Going Post Tropical with our LomoAmigo James Vincent McMorrow and the La Sardina

It’s a huge pleasure to introduce our latest LomoAmigo, the fantastically gifted musician James Vincent McMorrow. This year, James launched his new album ‘Post Tropical’ and we couldn’t wait to put a La Sardina camera in hands to play with for the Summer. He took the camera with him on his tour and snapped some truly cool shots. Check them out and read our interview with James below!

Name: James Vincent Mcmorrow
Country: Ireland
LomoAmigo Camera: La Sardina

Hi James, please could you tell us a bit about your new album ‘Post Tropical’? What does it mean to be Post Tropical?

I think every record should have it’s own world to exist in, not in a concept record kind of way, because concept records can be a bit sketchy, what I mean is that when someone is making a record, I think they should be thinking about how all the music and all the ideas feed into one central idea, whether it’s a lyrical theme, or if you want the music to feel warm, or cold, whatever it may be, there should be something to feed into. With this record I had a lot of ideas drawing from a lot of different places, so the unifying idea was taking all these disparate things, things that might not on the face of it make sense together, and making them sound whole. So I guess that to me is what Post Tropical means.

We read that the inspiration for the album came from you wanting to capture the feel and movement of Hip Hop. Please could you tell us more about this?

Yeah I mean Hip Hop to me is rhythm and stacking melody, because in Hip Hop the beat rarely changes, and the core chords rarely change, they just get layered up on the hooks and choruses and stripped away again. That’s how the song becomes defined, and that’s something that I’ve been in love with since I first heard the Neptunes and stuff like that, the idea of stacking and subtracting to get that definition, using more static drum patterns and finding dynamic in them.

This summer you’ve played some festivals and have a big tour coming up. What’s life on the road like?

I love it, it’s such an intense experience, I love how much it’s pushing me as a musician at the moment, there’s nowhere to hide on stage with these songs, everything has to be executed on a really high level every night or the mistake will be hyper exposed, that’s where I always wanted to be as a musician. It helps that there’s a great group of people out there with me, we’ve shared some incredible days this year, and I think for me personally, coming from where I started and seeing it slowly build, to go to new countries and be playing the shows we have been in the rooms we have been and with this tour coming up, it’s really compelling, you dream of this when you’re starting out you know.

How did your journey to becoming a musician begin? When did you decide you wanted to turn your passion into a profession? Or was it not really a conscious decision?

Nah it wasn’t conscious at all, this is all I’ve ever wanted to do, or maybe it’s more accurate to say I never wanted to do anything else, and that slowly flipped itself into music just being my every waking moment. I started out just making music in my house for myself, little 8 track, putting ideas together, testing my voice, seeing if I had anything worth saying in a song. For a long time I didn’t, but I think that should be part of it, no one wants to hear someone who’s never experienced anything in their life tell you a story, it has to come from an authentic place, so I went around and played crappy shows, made tons of mistakes, until I started to figure out what it meant to be a real musician. I still have nothing figured out by the way, which I dig, still endless things to learn.

What keeps you ticking? What brings happiness to your life?

Too cliche to say music keeps me ticking? It’s the truth, so guess there’s no other way to say it. It’s the only thing I want to do, honestly if I didn’t need to eat then I’d never leave my studio, when I’m making music the world just drifts away from me. I’m not an antisocial guy or anything, the people I love know who they are, but for the most part I don’t have much interest in going out and fucking about, the idea of the next musical thing is everything to me. When you’re on the go as much as I am family and friends become real important too, you have to stay grounded to one spot and they’re what help me do that.

How was your experience shooting with the La Sardina? How did you enjoy shooting analogue?

I love analogue, it’s a funny thing because most people take photos on their phones and then hammer them through filters that are designed to make photos look analogue, which I always think it a bit crazy. I love crisp digital photography, but for that grain and that beautiful texture to a photo you can’t substitute for the real thing, so we’re definitely an analogue household. The La Sardina was fun, shooting in the half light was where it really came back with some beautiful shots, there were some with this light streak that were amazing, and we still have no idea how it happened. Again that’s the brilliance of analogue, it’s unpredictable, you’re gonna get shots you could never get in a million years with any other camera.

Find out more about James Vincent McMorrow on his website, check him out on Facebook and listen to some of his music on Soundcloud

Get ready to sail the high seas with our new La Sardina collection! These 35mm cameras are equipped with spectacular wide-angle lens, multiple exposure capabilities, and a rewind dial—everything you need for fun-filled and thrill-soaked escapades. Get your own La Sardina camera now!

written by tomas_bates on 2014-09-23 #people #lomoamigo #sardina #james-vincent-mcmorrow