My Morning Jacket

Tue 03 Apr ,

Rock

Critics' choice

The roots rockers frontman, Jim James, is feeling reflective ahead of the band’s Bluesfest appearance and sideshow

First published on 7 Nov 2011. Updated on 4 Apr 2012.

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Much has changed since the inception of My Morning Jacket in the late '90s, not least of all Jim James; their founder, frontman and songwriter. Just play some tracks from the Jacket's latest and much-acclaimed album, Circuital, which look back on times gone by with equal measures of fondness and regret.

After heavily touring Europe and the USA, Circuital will finally receive its a live airing here at the Byron Bay Bluesfest in April. This will be followed by a comparatively intimate sideshow at the Enmore Theatre. Speaking from the comfort of home in Louisville, Kentucky, James spoke with Time Out about the new album, the passage of time and... the Muppets.

Would you describe your latest album, Circuital, as a look back on the journey your life has taken so far?

Yeah, absolutely. I’m a pretty reflective person that’s always trying to look at the past and learn from it. When we found ourselves back home [in Kentucky, making the album], there was definitely a lot of reflecting going on.

Has your outlook on life changed since you started the band?

I’ve become a more positive, healthy person, though I definitely slip into some of the old traps that I’ve fallen into my whole life. That said, I think all of us [in the band] are trying to grow and be better people.

How did the reflective approach to writing Circuital compare with previous albums?

I just looked back [on life] and ideas popped into my head. I filtered them and added a little of whatever was going on with me at the time. I would say it was definitely the most fun record that we’ve ever made.

What memories do you have of your previous visits to Australia?

We’ve always just loved it. I always try to take a couple of days after the tour to hang out. I always try to tell people it’s like visiting another planet, but you can understand the language! The first time we came over, everything just seemed so surreally backwards – the sun seemed like it was setting upside down and the water turned the other way. You see birds and animals that you wouldn’t normally see. We’ve always loved coming over and we can’t wait to come back.

What else have you got in the pipeline for 2012?

I’ve made a solo record that’s gonna come out sometime this year and will try to tour with that. I’ll also be getting together with Monsters Of Folk [a supergroup with Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, plus M Ward] to work on a second record. Then we’ll be doing more My Morning Jacket touring.

We hear you’ve had a few problems with the Muppets lately. What happened?

We were gonna make an album of music as the Electric Mayhem [band from the Muppet Show] which would’ve been a kind of Gorillaz thing, but the guy we were working with got fired, and his superior just dropped the project. I then wrote a couple of songs for their latest movie, but they didn’t get chosen, so there a couple of different points of Muppet rejection. [Laughs] I guess the universe just wasn’t ready for us to be involved!

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Words by Stuart Holmes