EQUATE meets James Gillespie

Acclaimed singer and songwriter James Gillespie has spent his career captivating listeners across the world with his incredible talent. Leaping into 2020 in fine form, he’s given us a glimpse into his world with his debut album, ‘Safe’, releasing visuals for fan-favourite “Someday Sundays”. The merging of creativity from Gillespie and producer Andy Hall had garnered over 56 million streams since its October 2019 release, with the visuals following James’ headlining European tour, which saw him perform sold out shows after his hugely successful album.

Speaking on the track, James shared: “’Someday Sundays’ is about an escape from whatever’s normal. I spent so long living on islands under the sun that when I moved to London I forgot how to get away. Everyone needs space to breathe, travel and escape from their lives. It helps find out who you are and shows you what’s important…turn your phone off…and let it all out.”

Words by Danielle Temeng

EQ: I really loved the visuals for ‘Someday Sundays’, how did you come up with the idea for it?

‘Someday Sundays’ is about an escape from whatever’s normal. I spent years living under the sun around the world and when I moved to London I totally forgot how to get away. So I woke up , grabbed my sunglasses that have a camera in them and just started filming. I was like ‘where can I go and get away from my normal London life?’ So I jumped on a train to Brighton and just filmed the whole night. It got a little messy but it was a fun day and kind of what the song’s about. Escaping. Enjoying life. Letting go.

EQ: You recently had success with your headline European tour, and you’re back out on the road soon (hopefully), where are you most looking forward to performing?

I’m just looking forward to playing everywhere. I think my first headline shows in N.Y and L.A will be really special. I can’t wait to get over there in November.

EQ:…and what’s your favourite song to perform (this can be your own or a cover).

Probably Daredevil. Every time I sing it I get taken straight back to when I wrote it. It’s incredible how it never changes no matter how many times I play it.

EQ: If you had the chance to write any song in the world which one would it be and why?

‘Sideways’ by Citizen Cope. I feel every single word like they were my own and like with Daredevil, it just gets me every time. No matter how much I listen to it. It’s genius.

EQ: Your music tells very intimate stories, how do you get inspiration and is it sometimes hard to release music which is so personal?

The inspiration comes from my life. I’ve only ever written about things that have happened to me. People I’ve met and got to know and yeah - it’s crazy difficult sometimes. That’s why I played covers for so long. Its’ hard to write down what your heart’s feeling….and even harder to show it to the world.

EQ: The whole world is practically on lockdown. What’ve you been doing to keep yourself busy in this time?

Ha, well I started sensibly. Cleaning out my house, sorting out the studio, writing, cooking, but then I started to get restless and ended up skating in my house, learning how to play the flute again and forcing friends to do stupid things online [laughs].

EQ: And what’s a positive mantra you live by?

It’s ok to be sad. Sometimes you need it to realize what you have.

EQ: What do you say of the success that you’ve achieved and the following you’ve garnered?

It’s been incredible and I’m so graetfull for everyone who has supported me, but I can’t fucking wait for you guys to hear album 2. That’s when things are going to get crazy.

EQ: What can we expect to see from you the rest of 2020. Any EQUATE exclusives you can let us in on?

[laughs] Ok, well I’m doing a song called ‘Murderer’ for album two and it’s going to have a feature on it that’s NOT in my genre!

YouTube/James Gillespie

Stream ‘Someday Sundays’ HERE.

Website: James Gillespie Music

Instagram: @JGillespieInsta

Twitter: @JamesGillespie