By Stephen CarlickAfter two years of releasing dub-infused EPs to considerable critical acclaim, electronic singer-songwriter-du-jour James Blake dropped his debut full-length to a veritable critical maelstrom earlier this year. Response to the record was vehement, to say the least: while many critics zealously hailed James Blake as an aural masterpiece, detractors were equally staunch in their convictions that Blake had disappointed fans with his omission of uptempo beats and the inclusion of quieter, piano-based ruminations. Hours before his Canadian live debut in Toronto, Blake sat down to chat about his career to date. With abundant enthusiasm, and a latent slur that breaks the surface of his prim British accent whenever he gets passionate, we discussed why he may or may not be dubstep, why he never went to music school, how reviews are fickle and where he's going next.
This is the first time you're touring extensively outside of Europe, correct? Yes.
How are you finding life on the road? It's very different. It has the tendency to be un-musical, in a weird way. Even though you're playing music, it's almost like you forget about the album itself. You start thinking of the live show as an incarnation of the album, but it kind of renders the other one obsolete, you know what I mean? It's like the live show has taken on its own life. Now, my voice is getting stronger, I think, and I'm feeling more comfortable about singing live and playing live, but it's not a place where you experience a lot of variety, traditionally. I've actually managed to write quite a bit of music since I've been on the road, though, so it's been really good.
Have you been playing new songs on the road? Yes, I'm playing a few new songs. We're playing a few things that are old, off the electronic EPs, but also a couple of new vocal songs, as well.
I wanted to ask you about genre labels ― dubstep, post-dubstep, minimalism ― whatever people are calling the music you're doing at the moment. How do you respond to the way critics take your music, as opposed to the way you perceive your own music? I'd like to hope that they're responding to what I do, rather than the other way around, 'cause if I respond to it too much, then I'm shooting myself in the foot a bit. I'd rather just keep doing what I'm doing.
People love to ask you about whether you are or were "dubstep." At the end of the day, is it just music to you? Yeah, absolutely. But there are groups that I would say are dubstep and are strong in dubstep. The roots of dubstep in dub and UK garage are strong and they mean a lot to me and they mean a lot to people who love dubstep. On the other hand, what I do isn't purist dubstep, and it never was. That's because I couldn't ever write that purist kind of music naturally, anyway. That's not what I'm about. There are artists that I love that are about that, but I'm essentially not, so in a way, a lot of what I do is influenced massively by dubstep and I've gotten quite a lot of lessons in music from it, like the importance of certain sounds in production. But if you were to ask, "Who should I listen to to get into dubstep?" I wouldn't say me, I'd say Digital Mystikz or early Skream. It can't be represented by one artist; definitely not.
I read that you had an epiphanic moment when you heard dubstep for the first time. Could you see yourself going to a club and hearing a new genre of music and being utterly fascinated? Yeah, I could, and I do, all the time. Recently, I've gotten into house quite a lot, or at least been opened up to it. It's quite a universal kind of music, which appeals to me in a social sense; it allows one to meet more and more people. It makes more sense to me to make all kinds of people dance, instead of a smaller portion. I'm not saying I'm just going to write house music from now on, but it's quite nice, in my DJ sets, to have a section where I'm playing music that's more universal. It's the same way where if you play a Stevie Wonder track, everyone can get something out of it ― house has that kind of broader appeal. But then, there are times when I just really want to hear that 140 [BPM] sort of style, and I don't see, in the near future, me growing out of that. I just think there are so many possibilities within that genre, as well.
How has going to school for music changed the way your approach writing? (Laughs) This is a massive thing! I don't know where this came from, but I didn't go to a music school. None of the schools you went to taught music, specifically? No!
POP & ROCK: Beach House - Bloom
Web Exclusive 
SHARE IT! 
