Named after a modest but influential DIY recording studio that helped launch some of Sheffield’s biggest musical talents, James Leesley’s solo project Studio Electrophonique is a piece of pure Steel City goodness. He brings together the charming history of this hidden powerhouse with his own original material, carrying on its legacy with his songwriting techniques that feel straight out of the 80s.
James’s self-titled debut album will hit the shelves on 26 September, featuring a booklet with stills from his dynamically-shot music videos. Hot on the heels of the release, he’ll be on the road as part of a nationwide tour with The Divine Comedy, who share his love for honest, witty songwriting that feels distinctly human. Ahead of what promises to be an exciting few months, Ruby Deakin sat down with James to talk about his brand-new material, the influences shaping his dreamy, cinematic sound, and what we can expect from the upcoming tour.
Growing up in Handsworth, James had no idea that he was just around the corner from a small DIY studio that would be so integral to his musical future, walking past it each day on his way to school. From the brilliant mind of Ken Patten who sadly passed away in 1990, Studio Electrophonique was where it was all going on, nurturing bands like Pulp, ABC and The Human League in their early days, all from the backroom of a semi-detached house. After realising his personal ties to the studio, James embarked on a journey of discovery with friend Jamie Taylor, digging through Sheffield archives and knocking on doors in the estate, documenting and filming Ken Patten’s remarkable story.
It was around this time that James was also in search of a new name for his solo work. Sharing many of Ken’s DIY songwriting techniques and hands-on creativity, carrying the torch of his work in the studio’s name seemed the perfect way to keep his spirit alive.
“It felt like I’d started in a different era doing analogue DIY tape recordings, even before I knew about Ken’s way of working,” James said. “It’s good for making creative decisions and just getting things down and moving on, especially if you’re quite indecisive. So, when I looked back at all the innovative ways Ken worked with tape, it just really married nicely. It was an organic way of taking on that baton.”
Sheffield is at the heart of everything James makes, and the new album has the city running all the way through it – even the cover design is lifted from its industrial past. After obsessing over fine details, James and his team decided on Granby Elephant as their cover font, which was released in 1930 by Sheffield’s Stephenson Blake type foundry – the last active type foundry in Britain. “Those little Sheffield touches were so crucial to the whole package, without being too overt,” said James.
As such, it goes without saying that community spirit plays a big role in James’s work. Having been here all his life, he grows increasingly fond of the city every time he tries to step away.
“Like in a lot of DIY scenes, we realise that if we don’t all get together, share everything and help each other, none of us are going to have anything,” said James. “Recently I’ve noticed that there’s more of an arm around everybody’s shoulder in Sheffield. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, what your history’s been, what bands you’ve been in – everyone’s just like, let’s stick together now.”
A big moment in James’s journey came when he got the seal of approval from so-called “Mr Sheffield” himself, Richard Hawley: “He was the first person to give me the justification that this new project is decent enough to pursue.”
James recalled driving around Sheffield at night in the old days, listening to tape versions of Hawley’s recordings after growing up with his music. It wasn’t long before James was on his radar, and, just as Ken Patten would in the days of Studio Electrophonique, he offered up his studio for James to try out some demos and test out his gear. “He said, just come round and have a full day. He just left me up there with my sandwiches, playing guitar and making tape recordings. That was a really big gesture, it gave me a big boost.”
The inspiration for James’s material comes from many different places, turning away from music alone to find moments that ignite his imagination: “I started drifting into literature and poetry and cinema, and I realised I was getting the same feelings of inspiration from them as I was from music,” he said. “It could be a line from a book or the feeling you get from a certain scene in a film, a moment that makes you feel really inspired or moved in some way. Those are the moments I’m trying to collect and put into my form, which is music.”
James named American short story writer Lydia Davis as one of his biggest influences, making sure he always keeps one of her books knocking around: “Short stories are parallel to songs in a way – they’re like snapshots or scenes. You don’t have to say it all, but you can distil it down. I really enjoy minimalism and not having too much fluff around things – you just get to the bones of it.”
He describes many of the songs on his new album as “mini soundtracks”, capturing small-scale, intimate stories of relationships and day-to-day experiences and transforming them into stylish, dreamy, cinematic scenes through music. His love for 60s’ and 70s’ French cinema shaped his approach, inspired by the artistic styles of names like Jean-Pierre Melville and Alan Resnais.
“It was an aesthetic that was in my mind when writing these songs, thinking oh, you could imagine this sound going with that sort of style. It’s one of those drivers that gets me in the mood to write songs.”
One such soundscape exploring the beauty of the mundane is the first single off the new record, David and Jayne. James discussed how the musical characters that appear in many of his songs almost create themselves, emerging from his own experiences but placed at a slight distance, giving him a new angle to work with.
Set at the British seaside, David and Jayne recounts a weekend away for a couple that ends up being less glamorous than first hoped. Their plans don’t quite line up, the water’s too cold, and they’re just too tired to make decisions: “It’s playing into their story, their journey, it’s like a chapter in their relationship.”
James is set to take an exciting new step in his musical journey, touring with The Divine Comedy this autumn. The band’s frontman, Neil Hannon, had landed upon the music video for David and Jayne, and before long James was signing up to accompany the group as they travel between some of the UK’s most exciting music venues – including Sheffield City Hall on 16 October.
“I thought he might enjoy those characters and the Britishness of it and the humour, and then he emailed the label asking if I wanted to do the full tour!” said James. “It’s like the dream tour for this stage that I’m at. I was ready to do a small-scale DIY tour. I couldn’t have asked for a better thing.”
James hopes to share his love for Sheffield and the honest emotion of his music with audiences on the tour. He closed our conversation by adding: “If somebody can feel moved or inspired or really enjoy something or be terribly sad about it but in the best way possible – that’s the goal really.”
James’s self-titled album Studio Electrophonique will be out on 26 September. He’ll be making his Sheffield City Hall debut on 16 October as part of a tour with The Divine Comedy – tickets are selling fast, and can be found at: www.thedivinecomedy.com.
