ZIMBABWE-BORN Kelvin Jones is currently touring the UK alongside fellow British artist James Morrison, Dan Willis got the chance to have a chat with the singer-songwriter as the tour rolls on.
“I got into music by way of my brother buying a guitar – and me being like ‘I want to be better than him’. He went to University and left the guitar at home, so I just started playing,” Jones explained.
Kelvin also described about how he originally grew interest in being a musician, and what inspired him.
His album ‘Stop The Moment’ – which he released in October 2015 has currently only been released in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, but his full album is expected to be released in the UK at the end of March.
Jones told me he still finds it ‘unreal’ to have his first album out.
When you’re building up and recording it just feels like a theory, like it doesn’t really exist – but when you actually hold the album in your hands it all becomes all that more real.”
Kelvin has performed in Manchester just once before – that was at Night and Day Café in the Northern Quarter, but performing at the Apollo is without a doubt a whole new step up. He’s already headlined his own concerts in Glasgow, and with an upcoming festival in Holland on the horizon for Kelvin, the opportunities for him are endless.
According to Kelvin, supporting James Morrison came about randomly.
“It was like the stars aligned, I needed to go on tour and he needed a support act, I think he had a little listen to my stuff and it made sense and worked with what he’s doing so here we are.”
When asking Kelvin where his inspiration comes from and if his music is completely individual – this was greeted favourably by him.
I don’t believe it’s possible to just be ‘you’ in music.
“What I don’t like is people who try to be different for the sake of being different. Just do what you like, I got influenced by Michael Jackson’s work, John Mayer then a little bit from the UK Pop scene like Ed Sheeran and James Bay, then obviously my own personal touch.
“It would be ridiculous for me to listen to something that I love, and not want to reproduce it.”
It’s fair to say though that his music is definitely different to something the pop scene has seen in a long time.
‘Call You Home’ a track released by Jones back in 2015 has already received almost 500k Views on YouTube, and is a testament to his melodic, fresh approach to pop music.
‘Call You Home’ is obviously one of Kelvin’s bigger tracks – but what track did the man himself like best? His favourite was the song named after his album, ‘Stop The Moment’.
This track had much significance for Kelvin, a song which he made which differed at the time from the few love songs he’d produced already. To him, ‘Stop The Moment’ was a song which is about appreciating every second – not just the big ‘badass’ things such as headlining festivals and supporting James Morrison at the Apollo, but being able to enjoy performing his music, and just being able to hang out with his friends at other gigs.
Fantastic @kelvinjones supporting @JamesMorrisonOK at the apollo Manchester pic.twitter.com/PnBHtGKXk6
— garymatherphotograph (@Stage_Dive_) March 6, 2016
Kelvin has a very positive view on his music and how much he enjoys performing.
“When I was at University and just starting out in the music business, if I can play music the next day I’ve won.
“It doesn’t matter where I’m doing it, if I can wake up knowing that I get to play music, tomorrow I get to play music then that’s all I care about.”
To be able to wake up and know that he is performing music is what drives Kelvin in all of his work.
From being in University to then dropping out to do something he wants to do more than anything is a dream for him – he believes the ‘just do it’ mentality has served him well thus far.
“I went from being in University to dropping out and performing in pubs. In my head, me making that decision of knowing this is what I want to do made such a big difference and other things just fell in line.”
As for the rest of year, Kelvin is hoping to continue to grow his name and brand as he tours across the UK and Europe, before eventually performing a few gigs back in England.
Kelvin Jones’ future is looking increasingly bright, and with his incredibly talented performances and his name growing through supporting James Morrison, he’s a talent that can’t go unnoticed.
By Dan Willis
@DanJWillis_
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