Inside ‘Forget (About Everyone Else)’ with James Hersey
James Hersey ON SPOTIFY
Singer, songwriter, and producer James Hersey (@jameshersey) debuts his latest single ‘Forget (About Everyone Else)’ ahead of his highly anticipated EP. James has been on the map when it comes to producing hits including ‘Miss You’ and ‘Coming Over’ amassing hundreds of millions of streams and 3x Gold Records with his romantic future-pop style. James Hersey joins us today to speak to his artistic experience and how this latest track came to be!
If you haven’t heard of James Hersey, you’re missing out! His hybrid indie-pop style fuses modern production influences with his personal singing and songwriting aesthetic which is extremely distinct. We started off by asking James what or who the biggest inspirations are in the creation of ‘Forget (About Everyone Else)’ to which he shared “I've done my best to use parts of everything I love — from emo-punk bands — I grew up with like The Ataris and Alkaline Trio, to modern pop artists like Post Malone and Khalid.”
‘Forget (About Everyone Else)’ is a love song written for the love of James’ life. For him, it was about creating a space for someone to feel absolutely safe and accepted just as they are. The track is full of positive affirmations that will break the skin of even the toughest listeners. James shares this track as a reminder to truly care for the people closest to us in our lives.
Before this release, James is just like the rest of the music community learning to effectively manager their careers through COVID-19. We asked how these insane and unprecedented times have effected his career moves and how he had to change and continue growing as an artist. He shares “Starting with remote production and now heading into remote promotion, the biggest change (and loss) for me is personal connection. I've always valued being in the room with people much higher than communicating online. My two most successful songs are literally about that. "Coming Over" and ‘Miss You’ are about togetherness.”
Further, just like all successful artists, James Hersey was too an independent artist with little to no fans or following. We asked James what he would tell himself when he was on the brink of success in the music industry but didn’t see numbers or money to support it; he would have told himself “Instead of getting down on yourself about low numbers, picture the project as being very special because of them. Being undiscovered carries a lot of potential value, and can be very exciting if you play your cards right.”
This led us to asking James what his best and worst business deals in the music industry have been to share with his fans who are rising artists. He shared “I've been pretty lucky (and clever) in business, so there's no "worst" worth mentioning. The best advice I give young artists is not to sign anything too early. There are a lot of deals floating around that look enticing when you're in the early stages of your career, but the fine-print is difficult to decode, and it's important to know that conditions get exponentially better the more buzz you can generate before you sign.” There is nothing more important than an artist understanding the business they are in and treating their career as their own life CEO. Run your music career as a CEO and build a team of passionate supporting people and you’ll be on the road to success. And don’t sign too early!
As an artist, whether you’re just starting your career or you’re an established renowned artist like James, finding motivation to do what you do every day is the key to success. We asked James what motivates him to wake up and do what he does daily as a singer, songwriter, and producer to which he shared “I love simplifying the complexities of love to a common denominator that everyone can understand. Music, to me, is the universal connector, I believe it's the perfect medium for reaching people and helping them on their journey.”
Looking back on James’ discography, it begs the question — did he expect his hit tracks like ‘Miss You’ to receive so much praise, attention, and success? Just like most artists, James had a special feeling about ‘Miss You’ and he admitted “you never know truly how far a song can go until you let it fly. I had a good feeling when all my friends and their friends were asking me when it’ll finally be released.” Since that release, ‘Miss You’ has accumulated over 117 million streams on Spotify alone and engrained James Hersey as one of the greatest singers & songwriters of all time.
A bit more digging in his discography and you’ll find some of his hit songs converted into EDM hit songs such as ‘Coming Over - filous Remix.’ The feeling of hearing your soft love song turned into a chill EDM banger can only be described by James himself. He shares “My first reaction was surprise, and because I'd come from very purist worlds (punk, jazz, rock, acoustic) I wasn't sure about the electronic alterations. I learned pretty quickly though that I was reaching a lot more people by being open for it, and in hindsight, those remixes were the biggest catalysts for my career.”
We had to ask James what his favorite track of his own as well as another artist is that tends to stick with him. James Hersey’s favorite song of his own is ‘Dreamcatcher’ while he draws inspiration from the words and style ‘?’ by xxxtentacion (RIP).
Every artist dreams of a collaboration with their favorite artist. If you don’t, then…I don’t know! I’d be worried. But James looks to some living and some resting artists on his dream collaboration list but the one he shared with us would be Paulo Londra.
To wrap up, our favorite question is asking our guests their best personal or professional advice and James hits both of those notes with this advice. “There is always time.” Short, simple, and hopefully is waking up some artists or sales people or cashiers or executives that are lacking motivation to do what matters most in their lives. There is always time to call a family member. There is always time to say thank you. There is ALWAYS time to support a rising artist. And of course, there is always time to chase your dreams.”
Thank you for reading and as always, be sure to follow Exclusive Audio on our socials and join our mailing list if you learned something!
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