Every Monday we will be bringing you an interview with an unsigned singer or band as part of our Independent Music Monday series. This week, we caught up with James Barr a.k.a. Boston Building.
Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I grew up in Glasgow. The first artist I ever got into was Hendrix. I came across a few recordings and I was hooked straightaway.
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
As a teenager, all I listened to was Classic Rock: Beatles, Bowie; Hendrix, Zeppelin and Queen. I’m influenced by so many things now. In terms of Boston Building I think it’s probably producer artists like Mark Ronson or Diplo.
How would you describe your sound?
Pop, but a few different styles of pop.
What’s your local music scene like?
In London obviously it’s pretty massive. Even just where I live in Deptford and New Cross you’ve got plenty going on.
What do you have planned for the next 12 months? Any albums or festivals?
Boston Building isn’t currently a live act, although I’m not ruling it out in future. I’m going to be releasing as many new songs as I can in 2017.
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Pharrell Williams.
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
I once played a gig in a really badly laid out bar where we were actually positioned around the corner from the seating area. We were playing to a brick wall, no audience visible. People could hear us a bit, but only actually saw us if they were walking past to the toilet. Some of them looked quite surprised. We still did a 3 hour set. Professionalism is everything.
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
There’s a lot more tunes coming. I’m going to keep releasing them as fast as I possibly can, so keep checking in.
UPDATE: James is now releasing music under the name JB Stark. You can find out more information on his website or via Apple Music, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, Twitter or YouTube.
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