What gave birth to your project as Jamesy Ohhh?
A public petition forced Jamesy Ohhh onto the bill at Wide Open Space festival in the Northern Territory and it was unexpected enough that I topped up my set with sombre covers from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. From there things spiralled sideways and it became a full blown original music project with guitars in the shadows and computers casting their blue haze upon this face.
You launched your self-titled album last year. What’s the reception been like?
The reception has been fantastic, which is to say it is like something from my wildest fantasies. Seriously though – bit of Double and triple j support, smattering of this and that. Absolutely no hate mail whatsoever.
You used Kickstarter to help fund the album – how effective was that platform?
Kickstarter was brilliant for me. I guess I had a supportive bunch of friends, family and people following my music from the Ancient Free Gardeners days, which helped because I only needed a little bit from a whole lot of people to get the thing made.
Your video clip for Creepers is incredibly interesting. Can you tell us more about how and why you shot it?
I’m not a selfie guy, not at all, so I had the idea to challenge myself to make a music video entirely from selfie footage. I also thought of the idea while travelling in Rwanda, so I got to work singing my own songs aloud on buses, in rainforests, in posh hotel lobbies and so on, until I had something to cut together.
Catch JAMESY OHHH at Shebeen on Saturday January 30, with support from Vinten, Alex Springs, and DJ Benjamin Mayhem spinning interstitial sounds. His self-titled mini-album is available now.
