Jimmis

It's Sunday, and you all know what that means! Today, it's Jimmis turn to give us some more info about his life and music.

I really enjoyed reading through this one. Truly inspiring answers, if you ask me! I hope you'll enjoy it as well.




https://soundcloud.com/jimmis64

https://www.facebook.com/ItsJimmis

https://twitter.com/ItsJimmis



OUR PERSONAL FAVORITES:

1. Jimmis - Reminiscence (HTTP://YOUTU.BE/IYBD14LSQKS)

2. Jimmis - Flying Home (HTTP://YOUTU.BE/IQTCY-ME2BC)

3. Jimmis - Days Go By



(HTTPS://SOUNDCLOUD.COM/JIMMIS64/DAYS-GO-BY)



- Can you tell us something about your personal life: who are you, what do you do?



'My name's Jamie Timmis, I'm 18 years old and I live in Leeds, England. I've just left Sixth Form and I am on a gap year out from education. Hopefully I will be at university next year, probably to study geography, which has always been one of my less painful subjects to study at school!'



- Is it hard to combine producing with your normal, social life or do you get a lot of support from the people around you?



'Well I've never been one of those people with a huge social life anyway. I have always been one of those people who would rather not go out and get drunk every weekend or go and walk around town just for the sake of it. Some people call it sad, but I would much rather be inside, playing video games, listening to or creating my own music than going out every day. I guess I'm just a pretty introverted person. That doesn't mean that I sit inside all day everyday though! I do love to play tennis, golf, and go bike riding in the woods, climbing, skateboarding and going out with my friends. I just can't do that sort of thing every day, I also like to just have 'me time' where I can relax, you know?'



- And what about your parents and friends, what do they think about your music?



'I don't get masses of support from my friends and family with my music. A few of my friends do give me great feedback about what I do, and that really does make me feel good and make me want to carry on doing what I enjoy. A lot of my friends do just see producing as a novelty and joke about it all the time. Some just try to embarrass me in front of people, playing my music as loud as they can, saying how bad it is! It really doesn't faze me though and a lot of it is just light hearted joking. The main support I get is from the listeners on Soundcloud and YouTube. They're the ones who really motivate me to carry on with all their great words! I talk a lot to the people I have met through music and have made some great friends. '



- If I'm correct, you're currently not signed to any label. Would you like to getsigned in the future, or is music just a hobby?



'No, I'm not signed to a label and I haven't been during the 15 or so months I've been producing. Music was and still is for me, just a hobby. I have been asked by a handful of labels if I wanted to get signed, but I've never really seen the point. I'm not big enough to need any sort of management, whether that's by finances, bookings or artwork, etc. Of course if I ever do get bigger and a good offer comes around, I will take it, but I don't earn any money or play shows yet so I don't see the need. I get some decent promotion on YouTube and receive some really great artwork from various YouTube channels, and that's all I need right now. These guys help loads and I'm really thankful for it as I always express to them! '



- Your last song, Reminiscence, just as many other tracks, is full of emotions. Are these random, or are they really based on your own life and emotions?



'All of the tracks I create are full of real emotion; at least I try and portray that in the music, although it can be difficult as I am still pretty inexperienced. The name is a big part of the song and gets across what I am feeling or experiencing without the need to listen to the music itself. If you look at the titles of my tracks, you can get a timeline glimpse of my feelings over the past year.'



'I made one of my old tracks 'Overwhelmed' when I was feeling stressed with schoolwork and moving forward with my education. That was the time when all of my year was thinking about going to university, and as you can tell the stress got to me because I decided not to go this year! 'Miss You' was a track that I made when my girlfriend moved to America last July. She means a lot to me and has had a big impact on me and on how I feel in day-to-day life. A lot of my tracks are about her. Tracks such as 'Sorry', 'Natural Beauty', 'Her Smile', 'Memories', 'Miles Away', and 'Flying Home' all have relevance to her. I don't need to go into much detail about those, because I'm pretty sure you get the idea from the title! But they all carry the specific emotions hopefully unique to the track.'



'Reminiscence was a track about an old friends and people who I have lost touch with or aren't as close with any more. A time when things were simpler and less stressful. I think we all have a habit of reminiscing from time to time, and I was just in one of those moods when I came up with the melody. '



- If I'm correct, your first track was Believe. Can you see that you've gotten better and bigger since then?



'Technically, my first track wasn't Believe. This was my first actual chill track that started me off in the right direction, but I did have a handful of experimental tunes, which were what I made when I was getting to grips with how to use Fruity Loops. However, I definitely feel that I have progressed over time and advanced my skills and understanding of not only the software, but also music itself.'



'Believe was a simple piano melody, which consisted of about 15 different instruments, mostly percussion. I pretty much finished it on the first day, but spent the second day fixing the volume levels of each instrument. Now my new tracks are made up of 50-60 instruments and take me several weeks to finish. I spend a lot more time now on the perfecting side, making sure the track sounds as clean as I can make it. I've learned a lot of new skills over the months and have been working on creating my own sounds with new synths and plugins that I've downloaded. I sure feel like I've gotten better, and people tell me that, so it's always a good sign! '



- Do you get a lot of online feedback on your music and what is the best comment you've ever received?



'I do get a fair bit of feedback online - an amount I'm really happy with! I get notifications pretty much every day about people 'liking' a track of mine or leaving nice comments, and it always makes my day better. There's always a hunger for more: For more people to hear my music and to leave comments, but that is one of the things that keeps me going, the motivation to do better.'



'As for the best comment I have received, I'm not so sure. A lot of the feedback is amazing and it would be hard to choose a single one as the best. Although I did receive a personal message from someone who had broken up with their girlfriend of two years (can't say who), saying that I stopped them from self-harming. That really got to me and I really felt bad for the person, but I was really glad that I could be of help, even though I didn't actually do anything. It's crazy how music can have such deep impacts on people and help them through tough times.'

- WHEN DID YOU FIRST DISCOVER YOUR LOVE FOR MUSIC, AND SPECIFICALLY FOR MAKING MUSIC?



'As for my love of music, I had always loved it. It wasn't until fairly recently that I started to listen to electronic stuff though. Previously to that, I listened to a lot of punk rock kind of music. Bands like: Green Day, Blink 182, Good Charlotte, Lostprophets, Sum41 and The Kooks. It was all of this music that made me want to pick up a guitar and start to learn, and continue learning songs at about the age of 10. I still listen to all of this music now; I have just opened up to more genres, as I have gotten older. Up until recently, my guitar playing was not too serious. It wasn't until I was about 16, when I heard Joe Satriani, that I started to really advance with my guitar playing.'



'Shortly after that, my school friends and I were consumed by the new album, 'Immersion', by Pendulum. This is what really started my love for electronic music. I began to listen to some of the big channels on YouTube such as Liquicity, SuicideSheep, and later on Monstercat and TastyNetwork. From there onwards, all I wanted to do was make my own music and experience the great reception from the listeners like all the artists did.'



'It took a while to actually get hold of, but I did eventually get a copy of Reason on my PC, courtesy of my mum's boyfriend who had created a few tracks himself in the past. I had no idea how to use it and he was understandably busy with work to sit down and properly teach me. It wasn't until a friend of mine came round with a copy of FL10 last June, that I actually began creating myself. As soon as that software was installed on my computer I was hooked, and I have been since. It's an amazing feeling being able to make your own music in this way, and the fact that FL was a lot easier to use enabled me to dive straight in. There was no need to traipse through countless tutorials on the Internet, as it's pretty user friendly!'



- What is your favourite song or type of music at the moment?



'I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you a favourite song of mine, but I could name you a handful of tracks which I have liked for a while!'



'Adventure Club - Wait, Mr Nagasaki - Shady Business, Blackmill - Rain, MitiS - In My Eyes, Fiction - In Your Hands, Immensus - Beautiful Girl.'



'These are some of my favourite electronic tracks that I have heard on the Internet. If I started to get into bands then the list would go on for miles! '



- Who is your favourite producer?



'These questions are just getting tougher and tougher! I've really been loving stuff from MitiS recently along with CMA and Coyote Kisses, so it would have to be one of them. If I really had to choose I would probably say MitiS, but that's only because he's been releasing a lot recently. I used to just listen to a very small number of people but listen to all of their tracks, now I listen to maybe only one or two tracks from a wide range of people. That kind of makes the question hard! '



- What are your plans towards the future and where would you like to see yourself in 5 years?



'You've probably chosen the worst person to answer this question! I am terrible when it comes to setting myself a goal and following a plan!'



'Musically, I would love to have something uploaded to SuicideSheep, receive a comment from Blackmill, reach a thousand or more subscribers and followers and have a load of great tracks out. I don't know how long these targets will take, but I definitely hope I will reach all of them within a year or two! I just hope to keep spreading my name and developing my skills so that I can climb up the recognition ladder. But if I had to really root it, it would just be to keep making music that I love.'



- What inspired/inspires you to make music?



'It's basically just life in general: the things I do, the people I meet and the experiences I gain.



I guess sometimes I do lack motivation to keep producing, but this comes from the lack of inspiration. Sometimes I get so engulfed in creating my own music that I forget to listen to other music. As much as my feelings do encourage me to make music, I don't believe this alone can form creativity. Everyone has inspirations and absorbs creativity from other peoples' music, and when you're so focused on your own you tend to forget to take time off and explore other genres and artists. This can leave you feeling empty of ideas and producing can begin to feel like a chore. That's when you know you should step back a little bit and come back in a week.'



- Do you have any tips for starting producers?



'I'm never brilliant at giving advice to people, but one thing I would say is to not give up! I've come across many people who have shown some great potential in their work, but because they didn't receive worldwide fame, they had called it quits. Everyone knows that this sort of thing takes time. You need to work on your skills and grow a fan base, they don't just come overnight!'



'Another thing I would say is to be yourself. If you want to make ambient, go for it. If you want to add that synth at that particular part, then do it. I see too many people on YouTube and Soundcloud who are simply trying to make the nastiest, heaviest drop just because they know that's what people like. Too many people feel forced to make music of a certain genre because that's what their listeners want. I always say you should do what you want to do. Be yourself and don't follow the crowd. It's ok to take inspiration from other people, but don't be a clone of them! Make sure to be unique and try to find your own sound that people recognise your for. It takes time, but being yourself is a lot better than being another trap producer just because people dig it.'



- Would you like to say something to your fans?

'My fans are truly awesome people who really have helped me to keep my footing and grow as a producer. Without them, I wouldn't be making music now. It's the fans who motivate me and make me want to carry on due to all the great compliments and feedback they leave on each and every track! Thank you all for sticking with me and showing great support in what I do! I hope to be producing for a long, long time and hope that you continue to enjoy my music regardless of wherever it takes me! Thank you all.
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