Interview, New Fire Music
TREVOR JAMES: COMFORT
03
Oct
Oct
Trevor James is a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter from the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.
Trevor’s love for music arose from his time playing in high school bands with friends (initially with the sole intent of trying to impress the ladies), though he soon found himself feeling a genuine passion for writing, recording, and performing music. Upon graduating, Trevor put music on the backburner to focus on college studies. However, in 2019, Trevor rediscovered his love for music after trying his hand at solo acoustic style music. Starting initially with cover videos, the success of Trevor’s talents saw him quickly amass an impressive social media following, which inspired him to have a go at writing his own material.
Trevor’s first EP “Breakthrough” was recorded entirely in his makeshift bedroom studio and was released in late-2020. One track from that EP (“Rendezvous”) then went on to feature on local radio station 97.9x Rocks, as well as popular Philly station Alt 104.5, where Trevor was also interviewed and performed live in Spring of 2021.
Trevor released his much anticipated single “Again” in June 2022, followed by “Comfort” in August – both of which he got the opportunity to perform on the Wish USA Bus in Hollywood, CA that same month. Look out for more to come from Trevor later this year!
We love your new fire music! How did you come up with the concept for the song?
Thanks! The concept for my newest single “Comfort” came about from an especially stressful stretch of time in my life, and really just wanting any kind of comfort during that time. I’m obviously not unique in experiencing stress or difficulties, and I think everyone can probably relate to craving that internal feeling of comfort or peace during an emotionally trying time.. so that’s what really brought about the core theme of this song.
What is your favorite part about the song?
My favorite part about this song is actually the “talk-rap” style vocals in the verses lol. It’s something I’d never done before, but it was really fun to write and almost as much fun to record. Definitely an enjoyable experience.
What were you most meticulous about on your latest song?
The most meticulous part about this latest song was trying to write and arrange it in a way that flowed smoothly, from verse to pre-chorus to chorus. I spent much of the writing phase tweaking (and re-tweaking) each section of the song in a way that it could all fit together and not feel disjointed or forced. In the end I feel like I was able to accomplish that – in my opinion, anyway – but it took a LOT of effort and experimenting.
What was the writing process like?
The writing process for this track really felt like a deeper kind of experience compared to many of my previous songs. I generally have a more happy and optimistic kind of personality, but because the core theme of this song revolves around negative emotions and wanting to overcome those emotions, it almost required embracing that kind of negative feeling. It was different for me, for sure, but because my tendency is to lean into more positive vibes, I really enjoy trying to write outside my “comfort” zone and into the full range of emotions and experience.
What kind of mood was set in order to create the magic?
To build onto my previous answer – I definitely had to try and channel a more negative mood to write the majority of this song and “create the magic”, so to speak. And that’s not to say it was necessarily bad, but “negative” in terms of not being ideal. The song sorta required me to push away any reflexive positive tendency of mine and immerse myself in that darker mood. And then once I’d managed to get myself in that headspace, it felt MUCH easier to pull the lyrics and lines out that I really wanted for this song. So I guess you could say it was both draining and rewarding at the same time lol.
Is there a critique you’ve gotten on the single that you worked through and it’s made the overall work better?
Actually yes, there is definitely a critique I’d gotten on this track that made the overall work better. When I first pieced the song together, I recorded a very rough demo that I shared with a couple close friends and family to get their initial thoughts and feedback. And I remember one critique in particular was about my “talk-rap” style vocals, and how they weren’t very good lol. My first reaction was to push back and get defensive, but after a few more listens I (reluctantly) agreed and knew that there was certainly a lot of room for improvement there. And so I practiced a fair amount more before recording the final vocal takes, and I can say without question that the song sounds much better than it would have had I not gotten that critique.
What are you most excited about for fans to hear on your latest single?
I’m most excited for fans to hear something that sounds different from my usual style. The rapping is easily the most noticeable departure from my usual sound, but even just the “vibe” of this single is something very different from any of my previous songs, I think. And so I’m just really excited to hear how fans react to this track compared to my others.
What has been the best feedback so far?
The best feedback I’ve gotten so far (or at least my personal favorite feedback), is that my newest single reminded them of a Linkin Park song. That’s not to say my style is similar to theirs, because I know we’re VERY different lol, but the combination of talk-rap verses coupled with a clean vocal chorus is what reminded this listener of LP. I obviously took this as a huge compliment, as I’ve been a fan of those guys since I was probably about 10 years old.
Leave us with your favorite fire lyrics of the song?
My personal favorite sequence of lyrics in the song that I’m most proud of:
“But I can’t complain
Doing what I can to avoid the pain
Dealing with the feeling that I know I should be healing but I’m staring at the ceiling ’cause I’m stuck inside my brain”
^ That specific section of lyrics just resonated with me a little extra while I was writing the song, and I was happy to be able to make it flow together in a way that fit the rest of that first verse.
All your socials!
The best ways to keep up with me are by following my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/