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Exclusive interview with Jim
June 2011 Part 2 K&M: Do you agree that most female musicians are solo artists while most male musicians are in bands? Why do you think that is? Jim: Interesting observation.....yes, I would agree. Not sure, we might have to ask some female artists. K&M: On Twitter you posed a very insightful comment “music was so much better when artists were allowed to be ugly.” Can you give us a bit of your personal insight on this subject and was there a moment or something that inspired you to say it? Of course, in advance of writing an op-ed (looking forward to reading your submission about it :c) Jim: I think the band and I were watching something about some bands in the 60's and 70's - Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Crosby, Stills and Nash, etc - and (no offense) it wasn't the greatest looking bunch back then. Nowadays, you pretty much have to be a model to make pop music - of course, there are notable exceptions - but it just feels like it is music has become much more visual than ever before. I mean, half of the cast of the Real Housewives of New Jersey have singles out. That is just plain wrong. K&M: Over the years I am sure you have learned a great deal from many artists you have worked with. In your tenure with Avril, what do you think you have learned working with her? Jim: I've actually learned a lot about the business side of music from Avril. She is an international rock star - and there are so many things that go into that which most people never see. It is great to be around an artists who has such a massive fan base - and one which reaches all around the world. K&M: We know you are a big fan of the 80’s (as we are), if you could go back in time and perform with 3 artists from the 80’s who would you choose? Jim: Hall N Oates, Prince and Tears For Fears - though, those are just the first few that come to mind. K&M: What's the most unusual place you've ever played a show or made a recording? Jim: I guess the World Cup show in Joburg was pretty different - and I also got to record on a Shakira record in a studio in Barcelona, Spain. I'll let you know if I end up recording in a submarine or something like that. K&M: Do you still buy CD singles/albums or you only download (hopefully legally!) Jim: It has been a while since I purchased an actual CD. I have always purchased from iTunes. I could never really figure out any of the "free" sites anyway. K&M: In the past couple of months you have become very active on Twitter. Considering that only two years ago you had somewhat negative opinion on that . What made you change your mind? Jim: That's funny - I had to go back and read what I said. I am still pretty light on facebook. I ended up "hiding" feeds from anyone I wasn't personally friends with - and I stopped accepting Facebook friends from people I don't know. I have a few hundred requests just sitting in there. The problem when you start accepting requests from people who you don't really know is - your feed gets so filled up that you can never see what your close friends are up to, because people are always posting a million times and cluttering up your feed. Twitter has become a different animal. I guess I didn't really feel (at the time) that there was much for me to talk about - but now that Avril is out there promoting her record, and we are making appearances and playing shows - there seems to be more of a purpose. I also feel that if I am producing someone that not very many people know about, it can be a useful tool to help spread the word. In the course of the last few months, I have been enjoying the interaction with people on twitter. It seems much more immediate than Facebook. K&M: If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you? Jim: ME!!! Or, maybe that guy from the J Lo movie who people say I look like - Alex O'Loughlin - at least he's Irish too. K&M: As you know at sunfired.net we have a section dedicated to your music gear. Any new additions to your collection we can add? Jim: Not really, just a few old tambourines for the studio! hahahaha K&M: An interview with sunfired.net would not be complete without our traditional “IPOD Shuffle” questions. Take your IPOD and tell us the first three songs that come up. Jim:
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