The Interviews: J Science, Music Producer
The man behind our campaign track talks to us about the suit as an equaliser and being the lord of your own manor.
Whatever we do for work, we all need to get our heads in the right place, make the right impression and get on with the job at hand. From the business world to the arts and even for life online, what we wear and the small acts we do have the power to transform how we take on our days.
Over the next few weeks, we’re sitting down with three men from different professions to discuss the power of the suit and the things we can achieve when we’re feeling our best.
First up in The Interviews, we meet music producer J Science.
Let’s start with the track you wrote and produced for our new campaign, ‘the power of the suit’. Tell us what’s behind the lyrics?
When I saw the visuals, it was all about the manor thing – you know, the dual meaning of ‘manor’ and that typical, quintessential kind of London gent. But that can be anything – there’s a line in there that says ‘from tower block to penthouse’. The idea is if you’ve got a suit on, it doesn’t matter where you come from, who you are, what your background is, what you do, everyone is equal and, you know, that empowers you.
How do you feel when you put on a suit?
I love it. I mean, I’m into clothes anyway. I end up wearing a suit a lot. Strangely, when I was a child I kind of said that I would never work in an office or wear a suit… I’ve failed miserably on both of those at many stages in my life. But no, it feels good. It’s a good feeling to be smart. It sharpens you up and you feel a difference.
You know, if you go back to when they used to put a suit of armour on they must have felt powerful, so it’s kind of like modern day suit of armour. You get up in the morning, scrape your hair back, and once that suit’s on and you’re out of the front door that’s it, you feel ready to go and take the world on, which is what I try and do every day.
Are there any particular situations you wear a suit for?
It’s the times that I need to make an impression or need to put myself over as something in particular. There are connotations of a suit that people recognise – professional, successful, you know, there are things that you emit when you’re wearing a suit.
I think in those situations where that’s the message that you want to put across, you know, I am successful, I am professional, I can do what you want me to do. I think a suit instantly puts that message over so in those situations where I want to do that, that’s where a suit will definitely come out my wardrobe.
What does being able to express yourself musically mean to you?
When it comes to music it’s an amazing thing for me, a very personal thing for expression, whether that’s an expression of how I feel or how I want to make people feel. I believe music is almost magical, it’s such an amazing thing for that emotional content and what it can do to people.
You know, like if you’re feeling sad, it can make you feel happy. It can do so much, so I’m blessed to be fortunate enough to do that with music, even if it is just a simple chord or something that evokes an emotion and then actually seeing that translate, seeing people then receive that and seeing how it affects them. I believe it is a miracle because it’s free, you know, what would the world be like without music, and yet we have it for free so yeah I find it very empowering and a very good thing.
Are there any rituals you have to get yourself in the right frame of mind before you do a set, or perhaps before you start writing a new track?
I’m a bit of a control freak in a lot of ways anyway so I like kind of routine things to be right. I’m quite diligent. I think if things are worth doing then you do them well, so I just make sure everything is the best that it can be in whatever I am doing. It doesn’t matter what I am preparing for– if I am going to the studio or if I’ve got a gig or anything at all – I want to know that when I go out there it’s the best that I can do.
Is there anything you do when you do get writer’s block?
That’s a tricky one actually, kind of no, it’s a really odd thing because you can work with it and then it becomes a very different thing. You can make music, you can still make things that fit. You end up making random music, which I’m not a fan of, you know, you look at the world it’s kind of full of it. If you look at adverts, people write music to fill the gaps, it’s not really what I would do because I think it needs to hold a lot more.
So what do I do in times like that? I kind of take a breather, go out and soak up some air, some sunshine, you know, even if it’s raining go by a window – anything that lets you reflect and think about things then go back down with fresh ears and try again, again and again. It’s that persistence overcoming resistance kind of thing.
When did you last feel most powerful?
I don’t want to sound cliché, but every morning when I wake up, you know, I just feel powerful and blessed I guess for being alive and being grateful for what I’ve got. Simple things, humble things. More for the opportunities that I have and have had and yeah just being able to do it again and being in the situation where I can realise my dreams to some extent.
I am very fortunate to be able to do what I love every day. A lot of people don’t have that, so just the simple fact that I have that is enough to feel powerful.
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