Jamie Hutchings is a singer, songwriter and musician from Sydney who has been recording and playing music since the '90s.
In 1993, Jamie formed and fronted the rock band Bluebottle Kiss. When the band went on hiatus in 2007, Jamie decided to focus on his solo music and other projects.
Recently, Jamie headed to regional New South Wales to record his upcoming album 'Bedsit'. “A friend of mine that’s an artist, he was brought up in the country out in Bathurst, and he [was] left a farm. He has an old shearing shed and he's converted it into a space where he can paint.
"He ended up letting me use it a few years ago for a band project called Infinity Broke. And we set up and recorded two albums there, so when it came to making this record I wanted to go again to somewhere really isolated and quiet.
“It's a much simpler set-up, but it made sense to go back to the same space because it's a really still, quiet area. For recording really minimalist music like this it was the perfect place.
“There's a lot of space and stillness in the music, there's not a lot on the record. There's not a million things going on, it's really bare and still. Wherever you record, part of the personality of the location makes its way onto the recording.” Jamie says.
“Most of it was recorded [in Bathurst], but there are some little ambiences on the record that come from other locations, like there's one song which is just piano and vocals.
"And I recorded it in my sister's flat, so there's a tiny bit of traffic noise you can hear in the pauses between the music. There's also a siren that goes off at the start of another song that I recorded in my old flat. So it's a bit of an amalgamation of this rural stillness and this almost suburban isolation.”
Jamie's last solo album, 'Avalon Cassettes', was released in 2011. “My last solo album was quite a few years ago and there was a lot of percussion on that, sort of clatterings of junkyard percussion.
"There’s probably a slightly more resigned feeling to ['Bedsit'], it's sort of the feeling of after a storm – the settling that happens. The last few records were kind of a build-up to that calm.”
After the release of 'Bedsit' and the consequent national tour in April, Jamie has big plans ahead. “There's this festival I've played in France, I think I've played it four times now and it's the tenth anniversary this year. And the curator has asked three of my projects to perform at it.
"So I'm taking Infinity Broke, The Tall Grass, which is a collaborative project we did last year, and also Mark Moldre, who is a friend of mine who I've produced and play guitar for. And all the members of Infinity Broke are in his band as well, so all three acts are going over to France late July.”
'Bedsit' is available now.
Jamie Hutchings Tour Dates
Sat 7 Apr - Four5Nine Bar (Perth)Sun 8 Apr - Mojos Bar (Fremantle)
Fri 13 Apr - Yarra Hotel (Melbourne)
Sat 14 Apr - Grace Emily Hotel (Adelaide)
Thu 19 Apr - 5 Church Street (Belligen)
Fri 20 Apr - The Junk Bar (Brisbane)
Sat 21 Apr - The Bison Bar (Sunshine Coast)
Sun 22 Apr - Nimbin Bush Theatre
Thu 26 Apr - The Edwards (Newcastle)
Fri 27 Apr - The Newsagency (Sydney)
Sat 28 Apr - Drill Hall Gallery (Canberra)
Sun 29 Apr - Frank's Wild Years (Wollongong)
