MySpacea place for friends

Interview and Article in Digphilly Magazine by Matthew Ray If interesting experiences and exceptional lives lead to creative works, then Philly singer-songwriter James Bradford has material for many pursuits. Born to a schizophrenic mother in St. Louis, Bradford was eventually adopted by another family who later moved him to Shreveport, La., where he turned to performing and acting as a creative outlet in a conservative town.

By age 16, he’d taken his G.E.D, and started classes at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) of Manhattan. The death of his adoptive mother sent Bradford into a tailspin, and he left the university within weeks. Bradford bounced between Washington and New Orleans for several years experimenting with various types of entertainment: Singing, acting, dee-jaying and improv comedy. Eventually he teamed up with guitarist Toshio Mana to record an acoustic album, “Metronomosexual.”

In July 2006, Bradford and Mana followed this with "Live at Rockwood," recorded at the Rockwood Music Hall in New York. Bradford released a single, "The Fumes of Burning Bridges" in 2007. It’s the first release from his pending record, "Ipecac Kisses." Taking a break from recording, Bradford will appear at the Intermezzo Café this Friday, March 21. The singer-songwriter recently sat down with digphilly to give us some pre-show scoop.

Digphilly: You’ve had a very interesting life history… How has this translated to your music?
JB: I always think it’s kind of funny, because, it seems so ordinary to me. I think that music and all art is, at the ultimate, universal. But a lot of greener singer-songwriters tend to not be able to break past the personal. When the shit comes down on you, you have to make a decision: Is this going to direct my life, or is it going to inform me about who I am and who I’ll be? Do I blame the universe, or do I recognize that everyone goes through his or her own level of suffering? So, if I’m going with the latter, then I have a stronger connection to everyone around me, and then the personal BECOMES universal.

DP: Can you describe your music for our readers?
JB: Right now my music is a blend of pop/rock and acoustic folk, with a little bit of experimental folk thrown in. I’m all about combining genres. My first album was a dance record, and though I’m all for grinding your ass to a good beat, I’m more about an organic sound. Highly focused on vocals and lyrics, sexy and sensual and romantic, but aggressive and in your face at the same time.

DP: As a singer-songwriter, do you prefer to only do your own stuff, or is it just as fun to do other peoples’ songs?
JB: I’m really into doing covers of songs no one has heard of, or that people have forgotten. I do an acoustic version of this great song “Don’t Say U Love Me” by Martika (penned by Prince) that the peeps seem to dig. For my money, you shouldn’t do a cover of something unless you’re bringing something new to the table. I also have a penchant for covering songs that it’s just totally inappropriate for me to sing.

DP: What about collaborations with other artists? How does that change your music?
JB: For the last 3-plus years I’ve collaborated with Toshio Mana; he’s my guitarist and music director, and he brings a technical aspect to the music that I lack. I’m more inclined to say to someone, “this track needs to be more triangles and less circles,” whereas he can say “let’s put this in a minor third and pop the EQ down a notch.”

DP: What inspires your creative process?
JB: Actors, writers and photographers inspire me. For “Ipecac Kisses,” I spent some time in the Pocanos watching the films of Martha Plimpton. My records tend to have a theme that is triggered by something in my personal life. Right now I’m sort of fixated on the darker side of relationships, the idea that you can never really know someone: Betrayal, adultery, the contempt of familiarity. But also how those things can make a relationship stronger sometimes.

DP: What does the future hold for James Bradford?
JB: Lingerie modeling and a brief stint in amateur porn, then my own line of colognes! [Laughs] Well, I have a 56-song boxed set that is going to be available on iTunes starting April 20th, or you can buy a hard copy at our shows or online. My newest album will finally be out in October. Until then we’ll be playing out all over the East Coast. And we’re working on this really cool project for charity, which will be an album of other people covering or remixing my songs; it’s called “A World Saved in Coffeeshops.” I love the idea of somebody who no one’s really heard of having his songs covered by other people who probably you’ve never heard of, to raise money for strangers who really need it.

"The Fumes of Burning Bridges," James Bradford's first single from his upcoming album "Ipecac Kisses," is a major departure from previous projects. Whereas the 2000 album "Mnemosynes Lounge" was a dance-pop tour de force and 2005s "Metronomosexual" was a lighthearted acoustic romp, here those paths seem to meet and implode upon each other. "Fumes" delivers some of the best indie-alt-rockin weve heard in a long time (thanks in great part to the production of Toshio Mana of "The Bootlickers" fame.) What really drives the intensity, though, is Bradfords not-too-pretty, not-too-angry vocals, which lift lyrics like "Is your Hollywood home worth all of the head youve been giving?" beyond cliche and into the stratosphere. Four Stars!" - Q Magazine"