ME award-winner Jamie Treays, aka Jamie T, is a singer/songwriter from Wimbledon in South London, whose music incorporates elements of rap, reggae, indie and acoustic genres.
Them / Baby Please Don’t Go
I was in a band called The Treasons when I was younger and we always tried to cover it and we made a shambles of it.
The playing on this record kicks the shit out of everything: the bass thumps you along, then you get that guitar line and Van the Man slams in and it’s all over. I think if I ever wanted to learn how to play something well, it would be the lead guitar line on this track. It’s gonna take years but I will never stop trying.
Bran Van 3000 / Drinking In LA
I remember buying this in WH Smith. I had to buy the whole record because they were out of the single. I love the pace of the track. It’s kinda slow and dreamy, from what I can tell the song is about meeting up with a friend to write up a script for a music video, but then sacking it off and spending the whole day bumming around. I spent the whole summer listening to the album this song is off and to this day it’s still a classic.
Rancid / Hoover Street
This is the first song I actually learned how to play. I have been playing it live for a few years now and I still haven’t worked out what all the lyrics are. But it still means a lot to me. I always loved the storytelling style of Tim Armstrong’s lyrics and I think this is one of his best.
Pavement / Carrot Rope
Pavement are a band I don’t know much about but this song hangs around my CD collection constantly. It’s a ‘good time’ song about nothing. It always makes me dance silly. Oh yeah, and it’s got a two singer harmony thing which is really cool. The second verse is amazing. I would tell you about it but it’s probably best if you just listen.
Jefferson Airplane / Somebody To Love
I’m a big fan of Vietnam films and I think that’s probably where I first heard this tune. It’s recorded real nice, in that kinda 60s style that you can’t recreate these days. The vocal is haunting and powerful.
The Pogues / Bottle of Smoke
This is one of the best lyrical songs you will ever hear, and if anyone has a problem with that comment, you are an idiot! That’s pretty much all I have to say on the matter.
The Gladiators / Looks Is Deceiving
I picked this record up when I went to Bordeaux on a school trip when I was 14. There was a seven floor Virgin Megastore with a bar on the top floor. The girl I was staying with kept on playing it and singing along while smoking hash (she was seventeen). So I did what any self respecting 14 year-old with a crush would do: I went brought the album smocked loads of hash with her, had a whitey, and spent the night with my head in the toilet. You can’t blame a boy for trying.
Mummy Says I’m Special / Viva la Resistance
This band used to play a lot around Kingston upon Thames area when I was younger. They had a 22 track album with a sped up version of the Bodger and Badger theme tune on it. The album was called Straight out of Compton Howlet. One of the best opening lines I ever heard: ‘I would like to introduce you to a government policy but no one cares, they say that we’re the future people like you and me, but no one cares’. Long live Mummy Says I’m Special.
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FYI – You have the wrong Jamie T. photo up there… That dude is Jamie Thomas.. a pro skater. Not Jamie Treays.
Thanks for letting us know Alex. we’ve updated the photo.