James Reyne - Interview

This interview was done when James Reyne seemed to be on the verge of international success. At the time of the interview I had worked with James Reyne in a music publishing capacity and I also knew him socially so it was a casual and yet frank interview. It appeared as the cover story of InPress on 27 July 1988.

Original Interview

Having now completely established himself as a solo artist after his years with Australian Crawl James Reyne is now on the verge of breaking through overseas. His Top 10 Australian single Motor's Too Fast has been out for little over a week in America and the response indicates that the success may be replicated in the US.

Andrew Watt spoke to James Reyne, in town this week for a series of shows, about his songwriting, people's preconceptions and the pursuit of excellence.

James Reyne's self-titled debut album is certainly the most important record he ever made. Not only has it established him as an artist outside the well settled confines of Australian Crawl, but it bought into focus his songwriting, something that had been neglected in comparison to the media's fascination with James Reyne - the identity.

The album has forced a lot of cynics to admit that there was more to Reyne than a pretty face, a distinctive vocal style and a media persona that both antagonised and responded to antagonism. In short Reyne made good copy before you even listened to the songs, something he admits he may have played on; even utilised.

But Reyne has matured now; he's got his life, emotional support structure and his career in perspective, and he figures that 'credit where credit is due' is something he's got a right to.

"In the past I used to get a little bit frustrated that I was never perceived as a songwriter," he comments, without the bitterness that would have attended a similar statement a few years ago.

"You'd get all these people that had written one or two songs that did OK and you'd hear, "Wow, what a great writer', but with me it was always 'that James Reyne guy'. But I think a lot of people, if they took the time to check out the songs and the lyrics, would have realised that there was something going on and that I was saying something."

For the past two years James has lived in London, commuting frequently to New York and Los Angeles. It's been both personally and professionally rejuvenating for him simply because he hasn't been shackled with the burden of preconception. He hasn't been 'that James Reyne guy' but simply James Reyne, new artist - there to be judged on his merits.

"Overseas differs from here," he points out. "I'm enjoying the fact that there is no preconception about me and I'm taken a bit differently. I get the feeling that I'm seen as a bit more substantial. The songs are taken a bit more seriously. They're not coloured by someone's preconceptions of the person singing them or the guy who wrote them."

If asked to identify the characteristics making up a Reyne songs you'd have to include things like acute observational skills, a sense of humour, a twist of the eccentric and unquestionably a deft turn of phrase. Reyne stamps his songs with a personal involvement which often suggests a perspective beyond the mere narrative.

The song Counting on Me is perhaps the best example, in the way it gets into the perspective his own past, present and future in the context of others expectations of him.

"It was about a group of people I used to spend a lot of time with. I don't see a lot of them any more. You get to a point about having to know who the people that respect me for what I am, not what I do, and I know the people that I get a lot out of and who get a lot out of me. It's a quality of life decision. Certain people start, not 'living through you', but dumping their expectations or frustrations on you because they see you in a certain way."

Reyne is a subscriber to the theory that the people you surround yourself with determine your own directions and achievements. It's not a case of feeding off each other, but rather setting standards of achievements that become normal, rather than an area of hyper-reality.

"I don't think I'm an over-achiever, in fact, I don't think about achievement at all. I enjoy the friends I have - they mean a great deal to me. I get a great deal of pleasure and fun out of being with them. we laugh a lot. we can get totally cynical and sarcastic with each other. But they are not over-achievers. They are just people in a certain field doing what they enjoy doing and who strive for achievable goals within the realms of what they are doing."

So is pursuit of excellence a prevailing attitude?

" I think so - within doing what I am doing. If I make a record, I like to make the best record I possibly can. If people are going to be involved in it I like to think they're good in their field. Yeah, that's pursuit of excellence. I get very critical of my own songs but I think that at the time I made the best record I could possibly make. I'd like to think that the next one is going to be better than the last one. I'm more focussed and I've got a clear idea of how I want to sound."

James Reyne would seem logically poised to move to a realm of international success. Whether or not it happens of course depends on a whole lot more than the quality of his songs, but it's a bloody good starting point to have.

In an industry where, 'breaking overseas' takes on an almost mythic proportion, he's now at a point of healthy balance about its importance.

"It'd be nice, but it's not as if I'm going to live or die by it," he offers. "Obviously I've made certain sacrifices to get it in the sense that I've moved my base and I've lived away from where I like to live for a couple of years.

"But the biggest thing for me personally is the challenge. I really need to broaden my horizons beyond Australia, but if it doesn't happen it's not going to kill me. I understand that success anywhere has nothing to do with talent. That's painfully true by the sort of people you see being successful. So it's not as if I would lose confidence in my own ability, but obviously it would be nice if it were to happen, yeah."