Interview with James’ Room: ‘We wanted it to be quite intense all the way through, quite abrasive, quietly defiant’

Bristol-Bath based rock band James’ Room released their debut single ‘Come In’ last month, a powerful, energetic stomper about not knowing where your place is in the world.

The band comprises frontman Sam Jones (vocals and guitar), Jake Weaver (drums), Jacob Beswetherick (guitar), Will Coomes (keys) and Louis Juckes (bass), who met at their first week studying music at Bath Spa University around two years ago. They were previously in another band together called Arc. ‘We have a housemate called James (who’s the guitarist in local band Clemencie),’ Jake said. I ask if the state of his room influenced the band name. ‘He’s really messy but that’s not where the name comes from,’ Jake said laughing. ‘We had a song called ‘James’ Room’ in Arc, that’s where our name comes from.’

‘Come In’ is a powerhouse of a debut, pulled along by blistering drumming from Jake, massive vocals from Sam and hooky, heavy riffs that are reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age. It’s the kind of track designed to be played in front of a big crowd singing it back to them. As the track goes: “There was no pressure, I was never in, not sure if I should stay or should I go, ‘cos time is moving fast but I’m thinking slow, I was never in.”

‘The new song is about the feeling of losing control that comes with going into your 20’s’

However, the version they released is very different to the original version, according to Sam: ‘I wrote the structure and lyrics last year,’ he said. ‘I wrote it about feeling trapped and not knowing where you fit. We wanted it to be quite intense all the way through, quite abrasive, quietly defiant. Jake sped it up massively (laughs). The original demo was 3/4 of the speed.’ Jacob nods: ‘Whenever we play it live, it gets sped up even more!’ Sam laughs: ‘I’m not usually allowed to start a song at a tempo,’ he said. Jake interjects: ‘He causes me injuries, he’s that fast! We’ve played with the idea of having it as the opener but at the moment it sits towards the end.’

They’re now working on their next single, according to Jacob: ‘Jake recorded the drums a week ago,’ he said. Sam joins in: ‘The working title is ‘Now Now’. There’s no mention of the word ‘now’ in the song (laughs). I made a demo on Logic called ‘to do now’ and that’s where it comes from. It’s not as quick as ‘Come In’. The new song is about the feeling of losing control that comes with going into your 20’s – whilst realising more about the people around you that you hadn’t picked up on before.’ Jake agrees: ‘Our synth player Will has just joined the band (on 20 April), his synth brings a lot to the song, it’s a more complete iteration of it.’ Sam nods: ‘It’s quite dark sounding, Will adds to the atmosphere of the band. He does lead lines, he helps massively. I bring in the roots of the song to rehearsal. The new one has changed a lot structurally.’ I ask him whether he’s one of those songwriters who writes different sets of lyrics for the same song and Jacob jumps in: ‘You’ll have different lyrics for a song, won’t you?’ Sam nods: ‘I make it instrumental first. With lyrics, I either find it really hard or they come really fast.’

COVID might have put a dampener on live music but it gave them a real chance to immerse themselves in songwriting: ‘It made it a struggle to sing and record but when we came to form James’ Room, we had a lot of songs, a full set,’ Jacob said.

‘I take a lot from Stereophonics and the tone of their guitars’

Musically, they bring a wide mix of influences into the group: ‘It varies for me but I grew up on a lot of noughties indie music like Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party,’ Jake said. Jacob cites Slash as a big influence: ‘I grew up listening to him,’ he said. ‘I take a lot from Stereophonics and the tone of their guitars, that’s really influenced me.’ Sam is a fan of the classics. ‘I grew up on The Beatles, it’s not the worst start,’ he grinned. ‘I like early Oasis, Queens of the Stone Age and The War on Drugs.’

Sam’s musical training started early when his grandfather gave him a guitar, aged four: ‘I’m left handed, so he just turned it the other way round (laughs). He taught me Beatles’ songs like ‘Daytripper’, he’s a really good guitar player. He does a lot of gigs with his mates.’ Jacob joins in: ‘He comes to a lot of the shows.’ Endearingly, he still enjoys playing with his grandson: ‘We still jam loads,’ Sam said. ‘If he played with us (onstage), I think he’d outclass us! I’ll be playing something and he’ll say to play it like this or to try that, sometimes I have to just let it go (laughs).’

Their music degree will stand them in good stead for whatever comes next: ‘We’re doing sound production, song writing, business and journalism,’ Sam said. Jake interjects: ‘A lot of the business is set out,’ he said. ‘We do marketing and management and we get guest lecturers from A&R. Warner gave us a talk.’

‘We’re an outlier to the post-punk scene’

All of them are inspired by their local music scene: ‘It’s AMAZING,’ Jake enthused. ‘There are so many bands. We’re an outlier to the post-punk scene. We’re more commercial but slowly making our way in!’ They’re all fans of local indie band and their friends, The Manatees: ‘They’re indie but with chunky, heavy riffs,’ Jacob said. Jake agrees: ‘They’re rocky indie, like Arctic Monkeys,’ he said. Sam weighs in: ‘So many great touring bands come through here like Yard Act, we get a great 3-4 gigs a week.’

I ask who they’d put on their dream line-up. ‘Can we call you back tomorrow?,’ Sam joked. ‘I’ll say Hendrix, early Radiohead and The Beatles.’ Jacob has other plans: ‘I’d have Foo Fighters and Queen with Freddie,’ he said happily. ‘Foo Fighters have massively influenced me, I know all their songs on the guitar. When I was very little, mum and dad had the Live Aid box set. I had a plastic guitar and dressed up as Freddie (laughs)!’ Jake goes with Bloc Party and Foals: ‘I’d say Foals mainly because they’re my most listened to band,’ he said. ‘Their first album, Antidotes, is so unique for its time. Bloc Party, everything I do is based off what they do, they’ve been so influential to me.’

They’ve had some entertaining moments as a band. ‘The print thing is difficult,’ Sam said mischievously. ‘I’ve got it!,’ Jacob said. ‘When we did ‘Come In’, we thought of having a door as our logo, so we wanted to implement a door into the photo shoot but we couldn’t get the door properly in Sam’s car, so he’s driving with the boot open and the door hanging out (laughs). When we took it to the studio, I thought “This is a stupid idea”, we had a bit of an argument about it.’ They all burst out laughing. ‘So I sawed it in half – that’s why our logo is split!’ Jake takes over: ‘Jacob sawed it up angrily, haha, and then, at the photoshoot, the photographer is like “Can you stand it up?” Jacob is laughing: ‘It’s part of us now, we’ve still got the door!’ Sam looks at him: ‘Yeah, it was quite an intense evening in James’ Room!’

(Photo from left to right: Will, Louis, Sam, Jake and Jacob)