Spotlight: James Ty

James Ty is an Irish singer, songwriter and producer. He grew up focusing on his love of music, and began writing at an early age. Inspired by such influences as Coldplay, John Mayer, Jon Bellion and Drake, James makes contemporary pop that mixes R&B, Electric and Indie. During college James started writing music for various artists and found himself in the vibrant electronic dance music scene. He began writing and collaborating with producers from all around the world and slowly built his name in the scene. James is currently working on his debut EP, which he expects to release in 2017.

Below, he tells us about his passion for singing, how every piece of music is unique and should be approached as such, and how he ended up recording in his car! Whatever it takes right?

Tell us about your singing journey. How did you get into singing?

I was kind of always drawn to music. My dad played guitar so I started learning how to play at a young age. As I got older I was lucky enough that my hobby turned into a job. I started singing for producers on various tracks while in college to make a bit of money and it just kept going from there.

What’s your singing dream? Any major goals?

Well to be making money just by doing music is something I never thought I’d be able to do but now I’m focusing a lot on writing music and defining my style as an artist so that hopefully by the end of the year I will be releasing my first EP.

What are your upcoming releases?

I’m always working on about 3-4 new songs every 2 weeks so new releases are constantly on the way. I have also just started writing lyrics for a lot of artists, which is a great! But what’s taking up most my time at the moment is my EP, which is hopefully going to be out end of 2017 start of 2018.

Tell us about your songwriting process - is there a particular way you tackle the topline?

For me every song is different and I go about writing each song differently. Sometimes I just have a melody straight away just from listening to the song and sometimes I actually start with the lyrics. I’ll have this idea for a song in my head and once I have a couple of lines written I usually work out a melody that fits the lyrics as I write them.

What’s your biggest success to date?

I have had a couple of songs make it to various charts but for me my biggest success has been working with amazing artists I had heard of before Vocalizr. I have had the privilege of working with and getting advice from the likes of Ivan Gough, Feenixpawl, Palastic, Nemea and Filous - all of whom are amazing artists.

What’s your favourite record that you have performed on?

It’s hard to pick one song as you get attached to a lot of projects but one of my favorite songs to date is probably Blackbird which is an unreleased song I have done and I think it’s one of my favorite songs to date that I have written.

Who would you most like to work with, and why?

For me I enjoy working with anyone who is both passionate and talented at what they do because it pushes me to do better. Whenever I’m around people who are genuinely good at their craft it brings the best out of me too. If I had to pick one person it would probably be Jon Bellion, he is one of the most passionate artists I’ve ever seen.

Which artists do you find inspiring? Why?

For me as an artist, Jon Bellion is probably the biggest inspiration. Not only are his songs so unique and powerful but watching him go through his creative process when making these songs is something else. I’ve seen videos of him in the studio and it’s like he goes into another world when creating music and his energy is something that other artists can easily feed off.

What are your top 5 records of all time?

It changes constantly but for now:

All Time Low by Jon Bellion

Ottoman by Vampire Weekend

Two Stones by Walking on Cars

Talk You Down by The Script

Run to Me by The Royal Sons

Do you have a home studio? If so, tell us about your setup?

I have recently set up a home studio. Before that I recorded nearly anywhere I could get a good clean take. I recorded a couple of songs in my car! Haha! But yeah, my studio is pretty much just a small fully sound proofed set-up with all my mics and instruments in there. I run everything off my Mac. It makes recording a lot smoother and it’s also easier to not have to book studio time.

Do you have a favourite microphone? If so, why?

I wish I could say I’ve used enough mics to have a large collection of knowledge but I started out with pretty cheap condensers and built my way up. If I had to pick I’d probably go with the Neumann u87 because I think it suits my voice the best.

How did you find singing jobs before Vocalizr?

Before Vocalizr it was pretty much word of mouth, YouTube or Soundcloud. I put up some acoustic covers on YouTube and one day a producer from Italy asked me if I would feature on one of his songs and that’s pretty much how I started off. That song “Sky” was the first dance track I did vocals for.

Has Vocalizr opened doors for you?

More than I can say. Vocalizr is the reason I have built such a network of, not only connections in the industry but, fans too. It is amazing how Vocalizr has created this community of musicians and connected them.

Have you made new connections through Vocalizr?

Nearly every person I know in the industry was either introduced to me on Vocalizr or through someone who saw me on Vocalizr. It branches out a lot but always comes back to Vocalizr.

If you were stuck on a deserted island, what are 3 things you couldn’t live without?

Tv, my phone and beer… water was a close fourth!