James Humphrys is not only one talented musician, but he may just be the nicest guy ever. All the more reason for you to get to know him, right?

At the ripe young age of 22, James Humphrys manages to write songs with maturity and integrity, while also capturing the cheeky playfulness of his youth. He released his debut EP Sun Mantra last year, featuring five funk-filled songs with awesome rhythms and emotive lyrics. This is alternative pop you can get into.

Growing up in Guildford and starting his musical journey playing in a folk band may seem like a slightly odd beginning for James Humphrys, whose look and sound just utterly belongs in Bristol, but it did teach him some valuable lessons. For one thing, it taught him how to play a plethora of instruments: the guitar, bass, drums, which enables James to write and record each part himself. He plays with a full band for gigs, but in the studio it’s all on him, which makes the tracks really organic and personal.

In the lead-up to his new single ‘The River’ being released (which you can hear for the first time exclusively via Native later this month), we had a little chat with James about all things music.

For those who haven’t heard your music, what would you describe it as?

Playful, funky. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but there’s still a lot of thought behind it. It’s rhythmically pleasing… I’m just chucking out words, is that ok?

Haha, yeah, that’s good.

There’s lots of layers in my music… it’s a tropical dream sandwich. There’s often hidden sentiments within the lyrics too, that you may not notice straight away. There’s lots of reverbs and delays – it’s atmospheric.

In terms of genre?

Dreamy Indie pop.

Are there any artists in particular that influence your sound?

Foals. Especially when I was younger, when I started listening to indie music I was obsessed with Foals. That’s when I got into experimenting with rhythms and the guitar, interplay, stuff like that. For my new track, Parcels were a big influence. I’ve seen them three times this year, and I love that sort of disco, 70s-esque influence. I love how they play live.

What’s your writing process like, can you talk us through it?
In general, I start on the guitar. I’ll come up with a little riff or something, some sort of chord progression that gives me something to work with. I’ll loop it sometimes, maybe, build it up. Sometimes I’ll start with lyrics.

When did you start writing?

Probably when I was about fourteen or fifteen I started writing proper songs… they were a bit simple and sh*t.

You can’t write a masterpiece straight away!

Exactly, but I’ve developed, and you can hear the development as well. Especially in this new song, that’s quite cool.

Do you have a favourite song that you’ve written, or a favourite song to play live?

Yeah, actually. I guess ‘For Another’ is always a great one to play. We’ve nailed how we play it live, so that one’s always fun. But also ‘Bitter Recollections’, it hasn’t been released properly online or anything, but I like playing that one live. Also, my new song ‘The River’, I really like that one.

What’s been a highlight for you in your musical journey so far?

I have these things that I want to do, and I’m slowly making them happen. Last year I really wanted to get played on BBC Introducing and then that happened, so that was pretty good. Playing at Glastonbury, that was mad. 

Would have been good to play there with my full band, but it was pretty great. Sofar Sounds was cool too, really different as the audience don’t know who they’re going to see. Intense, as the audience are right there in front of you, but it was a sick venue.

That’s the charm of Sofar Sounds, you could be playing anywhere. We also supported San Cisco. When I was younger I used to really like them a lot, so being able to support them at Thekla was pretty rad. Although, all my pedals got lost/stolen afterwards… but apart from that it was great!

What’s the ultimate dream in terms of music… Pyramid Stage?
The John Peel stage would be sick, wouldn’t it? Maybe jumping a bit ahead. For now, getting more people listening to my music, coming down to shows. Maybe gigging further afield as well, we’ve played a lot in Bristol. Maybe a tour at some point. Continue recording, releasing music, playing live. Simple.

So, Native are super excited to be giving the exclusive on your new single release. Can you tell us anything about it, what should we expect?

Yeah, thank you so much! You can expect… it’s chilled out, but there’s plenty of groove. It’s groove-based, I’d say. Some delicious backing vocals. Some foot-tapping, some head-nodding. In terms of themes, the idea of filling some sort of… loneliness. When you try to force a situation to make yourself happy, but you’re actually kidding yourself. Let things happen organically.

You’re currently a song-writing student at BIMM Bristol, dare we ask what your plans are post-graduation?

Definitely not going home. Continue doing this – most of the band are going to be around, so that’ll be good. Continue releasing music, gigging. Over the summer maybe some travelling. Sticking around, grafting.

What song do you wish you had written first?

Ooh okay. Um… Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, the Radiohead song. Lianne La Havas did a cover of it as well, it’s just amazing. It’s pretty dark, the feelings, the guitar work and stuff in it is very interesting. It’s quite a simple song as well, which I quite like. Actually, I have a tendency to maybe overdo it with layers and stuff.

How do you know when a song is finished?

I don’t think you do… It’s so easy to keep adding things. I guess that’s why you need other ears to finish a song. With ‘The River’, I originally recorded it as a demo, and it was quite thick and intense. When I re-recorded it with Ed [Guillaume-Smith] who did my previous EP, he helped to keep the new song consistent with my old stuff.

It’s so hard to finish a song, you could just carry on forever. But that’s the risk isn’t it, you could overdo it and ruin the charm of it. Maybe if you’ve got a time limit it’s better because you can say “that’s it, we’re done now”. Intuition is important, that gut feeling, not adding something just because you can but because it needs it.

What is your favourite thing about the music scene in Bristol?

It’s so closely knitted here. You’ll see musicians around and know what they’re up to, everyone does gig swaps and checks each other’s stuff out even though it’s completely diverse. There’s so many venues too, with a charming character about each one you go to.

What’s your favourite Bristol venue that you’ve played?

The Attic Bar. I did a charity gig there, and didn’t know what to expect, didn’t know how many people were going to come. But it was great, my favourite gig this year, or ever. It was packed, the vibe and the atmosphere were wicked. I really wanted to play the Bierkeller but they’ve closed it now. I saw Willie J Healey there and thought it was amazing. 

That’s the thing about having so many great venues, it’s now being dampened by closures, and the fact we have to fight to keep them open, it’s stupid.

Finally, any summer plans? Can we expect to see you at any festivals?

I’d love to do Dot to Dot Festival again, I played it last year with a solo set in Fopp, but would love to play a bigger stage with the band, that would be great. Harbour Festival maybe, I hope so. We’ve applied for other festivals too, but nothing has been confirmed yet. Just a waiting game now.

By the sounds of it James is at an exciting stage of his musical journey, and we can’t wait to exclusively reveal his new single ‘The River’. Look out for that on March 15.