sing.
10. Thanks for your time and good luck with the shows. Just to finish what are your plans and hopes for 2020?
Build on the successes of Weekend In Paradise. Get the album out and hope it goes down well, and get a few gigs sold out on the back of that. Then just try and move on and build on everything already in place now.
