It was only a few months ago that we were last graced by the exquisite presence of Irish singer/songwriter James Vincent McMorrow, for Falls Festival and a run of shows around the country. It was the same week that his latest, acclaimed record Post Tropical was released, meaning fans didn’t have much time to sink their teeth into his new material. Returning for VIVID festival and a few shows around Australia this week, the four months it’s been since the album was released – and his last visit – should mean we’re in store for some shows that will give the new record justice.
Having spoken to James at the end of last year, we caught up again last week to talk about the tour, which includes two nights at Australia’s most prestigious venue – the Sydney Opera House – as part of the annual VIVID Festival, alongside Pixies, Lauren Hill and many, many more. We also talk about some other collaborations he’s working on, what else is in store for 2014 and more…
You’re only a few days away from coming back to Australia – so are we talking to you at home at the moment?
Yeah, I just got back to Dublin a few days ago and have been working on someone else’s record. I get a lot of requests to do work on other peoples albums, so whenever I’m home and not touring I try to devote some time to that. But I don’t get much time to do it!
So even just a couple of months after Post Tropical has been released, we can already look forward to hearing you pop up in other capacities…
Yeah I guess so! You’ll see my name appearing in different places. I only really have been doing it if it’s been something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m not looking to jump on everybody’s records… singing all over them… I just like to be a part of it. I love making music. If someone making music comes to me with something interesting they want my help with, then I’m keen to try and help them.
You’re barely home as it is – what makes you want to fill that time up with more work?
Yeah I’m never home, but when I got back off the last European tour, I took a bit of time off, and then when I went back to the US after that I found it difficult to get back into work mode… your mind switches off. I think everyone experiences that, no matter what your job is. If you go through a period of really intense work, and you stop, your body tells itself that it’s not working anymore and so it kind of just shuts down. So I find it best to keep on constantly working on something, so I can keep my mind focused.
Well, you’ll have no troubles doing that when you come to Australia. I believe there’s a little venue called the Sydney Opera House that you’ll be playing while you’re here, too…Where do you even begin with that!?
I don’t know, to be honest. It’s kind of crazy. Not that I haven’t thought of it, but I think part of me doesn’t want to… when I was there for the shows in January, it felt really great. The shows in Sydney and Melbourne in particular were really good fun. But it was really before the album cycle had properly begun, so we started talking about what to do next, and someone at the label idly mentioned that the next step might be the Sydney Opera House.
But that seemed totally ridiculous to me. That’s the sort of place that, when you’re starting out, you think that, because you don’t really know any other venues in Sydney, the only one you’d want to play would be the Sydney Opera House. So I didn’t really think of it after the tour, and then just before I went to the US a month or so ago, we were told it was happening. It was turned around incredibly quickly. And not only that, but the next thing we heard was that the first date sold out. I thought someone was having a big joke with me! *laughs*. Someone down there is doing a really good job for me.
And the timing couldn’t be better, as you mentioned the last shows was just before the album cycle really kicked off, so now you’ll be getting to play with the newer songs a bit more I would imagine!
Yeah we definitely will. As we’ve gone along with this tour, more and more people have come to the shows with the album firmly in their minds. They’re aware of the songs… they’re expecting them and they know what’s going to happen next, because they’ve had time to live with the album. And that’s really what you want. There’s no assumption that that will happen though. You could release a new record and people still only want to hear the first one. It’s happened a lot quicker than I would have thought it could, too… it makes me as a musician feel pretty damn good to be honest.
So have you had a chance to see what you’re getting yourself into with this VIVID festival?
I don’t fully know… I’ve seen a lot of pictures of the Opera House all lit up with projections and all that. They explained to me the concept of it and it all sounds amazing. I don’t know the ins and outs of it, but can’t wait to see it all.
And you don’t stop after there, looking on your website you seem to continue all the way through dates in Munich in October…
Yeah, and we’re just about to announce the full European and US tours for the later half of the year, which will take us through the end of the year and pretty much 12 months of solid touring. And then onwards into next year we’ll be doing more tours through April. It’s a weird prospect that the whole year ahead can be mapped out for you like that, where you’re going to be, so far ahead of time. But it’s how you want it to be. You can put out a record and only get to play twenty shows, so the more shows the better as far as I’m concerned. I’m here to play as many shows for as many people as possible. I don’t see the touring schedule as a daunting thing. The most immediate way I can find out how the record is doing are through the shows, so the more I get to play, the more I can see how people are reacting to it. And then that in turn helps me with writing moving forward.
Has there been anything on this record that has worked better live – or received better live – than you expected? Or even the other way around?
I had written this album much more than the last one with the idea of playing it live in mind. It was built to occupy the space, even at its quietest moments could cut through a venue of 200 or 2,000 people… It would go out there and do the job. So to a certain extent it’s doing what I hoped it would do, nothing has not done what I had hoped it would do is I guess what I’m trying to say. But we have a four piece band and it’s a big record, so there definitely was a time when we had to work out that everything we were doing was the right way of doing it, the right sound and all that. So there’s a lot more detail than there used to be in all that. But once you have that figured out, then you can deliver it, even the subtleties.
There’s a song on the record called “Look Out” which starts off quietly with just piano, and then in the second half, there’s an unexpected push, and that’s become a really beautiful moment in the set. And I hadn’t really thought about it much until the first time we did it live, and it made sense why I did it like that. It was for that moment. It was definitely built as an album for the live arena.
Do those sort of positive experiences, do they encourage what you’d look at doing in the future in one way or the other?
Yeah I definitely think so. Like I said, I’ve been working on other people’s records, and I’m also working on something for myself… almost as a by product of the touring and the fact that I’m working on records for other people. I’ve kept myself way more in the songwriting process than I have before… I used to write something and then go on tour, and then I’d only think about touring, but now… I don’t know if my brain functions have changed where I’ve just got more capacity for stuff or I can just throw myself into all of it with equal vigour, but the touring really has pushed me on. And the reactions people have had in the show have pushed me on as a songwriter. Not that I wasn’t confident before, but I think this has emboldened me a little bit more.
There are certain moments from the new record that I get a real joy from playing live, and I want those moments to be the focus of my songwriting.
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For more details on VIVID Festival, head to: http://vividlive.sydneyoperahouse.com/line-up/james-vincent-mcmorrow. The full run of James Vincent McMorrow’s dates are below. His new record Post Tropical is available now. You can read our review of the album HERE.
MAY 2014 AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES:
Wednesday 21st May – Perth, WA – Astor Theatre
Friday 23rd May – Brisbane, QLD – QPAC
Tuesday 27th May – Melbourne, VIC – The Forum
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Thursday 29th May (SOLD OUT) and Saturday 31st May – Sydney, NSW
Sydney Opera House – Vivid LIVE 2014
Tickets are on sale now, where not sold out! More details can be found here: http://secret-sounds.com.au
