James Blunt On His Career, Reputation as a Sensitive Songwriter

his soft-spoken demeanor belies his
reputation as a rock star hi I’m Rebecca
Braden and welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’re speaking with James Blunt
what do you credit with first speaking
your interest in music I think to begin
with I wasn’t that interested in music
because I was being forced to do it by
my mom
you know I enjoyed the sport astir and
stuff like that she kind of pushed
something to see if it would be more in
artistic or creative I can’t draw so it
was it was music and from an early age
you know she gave me a record or no
three and took out the violin when I was
four the piano when I was seven
but you know what you can’t really to
say to your friends hey come and listen
to me playing Mozart’s or Beethoven’s
sonata own f-sharp minor so yeah I
didn’t enjoy that so much until I got to
school where a friend of mine was
playing the electric guitar I was 14 at
a time and instan that’s a whole
different thing because he’s playing
along to solves her on the radio and he
told me a few cause I started playing
that and immediately I said you know
what this is great fun learnt some of
those learn to play songs and started
writing my own stuff and that’s when I
said you know I wanna I want to do music
as a teenager that’s when you struggle
to express yourself um and I started
writing songs and yeah and that was that
moment
singing Billie Jean mixing vodka with
caffeine
we got stranger stopping
what artist did you grow up listening to
you and do credit with kind of inspiring
you to say this is what I want to do I
didn’t have much of a record collection
myself but at school you know lots
people were playing their own things was
a period where I suppose there a lot of
American guitar bands even but for
whether or not I have my music then
sounds like them or not in lism it was
just a litte you know an amazing moment
of of really understanding the music is
a great form of expression and and I
learned that more than anything now that
I’m playing all across the world and
this world tour and you’re in places
where many people don’t understand or
don’t speak the language that I’m
singing in and yet they really still
feel the emotion behind the music
you have a reputation for being very
sensitive and serious because of your
introspective lyrics what do you think
of that reputation it’s not something I
think about too much because you know
who you are and what your reputation
might be in it would be you’d have to be
young quite egocentric to just be why
they were all concerned about whether I
should change it slightly here or there
you think about me too much I have mine
own firm as a sensitive
singer/songwriter definitely I am
because of the singles that have come
out is there more to that on the albums
yeah I think so you know where will
people discover it some well and some
won’t
your friends will know about it and the
people who listen to what you do might
not you know you don’t have to force
yourself on people I don’t expect to
kind of you know a loyalty of hey you
know you’ve got once and one album so
you need to buy the next I don’t think
you know the world doesn’t work in that
way and I think you know you let people
do what they want to do and enjoy your
music the way they want to and you know
when I when I write song it’s very
personal to me when you put it out you
give it to other people to use and
abused and understand in any way that
they want to and I love that
you very much for you time better