Motorbike James, A Man Enamored By Change.
© Photo by Dale Bailey, @shouldadanished
With every new year, we find friends and family making new years resolutions, dream boards and lists of all we plan to achieve. Sometimes they work and sometimes we miss the mark but the most important part is that we choose to start again. We choose to focus our energy on attaining a new outlook . Throwing past failures to the wind, making a conscious effort to open our hearts to all of life’s possibilities. To love them and the process of living. “Enamored” the second single by Motorbike James depicts exactly that. “To be enamored is to be filled with love & admiration for something. Enamored is essentially a love song to nature and the planet from the perspective of someone unacquainted with the subject, seemingly re-experiencing it or experiencing it for the first time.” The deeper narrative of his music will be revealed as he drops/releases more this year.
When asked about his take on the new years tradition he couldn’t agree more. “I think it’s all good. I like the idea of trying to start the year right and going day by day trying to hold yourself accountable. I always want to try and improve myself but am bad for procrastinating and self accountability, so the fresh start is always a good initiative.”
© Photo by Dale Bailey, @shouldadanished
The Edmonton born, Ardrossan raised songwriter embellishes his metaphors, with guitar breaks and oldschool synths. Producing his own songs as a multi-instrumentalist, he creates the perfect amount of space needed to let you take in his lyrics, resulting in a soft rock blend. “Playing guitar on my recordings is very important to me. Having any kind of organic performance and sound is very important. I enjoy utilizing electronic elements in my production, but there has to be that organic instrumentation. Gotta have that mojo.
I’m a guitar and piano/keys player, but can hold it down on the drums & bass as well. I was playing piano very young and then guitar and writing/recording started at 11 with a strat and a tascam porta 02. That got me into producing my own music and i’ve done it since.”
For more on Motorbike James and the inside scoop on how he penned the name, seek below!
I know you only have two songs out right now, but something tells me you’re not the type of person to care about genres. Would you say your art is more of a product of the people you listened to growing up or a cultivation of your own discovery?
The music I listened to growing up has definitely influenced me to my core, even still I can draw inspiration from a Fleetwood Mac or Steely Dan tune that i’ve heard a million times - either inspiration in the production/recording side or the songwriting/performance side. From there though I have to make it my own discovery somehow, give it my take. That’s where the cohesiveness comes in that can make music “genre-bending”... which is just a fancy way of saying “unique.”
What comes more naturally to you, production or songwriting?
For me they go hand in hand. I very rarely do the strum-an-acoustic-and-write-lyrics format of songwriting. I like to start a new tune from the production standpoint, picking a tempo and getting a nice guitar or keys sound. From there some inspiration is sure to strike. Then it’s all fun just jamming with yourself and hearing this piece of music come together. Once the music is together I move to the lyrics and vocal melodies, which can basically write themselves. I just sing through takes of stream-of-consciousness mumbo jumbo which I then pick through and make sense of. That’s when I find out what the song is about.
There’s a line in your song Enamored “And while the view is nice, the shadows push me to the ground” can you expand a bit more on that?
As if someone was reporting on the experience - taking in the view, breathing fresh air and feeling the energy from moving water. Experiencing that life and vitality, but with a dark dread looming that’s impossible to ignore. The human experience is both dark and light.
© Photo by Dale Bailey, @shouldadanished
Switching topics a bit, I’ve been dying to know how you got your stage name Motorbike James? Knowing that your birth name is Michael Werbicki, why did you opt to change it?
James is my middle name. When I was young my guitar playing took me the bluesman route and I went by The Michael James Band. As I evolved as an artist the alias also needed to evolve. I’d always been riding motorbikes and working on them, I wanted to incorporate that element. It was actually when facebook started and I was making a profile that I came up with Motorbike James. I had thought, my name is Mike James... Motorbike is just Mike with “otorb” in the middle. So I became Motorbike James and ever since everyone thinks my name is James haha. I’ve had friends that i’d known for years legit not know my name was Mike.
What makes you feel the most at home?
I feel at home in the country - we only had a few acres, no farmland or anything, but it was prairies and I was outside all the time. I’ve lived in the city now for a while, as well as a stint in toronto, but I hope to find myself situated out of town in the near future. I like being close to nature and the peace and quiet (that I can disrupt with dirtbikes and bonfires)
What’s something you’re excited about this year?
As always, i’m restlessly excited to ride motorbikes. This season is going to be a shred fest, so watch out. Also obviously looking forward to the covid situation settling down. It’ll be a very fun time for everyone if/when it does. Everyone knows it, it’s gonna be a party for years. I'm very much excited to play shows again and connect with everyone.
Name something in your life right now that leaves you feeling Enamored?
I’ve been enamored by some of the positive change that has somehow emerged from the global shit show that was 2020. Despite ‘20 being regarded as the worst year ever, I think some extremely valuable awareness and empathy has come from it. I wouldn’t say i’m enamored by the state of things, but I could be if we keep moving towards the light : )