James Bay still has blood stains on his guitar, remnants of his intense early performances fueled by nerves and adrenaline.
The ‘Let It Go’ hitmaker refuses to clean his instruments, viewing them as important reminders of his journey as a musician.
In an interview with Guitar.com, he reflected, “The adrenaline was absolutely raging when I was first getting up in front of thousands of people that actually wanted to see me. I felt unbelievable but terrified, and I had to put all of that energy somewhere. So yeah, there’s blood on here, too.”
Bay shared his emotional connection with his guitars, stating, “I’m not interested in cleaning it. I try not to be too careful with guitars. They’re very precious, yes; they’re very expensive. They’re beautiful pieces of art, but I live with them, I fight with them, I get emotional with them, and all that stuff that you do if you write on an instrument. I’m quite happy for it to get bashed up if that’s how it goes on.”
At 34, the singer-songwriter has released four albums, the latest being ‘Changes All the Time’, which debuted this month. He recently admitted that he finds the album-making process to be “dark and anxiety-inducing.”
Bay described his “tricky relationship” with creating albums, noting that working on his latest record provided him with “a new level of musical freedom.”
He told Forbes, “Making a record for me is, in truth, quite a dark and anxiety-inducing stressful experience, that I happen to adore. But me and making records have a tricky relationship.”
“There were moments in this record where the storm clouds cleared, and I was able to exhale deeply as well as inhale deeply. I do thank Gabe [Simon, producer] and everybody that joined me in the studio for their love and patience.”
He added, “To say one other thing about something that’s important to me in this new music: there were some moments where I really felt all right when I was just standing in a room with my guitar plugged in and it turned up loud. I f****** love doing that. Working out how to play a song with a band and then slamming through it. That is freedom.”
Bay concluded, “I reached a new height, for me, at least, of a new level of musical freedom that I hadn’t felt before in making this music. It comes with that maturity to not give a f***.”
Related Topics
- How to Play Flamenco Guitar for Beginners
- How Many Pentatonic Scales Are There for Guitar?
- Jim Weider Reflects on Acquiring His Career-Defining ’52 Telecaster
