Just Starting Out: Jim Gaven
(Just Starting Out focuses on aspiring songwriters and artists who may be new or inexperienced, but whose music, in this writer's opinion, is capable of creating an emotional impact on the listener.)
Jim Gaven is a 20-year old Seton Hall University student and aspiring acoustic Emo singer/songwriter who hails from Hamilton, New Jersey. He has been writing songs and playing live up and down the east coast for close to three years. Songs about breakup, relationships, hardship, and religious experiences showcase his heartfelt writing. If you like groups such as Dashboard Confessional, Bright Eyes, Feeling Left Out, The Spill Canvas and Remember Maine, you'll like Jim Gaven. And I'll make my prediction right now: this guy is going places.
One of his best songs, "On Your Way (To Unhappiness)," starts out with a catchy entreaty, "Hey, there, look over here," and proceeds into an emotional story of a hopefully-amicable-breakup-to-be-turned-unpleasant-parting, if you follow my Emo thought pattern. The singer is deeply hurt, yet puts up the I-couldn't-care-less-if-you-were-dying front before finally baring his soul in the line "the face I can't [bear] seeing." The song shows Gaven's feel for a well-structured lyric and his ability to stir the stew of mixed feelings we have all experienced at one time or another. Moreover, it shows that songwriting is often an inherent talent, considering that Gaven has never taken a songwriting course or attended a songwriting workshop. With a bit of strategic re-writing and smoothing out the phrasing a bit, this song has "hit" written all over it.
Jim contacted me through a listing in the Indie Contact Newsletter and after I had listened to some of his songs, I approached him about an interview for The Singing Songwriter. Here is what he had to say about his music.
Singing Songwriter: When did you realize you had a talent for music?
Jim Gaven: I realized I had a talent for music on my 16th birthday. I had wanted a guitar for about a half a year at this point, and my parents bought me one for my birthday. That was the first time I played an actual note, an actual chord, and I instantly fell in love with the instrument. I knew I could go somewhere with it, so I decided to pursue it. Thanks to my mom and dad for buying me my first guitar on April 7, 2000.
Singing Songwriter: When did you start writing songs?
Jim Gaven: I started writing songs when I was 17. I became tired of learning other bands' songs. I wanted to write my own songs because I feel that there is something very special about being able to write something and call it your own. No one can take that away from you. I want [others] to learn my songs one day.
Singing Songwriter: How long have you been playing music?
Jim Gaven: I have only been playing music for four-and-a-half years. I had no prior guitar experience; I have never had voice lessons. Everything that you hear is raw, which is what I want and what I pride my sound and songwriting on.
Singing Songwriter: Do you consider yourself more a writer or performer?
Jim Gaven: I consider myself more of a writer, because my lyrics are what I like to pride myself on. I don’t have a light show or anything fancy to add to my live performance, so it is strictly how I deliver it to the audience through my words and how I say those words.
Singing Songwriter: Do you ever co-write with other writers?
Jim Gaven: No, I have not co-written anything with other writers. I’m not sure if I like the idea of not being the sole creator of the music I am putting out.
Singing Songwriter: Describe your songwriting process.
Jim Gaven: Usually, when I [want] to write a song, I go to some place really remote (my basement, my car, or this park near me called Sayen Gardens) and just put all my attention and focus on the song. I try to block out all distractions [and put myself] totally [into] to the song. I don’t like leaving songs unfinished. When I start writing a song, I want to finish it right then and there. I know that I won’t feel the same about the topic a week, a day, or even an hour after I put it down. Most of the time I’ll just start jamming on my guitar until I find a solid chord progression and tune. When I get that solid progression, I’ll start writing words to the melody, and hopefully something sparks from there. After this, I just keep on playing the song over and over again until I feel totally confident with how everything sounds. I go to my mother and ask her to sit down and listen to it. She’s the first person to hear all my songs, and let’s me know what needs work or what I should definitely keep in the song. From then, I go and play it to my friends and then test it out live at one of the open mic nights or shows I perform at.
Singing Songwriter: How has the Internet affected music?
Jim Gaven: The internet has affected music in both positive and negative ways. It really helps underground artists trying to promote their music, because they most likely don’t have a distributor or promoter doing it for them on a mass scale. At the same time, it can hurt major label acts that depend on CD sales as their primary source of keeping their spot on the label. Overall, I think that the internet is a positive way to get your music out to a worldwide community at lightning-fast rates. I’m glad that we have it to work with.
For more information on Jim Gaven and to buy his music, check out these sites:
http://www.purevolume.com/jimgaven
http://www.jimgaven.com
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/jimgavenmusic.htm
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jimgaven
Jim Gaven is a 20-year old Seton Hall University student and aspiring acoustic Emo singer/songwriter who hails from Hamilton, New Jersey. He has been writing songs and playing live up and down the east coast for close to three years. Songs about breakup, relationships, hardship, and religious experiences showcase his heartfelt writing. If you like groups such as Dashboard Confessional, Bright Eyes, Feeling Left Out, The Spill Canvas and Remember Maine, you'll like Jim Gaven. And I'll make my prediction right now: this guy is going places.
One of his best songs, "On Your Way (To Unhappiness)," starts out with a catchy entreaty, "Hey, there, look over here," and proceeds into an emotional story of a hopefully-amicable-breakup-to-be-turned-unpleasant-parting, if you follow my Emo thought pattern. The singer is deeply hurt, yet puts up the I-couldn't-care-less-if-you-were-dying front before finally baring his soul in the line "the face I can't [bear] seeing." The song shows Gaven's feel for a well-structured lyric and his ability to stir the stew of mixed feelings we have all experienced at one time or another. Moreover, it shows that songwriting is often an inherent talent, considering that Gaven has never taken a songwriting course or attended a songwriting workshop. With a bit of strategic re-writing and smoothing out the phrasing a bit, this song has "hit" written all over it.
Jim contacted me through a listing in the Indie Contact Newsletter and after I had listened to some of his songs, I approached him about an interview for The Singing Songwriter. Here is what he had to say about his music.
Singing Songwriter: When did you realize you had a talent for music?
Jim Gaven: I realized I had a talent for music on my 16th birthday. I had wanted a guitar for about a half a year at this point, and my parents bought me one for my birthday. That was the first time I played an actual note, an actual chord, and I instantly fell in love with the instrument. I knew I could go somewhere with it, so I decided to pursue it. Thanks to my mom and dad for buying me my first guitar on April 7, 2000.
Singing Songwriter: When did you start writing songs?
Jim Gaven: I started writing songs when I was 17. I became tired of learning other bands' songs. I wanted to write my own songs because I feel that there is something very special about being able to write something and call it your own. No one can take that away from you. I want [others] to learn my songs one day.
Singing Songwriter: How long have you been playing music?
Jim Gaven: I have only been playing music for four-and-a-half years. I had no prior guitar experience; I have never had voice lessons. Everything that you hear is raw, which is what I want and what I pride my sound and songwriting on.
Singing Songwriter: Do you consider yourself more a writer or performer?
Jim Gaven: I consider myself more of a writer, because my lyrics are what I like to pride myself on. I don’t have a light show or anything fancy to add to my live performance, so it is strictly how I deliver it to the audience through my words and how I say those words.
Singing Songwriter: Do you ever co-write with other writers?
Jim Gaven: No, I have not co-written anything with other writers. I’m not sure if I like the idea of not being the sole creator of the music I am putting out.
Singing Songwriter: Describe your songwriting process.
Jim Gaven: Usually, when I [want] to write a song, I go to some place really remote (my basement, my car, or this park near me called Sayen Gardens) and just put all my attention and focus on the song. I try to block out all distractions [and put myself] totally [into] to the song. I don’t like leaving songs unfinished. When I start writing a song, I want to finish it right then and there. I know that I won’t feel the same about the topic a week, a day, or even an hour after I put it down. Most of the time I’ll just start jamming on my guitar until I find a solid chord progression and tune. When I get that solid progression, I’ll start writing words to the melody, and hopefully something sparks from there. After this, I just keep on playing the song over and over again until I feel totally confident with how everything sounds. I go to my mother and ask her to sit down and listen to it. She’s the first person to hear all my songs, and let’s me know what needs work or what I should definitely keep in the song. From then, I go and play it to my friends and then test it out live at one of the open mic nights or shows I perform at.
Singing Songwriter: How has the Internet affected music?
Jim Gaven: The internet has affected music in both positive and negative ways. It really helps underground artists trying to promote their music, because they most likely don’t have a distributor or promoter doing it for them on a mass scale. At the same time, it can hurt major label acts that depend on CD sales as their primary source of keeping their spot on the label. Overall, I think that the internet is a positive way to get your music out to a worldwide community at lightning-fast rates. I’m glad that we have it to work with.
For more information on Jim Gaven and to buy his music, check out these sites:
http://www.purevolume.com/jimgaven
http://www.jimgaven.com
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/jimgavenmusic.htm
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jimgaven
1 Comments:
just wanted to say your sound awesome and you will go far. best of luck to you. hope to see a show of yours some day. -erica
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