| Eanie meany quiet man: Jim Noir |
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| "We had a gig booked before we had a band, so we had to find one quick" |
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Certain members of the CMU review team have been raving about Jim Noir for ages - well, since the release of his debut 'Eanie Meany' EP via My Dad Recordings back in December 2004. Subsequent EPs received similar acclaim here and elsewhere, which is why we were so happy when those EPs were brought together on last year's album release 'Tower Of Love', and also when we heard about the partnership between My Dad and Warner label Atlantic on recent single release 'My Patch'. Coupled with the use of 'Eanie Meany' by Adidas on their World Cup ad campaign, hopefully this rather overly talented multi-instrumentalist will now be able to reach the masses. Well, some of them. Despite writing, recording and producing his music pretty much single handedly when in the studio, he has managed to get together an impressive live show utilising the talents of his mate's band, and he is busy touring that live show as we speak. With that in mind, we thought it was high time we spoke to the main himself. |
If you’re an aspiring band who’s been slogging it out for years hoping for that lucky break, and you ask a highly acclaimed signed artist for tips on how to make it, I suspect the last thing you want to hear is that “I made a demo on a whim, sent it to a label, and they signed me”. But sometimes, just sometimes, it is that easy.
“I’d been making music for as long as I can remember,” says Alan Roberts, better known as Mancunian singer songwriter Jim Noir. “I was making mainly electronic stuff. Then one day I decided to do a demo of more conventional songs, with me singing, for a bit of a joke really. But I was quite pleased with what I’d done so I sent it off to a local record label. I thought that’d be it, but then this guy from the label called to say he really like the demo and ‘have you got any more songs we can hear’. I was like, ‘No’! But they signed me anyway”.
Not every singer songwriter is that lucky, but then not every singer songwriter single handedly creates such great tunes – complete with sixties-style harmonies and Warp-inspired electronica. The label he had contacted was Manchester indie My Dad Recordings, and it was they who signed him up to a deal which led to the release of three critically acclaimed EPs, an equally acclaimed album and, more recently, a fully fledged relationship with major record company Atlantic.
“It was a bit of a shock to get a response so quickly”, Noir admits, referring back to the start of his relationship with My Dad. “And it was a shock too when the EPs started getting quite so much press coverage. I never wanted to be some kind of touring pop star – all I really wanted was a bit of vinyl with my name on it. But it was great when we started getting such a positive response. I wouldn’t say it was a complete surprise, because I thought it was pretty good myself – but it was nice nonetheless”.
With acclaim growing as each of his three My Dad EPs was released, suddenly there was a demand for Noir to perform live. As a completely solo multi-instrumentalist, Jim not only writes all his own songs, but he plays all the instruments on them, provides the vocals, and does the production that brings them all together. So getting together a live show was going to involve some work. Though, as has become tradition where Jim Noir is concerned, not that much work.
“We had a gig booked before we had a band, so we had to find one quick. In the end we got one of my mate’s bands to do it. I’d been helping them produce a demo, so it was kind of a returned favour. It worked well. They are really good musicians, so they were able to pick everything up very quickly. I’m not really the sort of person who directs others, I just said that I wanted it to sound as much like the album as possible, and they did the rest”.
Having built such a dedicated following through his EPs, and then more so with his debut album, that hastily constructed live show was, and still is, in considerable demand – and this week you will be able to see why when he performs a date at the Spiegeltent as part of The Carousel singer songwriter festival. “We’re manic with gigs at the moment,” he admits, “which is good on one level, though I’d love to find some time to start recording some new material. The first album was really just the three EPs combined – and I can’t wait to start work on a full album proper. There’s just never time though – but in the Autumn perhaps. Hopefully.”
And will that process involve his band this time? “Oh no” he replies quickly, “I’ll do it on my own again, like I always have done. It’s a lot easier that way. I’m not saying doing the live show with the band won’t be an influence, but I intend to be back in ‘producer mode’ once work on the next album begins.”
Given his passion for music production, would Jim like to produce for others? “Yeah, producing for someone else would be good. Though it’d have to be the right artist. I don’t see me producing an album for the money, so it would have to a good project to get me involved”. What about a more traditional producer-style album of electronica? “Well, the current songs do have electronic elements. It is in there, when it’s right to be in there. I might do something more electronica at some point, but it’d be under a different name. When it comes to Jim Noir, I’m happy with the way it currently is”.
Which is a fine concluding statement from Mr Noir, who does indeed seem very happy with “the way it currently is” – and given the quality of his music, and the ease with which he has produced and released it so far, that’s not so surprising.
Some Jim Noir plugging:
Jim Noir’s single ‘My Patch’ was released on 1 May 2006 on My Dad Recordings.
chris@unlimitedmedia.co.uk - published may 2006
