With “Summers Last Embrace” out now, we took some time to hear from James Bellew. Read below to learn more about James Bellew, the story behind “Summers Last Embrace,” and what’s to come.
Hi James Bellew! Let’s start with how did you get your artist name?
Well, simply put, it’s my own name. 🙂 I decided to keep it simple. 🙂 In the late 1990s, I went by the name of DJ Bellew, since I used to DJ at various local clubs and venues.
What city are you from, and where are you based now?
Originally from a village called Bellewstown, approximately 35 km north of Dublin City. Lived in many cities over the years, from the age of 14, including Zurich, Vilnius, Stockholm, Vero Beach, FL, London, and Vilamoura, in the Algarve region of Portugal. Moved back to my home village of Bellewstown about 9 years ago – where I am currently based.
At what point in your life did you decide to pursue a career in music? How did you get started?
I decided to start producing music at the age of just 13! I was inspired from listening to electronic dance music on the many pirate radio stations of the time. This interest led me to DJ at local discotheques and nightclubs where my passion for dance and pop music grew. Inspiration also came from artists likes of Robert Miles. I was impressed by the way this kind of music was being produced synthetically, by use of keyboards, drum machines and desktop computers!
How I got started. My father, a long time videographer and photographer, and my older brother, an early computer programmer (I’m talking commodore 64, then early windows DOS!). Between them both, I realised tha I had music and video mixing and editing equipment at my disposal, some of it quite advanced for it’s time! For example, we together purchased a Philips CD burner in 1995, one of the first purchased in the country at the time. This alone allowed me to copy and share my first music productions much easier, and at a superior quality to the tapes used previously, although at a cost, for example, one blank CD cost over 5 IRL pounds at the time!
How would you describe your sound to readers who may not be familiar with you?
In a word, nostalgic. The sounds produced in this new release stem from riffs and samples produced 25 or more years ago. Thankfully saved and remastered with todays tech.
Do you have any hobbies outside of music? What do you do to stay creative?
Family life and full-time job take up most of my time when I’m not producing music, but still, when I get time, I do dabble is classic car restoration, with a collection of many old cars, all longing for as much attention.
Who are some of your main musical influences?
Robert Miles and Sash in the past, to more recently, Armen Van Burren and Christina Novelli.
What’s one of the proudest moments of your music career so far?
In 2000, one of my early songs being played on live radio. At the time, to have a song played publicly on air was almost unheard of, and was a proud moment at 17 years old.
What would you say are the greatest lessons that you’ve learned so far?
Life lessons? Realising that others don’t really think or care about you, as much as you might think. Everybody has their own day to deal with, their own challenges, their own feeling to manage, their own day to overcome. So, there is no reason to dwell too much on what we think, someone is thinking.
Now onto your release, ‘Summers Last Embrace.’ What inspired this song? What is ‘Summers Last Embrace’ about?
‘Summers Last Embrace’ speaks for itself. It really is about Summers last embrace. The false sense of comfort associated with summer, easy living, warm days and nights. Then, with seasons changing, rain coming, and the inherent need for the human embrace over the dark and cold winter days.
What was the creative process like when making ‘Summers Last Embrace?’
The initial thought process started with writing the song, based off thoughts of changing seasons, not just seasons in weather, but seasons in life, spring (young age) to summer, could be said to be the prime of ones life, flowing into autumn, a time of reflection, of work done, time taken, and results.
I utilised my previous experience in music mixing and production, taking the best samples and riffs that I produced 25 years ago (saved on CDs!) and combined with the latest tech to achieve the outcome that I was looking for .
How long did it take to complete ‘Summers Last Embrace?’
It took only 3 to 4 weeks in total, which is good in my opinion. 🙂
What is your favorite lyric in ‘Summers Last Embrace’ and why?
‘So until the summer’s sun returns to light my way,
I’ll be here in shadows, waiting for that day’
The agonising wait all winter for the warm days of summer to return, after months of hibernation in a dark/cold and solitude state.
What message or messages do you hope fans take away from ‘Summers Last Embrace’ and your music in general?
Autumn and winter are just seasons, and seasons change. No matter how bad a situation (season) might seem, spring is always just around the corner. Better times are always possible, but only by looking forward.
What’s next for you? Are you working on any upcoming projects, or do you have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?
Since it has been such a long absence from music production, I am working hard to keep the momentum going. I have a few new tracks in the pipeline, and also a beach bar/chillout album in the making.
Where can we follow you on social media?
My social media pages are still in their infancy, but still, available and up-and-coming:
https://www.instagram.com/james.bellew.18 https://www.facebook.com/james.bellew.18
Thank you for the great interview; wish you much continued success!
