Interview: Jamie Scott Discusses ‘How Still The River’ and Making Music [EXCLUSIVE]

Melanie
6 Min Read

If you don’t know Jamie Scott, you’re missing out. He’s an exceptional talent from the United Kingdom, having worked with artists such as One Direction, Niall Horan, Little Mix, Justin Bieber, and Jess Glynne, just to name a few. Back in August Jamie Scott’s solo album, How Still the River, was released and is a brilliant album from start to finish. His talent in songwriting is only eclipsed by how much he shines with each lyric he sings.

We had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Jamie Scott about his new album, so dive in with a behind-the-scenes look at the process, his favorites, and more!

Image Courtesy of Jamie Scott and Sonnet Music

Nerds and Beyond: Your new album, How Still The River, is absolutely amazing from start to finish. What were some of your inspirations for it?

Jamie: I had spent so many years writing songs with other artists and had a few songs that I loved that had never come out, so I decided to start recording them myself. This started the process of me wanting to make a new record which turned into How Still The River.

Nerds and Beyond: Ending the album on an instrumental track was incredibly unique. Where did that idea originate?

Jamie: The instrumental track was a dedication to my late friend Toby Smith and I wanted it to be a celebration of his life so it was an upbeat instrumental track.

Nerds and Beyond: We have many favorite songs off the album here at Nerds and Beyond. Are there any songs specifically you couldn’t wait for everyone to listen to?

Jamie: Yes, “New York Nights,” because this song reminds me of a brief moment of freedom that I’ll never forget, walking round the city of New York with my wife. It was the first time we didn’t have the kids and we felt this amazing freedom that we hadn’t felt for a while.

Nerds and Beyond: “Bottle of Pills” has some noticeable country influence to it. Was that a conscious idea while writing it, or did it come about later?

Jamie: I love country music and wasn’t specifically trying to make a country sounding song, but it started heading that way and we went with it.

Nerds and Beyond: Many may already recognize “Fool’s Gold” from One Direction, but you’ve made it entirely your own on this album and it really showcases your talents. Where did the idea come about to slow the song down a bit?

Jamie: This is actually how “Fool’s Gold” was written so I’ve just gone back to the way I first wrote it with Mozella.

Image Courtesy of Jamie Scott and Sonnet Music

Nerds and Beyond: With impressive songwriting credits to your own name, are there any other songwriters or musicians you look to for inspiration?

Jamie: I’m heaving influenced by and draw a lot of inspiration from artists such as Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon and a lot of music that came out of that period.

Nerds and Beyond: You’ve also worked with many talented musicians. Is there anyone that would be a dream collaboration for you?

Jamie: There are so many great artists out there. But it’s about trying to find the magic and chemistry that produces original music, so I don’t have one particular dream collaboration.

Nerds and Beyond: Take us a little through your songwriting process. From words to melody, how do your songs come about?

Jamie: I always start writing songs by playing around with chords and the music. Then I write melodies, and lastly I fit words to the melodies.

Nerds and Beyond: The current pandemic has changed the way we tackle a lot of things. Has it made any changes to the way you approach making music?

Jamie: No. Something like this pandemic doesn’t really affect the way you write music, but it has definitely affected the way we’ve recorded it as we were all working from home and song writing and producing via Zoom and other video conferencing platforms.

Nerds and Beyond: Is there any advice you’d like to give to any singer/songwriters just starting out?

Jamie: My main bit of advice to any singer/ songwriter just starting out is there are so many places that people can hear your talent now so just make sure you are true to yourself in what you are doing and get your music loaded onto as many sites as possible to give your music the best chance of being heard.

Nerds and Beyond: A fun question to end things – Is there anything you’re particularly nerdy about right now? Any movies, books, tv shows, or music you’re a fan of right now?

Jamie: I’m not sure it’s that nerdy but I’m obsessed with Fargo on Netflix.

Be sure to check out How Still The River, available now on iTunes, Amazon Music and Spotify! You can also read our album review here, and our track-by-track review here.

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By Melanie
When Melanie isn’t writing for Nerds and Beyond, she’s doing her best to make professional fangirl a thing. She loves writing fan fiction, drawing fan art, reading comics and binge-watching like it’s a professional sport. Her list of fandoms just keep growing, and will always cite Supernatural and Psych as her first forays into fangirldom. Though Nancy Drew will always be her first real fandom. Melanie works hard at making her art a career and has dreams of becoming a published author someday. You can find her on Twitter @FangirlLanie.
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