Jim Moray

With his debut, Sweet England, Jim Moray has released one of the most intriguing, and in some ways one of the most controversial, albums of 2003. It's virtually all traditional English folk music (there's one Moray original, and very good it is, too), but it's the sound he brings to it that startles. There are elements of electronica, strings, and even a sensibility of '80s pop music, bringing these songs alive again in a very accessible way. Whether it will kick start a revolution of bringing folk to the masses remains to be seen. But in the meantime Moray has arrived on the music scene fully formed.

Who were your folk influences, and what's your background in folk music?

My folk influences were (and are) people like June Tabor, Martin Carthy, Nic Jones, Pete Coe. I was brought up listening to those artists and my parents have always been involved with folk music in general.

What made you pick these particular songs? Some are very well known (or was that the point?), while a couple, like "The Suffolk Miracle," are rather more obscure.

" I may branch out into a P-funk phase or whatever. I'm growing my hair in anticipation."

I picked songs that sounded good when I sang them. A lot of well known songs are ones that people have stopped singing because they're well known. But by the time I came to go to folk clubs you never heard them, and they were well known for a reason (because they're good). I like singing songs like that.

You've trained as a musician, and the string arrangements (indeed, the overall sense of arrangement) on the album are very accomplished. What made you decide to use real strings over samples, which you could have played yourself - since you played almost everything else.

I don't see any point in using samples of strings and trying to make it sound real. I do use samples as well (not on this record), but they're usually of mellotron strings, or a chamberlin, or sometimes I use a Solina String Ensemble machine. If I want real strings I'd rather use a real quartet - it takes me less time to write it out and phone my friends to come and play it than it does to programme realistic strings.

Was it a conscious decision to have a very pop feel to the album? It makes the music very accessible - and, of course, the songs were the pop music of their day.

I feel I've just made music that sums up all of my influences, which is the most natural thing to do. If I had made an acoustic record or a totally rock record, it would have been because of a conscious effort not to do particular things. As it is I just let it happen and matched the songs that came out to each other.

I've heard the Radio 3 live performance you gave, where you played solo. Do you normally appear solo live, and if so, how does that affect both the material you perform, and the way you approach it.

At most of my gigs I appear on my own. It enforces the strategy of treating every song differently from the recording - essentially I'm the worlds first Jim Moray covers band. A guitar, laptop and my voice usually covers it. Live, your voice seemed to have more of a raw quality, as opposed to the sweetness of the album. Do you sense that change yourself. I tend to get a bit more "over-excited" live (which is a euphemism for "tuneless").

I understand you financed the record with your student loan. How do the college authorities feel about that - if they know.

I handed the album in as coursework, so they were fine. In reality, the money spent on microphones, mixing desks etc. was the money meant for food and clothes, not for books. So I didn't eat and I dressed really badly, but I got a great vocal sound! Not surprisingly I didn't go out much...

Do you see yourself recording more trad. folk, or is it just one facet of your music? And where do you see it all going for you?

I see myself continuing to make albums of music. If folk music continues to inspire me that's the music I make. However, by the same token I may branch out into a P-funk phase or whatever. I'm growing my hair in anticipation.

Jim Moray

" I may branch out into a P-funk phase or whatever. I'm growing my hair in anticipation."

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