Interview with Micky James: ‘Everybody feels crushed by the absence of live music and people are as thirsty as ever for it to come back’

New Jersey, US-based, glam rock singer Micky James brought out his ‘Live At The Met – the Philadelphia Special’ last month, showing us just what an incredible showman he is, whilst reminding us of just how much we’ve missed gigs.

James delivers a passionate and high-energy 35 minute set, which was also released last week as an EP of the same name. I tell him that his energy on stage was captivating, which was particularly impressive given that they weren’t even performing in front of an audience. ‘You know, me and my band have been craving to be on a stage together for such a long time,’ he said. ‘It felt like a humongous relief to be there, I think we really fed off each other’s energy. For a moment we all forgot we were playing to an empty room.’

He hopes that more musicians will put on shows like this: ‘Everybody feels crushed by the absence of live music and people are as thirsty as ever for it to come back,’ he said. ‘My manager had a connection at the venue and we thought why not do a concert and make something that feels authentic and timeless?’ I tell him that I am surprised that more artists haven’t been doing this and that it would be wonderful to see more events like this. ‘Oh, I would love it if this had a domino effect,’ he said.

‘It’s a song about the relationship between the American government and its people’

One of the hardest hitting tracks in his ‘Live At The Met’ set is ‘Kings’, with its driving bass line and serious guitar riffs, combined with an infectious, staccato pre-chorus. ‘It’s a song I’ve had for a while,’ he said. (It was released as a single last year.) ‘With everything that was going on in the world, I felt it was my duty to put it out there. It’s a song about the relationship between the American government and its people, it’s about social and political change.’

As the song goes: ‘There’s a card to play, another day down is another game, Queens, Jacks and Aces, the people and places. We’re changing the paces and taking it back!’

‘Crybaby’ is one of the catchiest tracks in the show. It’s fast-paced and drum-driven with some great riffs and an immensely hooky chorus, and was released as a single in 2019. I ask him if it was written about a specific person. ‘Correct, it’s about my ex,’ he said. ”It’s about grappling with a toxic relationship and getting clarity. It’s the most rock ‘n’ roll song that I have.’ In the video that accompanies the song, he performs in a striking, graffiti covered train carriage: ‘We perform it in a bar where we used to rehearse. We wanted to make the most of our local area and there’s a train car down the road from the bar and we thought it would make a fun set.’

While we associate James with high-octane songs, he can do pared back equally well, as shown by his new track, ‘Scars’, an acoustic number that he plays onstage alone at the end of the set and which is also the closing track on the EP.

‘It’s my favourite bill, me and Luke are both really energetic onstage!’

He has the same kind of wild energy on stage as Luke Spiller, frontman of British band, The Struts, which explains why The Struts picked James’ former band, The Karma Killers, to tour with them when they did their first US tour in 2015. ‘I know those guys kind of well,’ he said. ‘I did a residency with them in LA (At the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood in 2018). It’s my favourite bill, me and Luke are both really energetic onstage! I’d like to come over (to Europe) and play with them again, do some shows.’

His ‘Live At The Met’ set featured his Karma Killers bandmates: drummer Josh Grigsby, guitarist Ryder Stuart and bassist Adam Jessamin. The Karma Killers released an EP, Strange Therapy, in 2015, before hitting the road as part of the Vans Warped Tour, before eventually calling it quits in 2018. James was quick to release four tracks as a solo artist ‘Give It To Me Straight, ‘Rest of the Best’, ‘Tie Me Up’ and ‘New Heart’, followed by ‘Walk the Line’ and ‘Crybaby’ in 2019. Of the songs on the latest album, he describes ‘Walk The Line’ as ‘the most evolved of the batch’.

In November, James will play four of the five days of The Rock Boat, a floating music festival that will kick off in Miami, Florida, before going on to Great Stirrup Cay, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. ‘It’s a party vacation,’ he laughed. ‘There are around 15 bands.’ The lineup also includes We The Kings and The Trews.

In the absence of live music, he has been channelling his energy into new songs; ‘There’s so much new music I’m shooting to put out, I’ll put out another single by early spring.’ (Details have yet to be released.) He describes his new songs as ‘not as rock ‘n’ roll as ‘Crybaby’ but still interesting and unique’: He’s a fan of ABBA and The Jackson 5: ‘Musically, I’m more of a pop kid. I love Queen’s big songs, Freddie Mercury was a legend and something of an influence, but I’m more into The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Bowie. My parents and uncle got me into rock ‘n’ roll and my dad got me into The Beatles and The Beach Boys. ‘Rubber Soul is my favourite Beatles album, it feels like early Beatles but it’s taking a step in a new direction.’

If he could go to any gig today, he picks The Strokes and is hoping that gigs slowly start to resurface: ‘The governor of New York (Andrew Cuomo) just announced opening sports arenas at a small capacity but I’m not sure if that’s just for sports or also for concerts. I think gigs might be the last thing to come back…’