A few words with UK singer-songwriter, Jezz Barwick.
Leicester Bangs: Tell us a little about yourself.
Jezz: After wanting to play guitar since I was about seven years old I started learning in 1973, by which time I was fourteen. Almost as soon as I started playing, I started writing, and once I had my girlfriend crying with tears of joy, and lots of the kids in school giving me respect for the way I played, I was sold on song writing.
LB: How did you start out making music?
Jezz: My parents got me a guitar teacher, who soon got me on stage at a couple of folk clubs, and then I joined a group, before long I had joined another, and then we started a duo which worked well for a while. I finally started my own group, Full Moon, which lasted 12 years, and we finished as a fully professional group working the holiday camps on the south coast.
Unfortunately playing professionally, we had no call for original material, all the audiences we played to wanted to hear songs they knew. After 1993 I started programming computers and accepted that I had seen the end of my musical career. It wasn't until I became unemployed in 2009 when I started trying to retrieve all the old songs and started writing again.
LB: Who did you grow up listening to and how do they influence what you’re doing now?
Jezz: As with all lads in their teens I loved rock but I always loved all the other styles as well. I didn’t like punk or opera but other than that I pretty much enjoyed all music. So I have a few rock songs from way back, but my style is now mostly country and ballads, I think. I always find it hard to categorize music styles.
LB: Tell us about your latest release.
Jezz: I've been sending out CDs to music promoters and record companies hoping to find someone to record my music but finally decided to record twelve songs and get my friend to lay some drums down. I've put it on sale with CDBaby.com where the download is available, but I'm still waiting for the CDs.
LB: Do you get out and play your music live, and if so, what can an audience expect at one of your shows?
Jezz: If I was asked to start a professional band I could, no problem, I have guys that would gladly work with me. However if I was asked to start a semi-pro band I have no-one who could devote time to a group while still at work. So as of yet, I'm still not performing live. The gigs for original material are not so easy to find and they don't pay, and I would want to concentrate mostly on original material.
LB: What aspects of playing and recording music do you most enjoy?
Jezz: I've worked in a few studios throughout the years and I just love it, and that is where my heart is. Writing and recording, portraying and expressing emotions through music is something that I can totally immerse myself in. I would love to put a group together and start playing live again but I can't see how at the moment.
LB: Where can people find (and buy) your music?
Jezz: As for now, I will keep trying to find those opportunities, and hopefully keep selling my recordings. My album is now out as download and should be out as CD from CD Baby (links below). This means they should be available from iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, and many more very soon. There's a link to CD Baby from my website and here you'll also find quite a few other tracks to listen to which I haven’t released yet.
www.cdbaby.com/cd/jezzbarwick
www.jezzbarwick.co.uk/SongWriting.html
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