Just in time for the last weekend in June, Jame Doe has partnered with the Deli to premiere his song “Garden With No Water” and the accompanying music video. The song is motivational pop without being too cloying. It delivers the right amount of sweetness tinged with an underlying darkness, though the two do not work as opposite forces. Instead, it gives you something to ponder as you dance. The video is charming, full of abstractly animated flowers that bloom and decay as Jame sings. He delivers a beautiful and simple performance. We talked to Jame about the inspiration behind his musical style, and what you can find in a “Garden With No Water.”
The Deli: Tell us a little about yourself
Jame Doe: When I was five or six my parents bought “Spice World” on VHS, and they’d put this shimmery, tinsel wig on me and film me singing every word to every song. Those were really my first performances. I had no siblings, and that’s kind of what only children do when they don’t know they’re deeply in the closet… they belt Spice Girls in a rainbow wig. My parents definitely knew I was gay by this point, we fondly look back on this time.
I’m 25 now and that little boy who just loved to sing at his imaginary audience and make them feel something they didn’t know they wanted to feel still drives me. I’ve been performing for about a year and a half as Jame. My real name is Jake, but my initials are JM.. thus Jame. Also rhymes with fame, shame, lame.. my favorite words. I sing about the boys I’ve lusted after, getting older, feeling lost in the big blue sea, and crippling self-doubt. I’m pretty dark pop-oriented but definitely vocally lean towards the big greats that inspire me (Celine Dion, Elton John, Adele, London Grammar.)
Where do you draw inspiration from as an artist?
Drama. I love dramatic and contrasting proportions. In my apartment I have chairs that are three inches wide that have little plants on them. There is a spoon and fork set on my walls in the dining room that are four feet tall. I’m constantly wearing oversized cloaks that drape to the floor. There’s something about distorted proportions I’ve always loved and I like to think that way in my music. I’m inspired by presenting the unexpected.
At the core of my songs I always want there to be beauty.. whether it’s the notes, the lyrics, the instrumentation, the harmonies, something in it should always feel beautiful because I try to find the beauty in every situation I tangle myself in.
Any specific influences we can hear in Garden w/no Water?
Last May, in the middle of the night my longtime music collaborator called me and told me she wouldn’t be working with me anymore because she was moving back to Georgia. I was devastated, really heartbroken to lose a friend in such a bizarre way. I hold onto my friends so deeply. It made sense, deep down why she needed to go, but I play no instruments and I thought to myself, ‘how am I going to write music without her?’
I was just beginning to get good gigs and I thought, shit I can’t make new music. The next day I stood at my boyfriend’s keyboard and wrote this song, including all the piano. Just by figuring it out with some little chord app on my phone. But yeah, she left me feeling like a garden with no water. Here I am with my voice and my lyrics (that I think are beautiful) and no way to cultivate them. The water was in me all along I guess.
I wanted the video to be this fun representation of myself. I’m so inspired by clunky + clashy fashion, and I’ve always loved animations when placed on top of real performances. Two amazing PNCA students, Brian Baird Asiata and Monica McGrane animated the video that Sam Gehrke shot.
What do you hope the audience takes away?
That friends can break your heart in ways you didn’t think they had the power to. But the beauty and the water has been in you the whole time, and if you’re feeling low then dance it out and make a harmony to get over it.
Jame Doe will be playing a show at Holocene on July 3rd with Colin Jenkins and Charts
-By Avril Carrillo