Recently CJay posted an acoustic video to his Twitter entitled, “Me. A Guitar. A Couch. Ready to see my soul”. This is CJay at his best.
In addition to appearing at Edinburgh Fringe Festival this past August, CJay just released an album on busk.co. We sat down with CJay to talk about his music, his experience busking, and his own musical preferences.
Davi: CJay, when did you know that you wanted to pursue music professionally?
CJay: It was quite recently, just after my father passed away. It’s a bit of a cliche but it’s when things like this happen, you realise life is too short.
D: What’s your favorite place to perform and why?
C: Has to be Edinburgh. Beautiful place and absolutely fantastic people.
D. What is your favorite song on your album? Why?
C. NB – Nota Bene- a song I wrote when my daughter was just a baby. I found it written in an old notebook when we were having a clear out before her 12th birthday.
D. How did you come up with your album’s name?
C. This album was put together specially for my Edinburgh Fringe debut with the songs being taken from 3 recordings: Natural – an album of demos; 1000 Lives – a recent EP; and Quid Pro Quo – my newly recorded and soon to be released album.
D. So would you say that this album is a good introduction to your sound?
C. The album on Busk.co is definitely a good introduction to what I do. I think it shows how my songwriting has developed from the early stuff to the more recent.
I am just a guy who loves playing music and is fortunate enough to be able to do what I love.
D. Sometimes you record songs outdoors. Why did you decide to start doing that? How do outside recordings change or influence the performance?
C. Recording outdoors is a recent development. It came about after I recorded a gig in a venue and I could hear a lot of ambient noise. So the idea is to record songs in appropriate places – if a song references running water, I will go near a fountain or a stream.
D. What should people know about you?
C. I am just a guy who loves playing music and is fortunate enough to be able to do what I love.
D. What have you learned from performing in front of live audiences?
C. The main thing I have learnt is to trust myself. The quicker you become comfortable doing what you do, the quicker you will enjoy every minute of it.
D. How long, or how many performances, did it take you to start feeling comfortable performing?
C. I can honestly say I knew busking was for me at the first attempt. I hadn’t had any experience engaging a street crowd but I really enjoyed it. If you can learn that you are still trying to put on a show and treat it like that, people will respond positively.
D. How many times does it take for you to listen to a song that you love before you actually hate it instead?
C. With busking, the first performance is the hardest one. You will have doubts but need what I call a Dr Pepper outlook – what’s the worst that can happen.
D. What is one of your favorite feel-good songs?
C. It’s cheesy, but 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton. Can’t help smiling at it.
D. Last question, how many donuts can you eat in one sitting?
C. Probably only a couple but they would have to be jam – perfect for a musician.