Ben's Brother Interview

Sitting in a small, dark room, we catch up with founder-frontman of Ben's Brother, Jamie Hartman; half an hour before he is meant to perform at Bristol's Thekla Social.

R13: Ok we want to get the Ben thing out of the way, straight away. Do you ever wish that you were born first?
Jamie Hartman: (Laughing) Me? No not now, otherwise I wouldn't be where I am. It would have changed me. I would have been a different person.

R13: You are often likened to a younger Rod Stewart – is there anyone else that you would want to be likened to?
JH: Yeah, one of Rod Stewart's influences – Sam Cooke, that's one that I would love to be likened to. I was lucky enough to meet Terence Trent D'arby; he was around when I was younger. If you haven't already, you should check him out, for a while he was one of the top singers in the world. I met him because he had my record, he sent me an email just saying, 'I love the fact that your sound reminds me a little of Rod Stewart, but if you've got a bit of Rod in you then you obviously have a bit of Sam Cooke in there as well, and if you're in that sort of shape you're doing pretty good.' He was my biggest influence back then, his was the first record that I bought and wore out. I had to buy a new one.

R13: Have you always wanted to work in music?
JH: Yeah it's what I have always wanted to do. I have been doing it since I was nineteen I suppose; I used to go to university in Leeds and as soon as I left there I had a couple jobs but I never wanted to do anything else.
R13: How does it compare now? The reality vs. The dream?
JH: (Smiling) It's different. Not what you expect, the reality is rarely as glamorous. On the other hand now, what we have realised on this tour is you have people singing the songs back to you. For the first time ever I have people singing back our lyrics to us that's when it starts to feel amazing.

R13: You used to write songs for other artists; did you write those songs from your personal experiences?
JH: 'All Time Love' was a song that was very much for me as a solo artist. I was living in New York at the time and it was a pretty rough time of my life. I was going to all the labels, and at that time I wasn't going to get a deal on my own without giving something away, so I had to give that one away in order to get this far.
R13: How does it feel giving away a song that was meant for you, and hearing someone else singing it?
JH: I dealt with it in the end. It was a bit of a trial to start with actually because it is such a personal song.

R13: What's your favourite part of the whole song writing process?
JH: The moment you get something that you know is very slightly different and hasn't been done before and it's great. That's rare. You always know whether you've got something that's good or not. You just kid yourself sometimes that it is but it isn't. You know when you get a little tingle that this is actually proper and I can do something with this; I got that when I wrote 'All Time Love.' There are a couple songs that I just knew there was something different, you know a little bit of originality. No one is a hundred percent original, they're just not. You want enough originality in the lyric and the melody to make the listener's ears prick up.

R13: You have made no secret that you have been through some tough times, what has helped you through?
JH: My easiest way to deal with those times is to write. It always comes out very quickly, if I have got something that I need to say, that's how it comes out, as a song. For me although maybe the songs might sound really fucked up actually I am reasonably well adjusted.
R13: What do you think that music gives you that nothing else does?
JH: (Smiling) Release. Sex and music; the best forms of release there are.

R13: How did you go about bringing the band together?
JH: We formed relatively recently. I was signed as a solo artist and as soon as I started making the record I made it in a room with four guys playing. That's how I wanted it to be. I always wanted to be in band, I never really wanted to be just a solo artist. I wanted to get that fantastic buzz of being on the stage with four other guys, touring around the country and crying into my pillow and then getting little cuddles. Kris gives good cuddles especially after about eight beers.

R13: How much input did you have into the production of your first music video?
JH: The first one I've got to say very little and I must say I didn't really like it. I wasn't crazy about it. The second one I thought was a lot better; 'Let Me Out' was a bit more representative of what we are. What you got to realise is that you learn as you go. The next single 'Carry On' we are going to go and film on Friday or Saturday and we are going to take the piss a bit more, be a little more tongue in cheek.

R13: Whose rocking your socks at the moment? Who are you listening to?
JH: It sounds rubbish, there's a guy whose slightly electronica that I like. He's a bit of a dweeb, did a song: "I like all the girls, I like all the girls." There is something dweeby cool about him that I quite liked. I think it's quite interesting the way that he puts his tracks together. Musically I like everything from you know Sam Cooke straight the way through to Buckley. Then you have The Stones and The Beatles. Modern stuff I really like a singer that's just come out called Terra Naomi. There are a million people on the circuit but I always listen out for a signature voice or a signature sound.

R13: So what would you ultimately like to bring to the music industry?
JH: (Smiling) A bit of quality and class; depth of song writing, emotionally; originality but simplicity of lyrics and hopefully a good voice and a very good show. That's one thing that people have really picked up on in a different way because as a record it sounds pretty singer songwriter but it's a very different thing when you hear us live. We have people queuing afterwards to meet us and say hello because I think they just go, "Fuck, where did that come from?" We want to give them something extra. I think if you have to pay money to go see someone live you've got to walk away with a buzz from seeing them live. You can buy a record or download it now but you don't exactly get to know anything about the artist or the personality, playing live is my opportunity to give more of myself.

R13: Thank you so much for your time. We have one final question though. In a fight to the death; who do you think would win between Papa Smurf and Bagpuss?
JH: (Laughing) What a fucking weird question. What was the girl Smurf's name? Smurfette? Smurfette would kick both of their arses. She would crack their heads together and that would be the end of that. Bagpuss is a big lad but then Papa Smurf is wily and he has a stick, he also has experience; I think he would bring something to the table. So I think there would be a struggle and then Smurfette would turn up and bang their heads together.