Interview: Jaye Jayle
Photography credit: Edward Neary
We spoke with Evan Patterson of Jaye Jayle about his songwriting influences and motivations.
You're heading out on tour with the metal band Oathbreaker. Your music is accepted by that scene. What parallels do you have in your music with metal? Are there pressures of opening a metal show when your style isn't necessarily within that genre.
The music I make is emotionally heavy. I feel that as a parallel. No pressures, I appreciate a diverse show.
Are you a metal fan yourself?
I am a fan of all music. "Metal" seems a bit too simple of a category for the modern sounds that are being created. Black Sabbath will always be a favorite. Judas Priest's Rocka Rolla has been a more recent favorite. Not as much of a fan of metal music as, say... Ennio Morricone or Fela Kuti or Iggy Pop or Spacemen 3. The band SUMAC speaks to me. I wouldn't call them a metal band. Their sound truly transcends in their live performance.
Who are your inspirations for your songwriting? What type of things motivate you to create the best stuff?
Several years ago, the album Shine by Crime and the City Solution grabbed hold of me. That album was a turning point. Not just in music, but in my physical and emotional life.
Traveling has always been a great inspiration. Conversation with strangers. Past loves. Hallucinogenic paranoia. Fear of self-control. I've never felt like a stable person. A bit internally panicked. Migraine headaches and a weak heart are my biggest influences.
You recorded with a group called Young Widows. How did your time with that project impact your songwriting and project as Jaye Jayle?
I don't feel what I'm writing now is opposite of Young Widows - maybe a bit calmer and more restraint, more focused on the mood and my voice. Every group I've played in has bettered my quality of life.
Where are you living these days? How has living there affected your creativity?
Life in Louisville, Kentucky is easy and relaxing. Strange to think of myself as Kentucky born and raised and still residing. Most like-minded souls have fled. I don't blame them. Louisville's subculture is tiny, but I still I love it here. It's home.
House Cricks and Other Excuses to Get Out was released last year. How'd this set of songs come together? Where'd you record it and what's your level of involvement in the production/recording stage?
I'm extremely involved in the entire process. We went into the studio with 17 songs and left with 7 that we loved. Tinkered around with overdubs in a friends home studio, sent two songs to Dean Hurley to mix, recorded a few more months later in our rehearsal space. I'm very happy with the final result. It wasn't easy, but the songs are captured well for that time and place. Dean's mixes are my favorite. The plan is to work with Dean on mixing the next album.
You've got a record coming out with Emma Ruth Rundle. How'd that project come together? How does your contribution to that record differ from House Cricks? What was the level of collaboration between you two for this album?
Originally, I had ask Sargent House to release a single of two of the songs. I had been talking with an effects pedal manufacturing company called Old Blood Noise Endeavors about running entire mixes of songs through their pedals and releasing a cassette. Sargent House loved the two songs and suggested the split record with Emma. The record isn't a collaboration. The songs are extras from our album sessions. They didn't fit the mood or there wasn't enough room on the album to squeeze them in - very excited about the record. The romantic portrait photography and energy of the music make for a gorgeous record.
Buy House Cricks and Other Reasons to Get Out. Find Jaye Jayle's tour dates here.