We caught up with pop powerhouse, Jarryd James following the release of his new single ‘Let It Go’ for a chat and exclusive photo shoot by Harry White. We delved into how his early influences have shaped him as musician, his song writing session with M-Phazes, and much more.

Futuremag Music: Taking it back to your childhood, could you please talk us through the influence music had on your life, and how it’s shaped you?

Jarryd James: If you think about music the way that I do, it’s sort of inherent. You feel that music has always been within you in a weird kind of way, but you grow into it. I always associated and recognised bits of music that I enjoyed, then I tried to figure out how they were put together and see if I could do that. I analysed everything I listened to and it’s helped me write music now and develop my sound. Stevie Wonder has been a massive influence to me, especially with melodies. When I heard melodies that grabbed me, I became obsessed with it.

Futuremag Music: The influence of melodies are definitely ingrained into your music now, and are a hallmark to the Jarryd James sound. When you go into a studio session do you bring influences or a direction?

Jarryd James: No, not at all. I do the opposite to that actually. I like to enter a session with no idea of what’s going on because you can do anything you want. I find if I bring something in it’s quite limiting for my creative process. I honestly love that you can experiment in a session and make whatever you want.

Futuremag Music: Talking about sessions, you recorded ‘Let It Go’ with M-Phazes. Could you talk us through the writing and production process of the new single?

Jarryd James: That was a bit of an unusual scenario, because I don’t usually start and finish something in one session. We did it on a writing trip, and how those trips work is that you try to create a track everyday with a different person. It was just myself and M-Phazes in the room and it was high pressure to smash out a track. That said, I really enjoyed the experience. M-Phazes is exceptional at what he does. Working on my own is so much harder, I love working with others. I’m always working away, it’s a never ending process.

Futuremag Music: That’s awesome to hear that you’re writing more and more. What does the next twelve months look like for you?

Jarryd James: It’s a bit of an unclear path at the moment. I do know I will be as busy as I possibly can and I want to try to focus on playing shows in Australia!

Futuremag Music: To wrap it up, if Jarryd James was a cocktail, what would be in it to best describe the project?

Jarryd James: hahaha, if I was a cocktail I would be a White Russian my friend. If I’m feeling a little bit spicy, a White Russian is my go to drink.