Jamie Lenman seems to be doing a bang up job of lockdown. New material? Check. Exciting ‘virtual’ events? Check. Handy working from home tips? Check. He’s got this sorted – and he’s appearing at Homeschool this weekend, too.
Hey Jamie, how’s it going? What have you been up to today?
It’s going pretty good thanks, as well as can be expected. Today we went for the weekly shop, which as you can imagine, has become quite a big event, being the only time we get in the car. We get dressed up in our best clothes, make an impact, you know?
Is that typical for you at the moment, what are you up to day-to-day?
I’ve actually been very busy over the last four weeks – on top of performing and recording a lot of home-shows for folks like yourself; I’ve been doing an awful lot of illustration and design, after a drought of about two years. It’s very surreal.
Has this virus business changed many of your plans?
Well as a live performer, that’s out. We had all kinds of plans; now we got nothing. The saving grace for me is that gigs are only a part of what I do – for my wife, who is a burlesque dancer and promoter, that’s her entire living out the window.
Are you able to record songs while at home? What’s your usual set up like?
I’ve got slightly less awful at recording my own stuff over the years, but it’s still pretty bad. I have a decent microphone and a pop shield, a couple of nice guitars. I’ve got to the stage where I’ve even put some of my home-recorded stuff on the albums, but only acoustic things. If there’s any drums or distortion etc., I can’t quite manage that yet – I try, but it just sounds terrible. It means I can get a good sound for these home gigs though, so that’s something. I hope your viewers agree!
Will this mean we have to wait a bit longer for new material, or do you already have some ‘in the bag’?
I was recording some stuff at the end of last year into the start of this one, but ultimately the format and the timescale that comes out on will be decided by circumstances, which are changing every day. I’m hopeful to get some more stuff out soon.
What’s the first thing you’re going to do once the current restrictions have been lifted?
Take my wife to Pizza Hut.
Are there any tips or tricks you’ve picked up to make self-isolating a bit more bearable?
I think self-isolating is a bit more hardcore than the lockdown most of us are in, and I’m afraid I wouldn’t know about that… as freelancers, we spend a lot of time at home anyway, so our day-to-day lives haven’t changed much, but I suppose I would say that what we normally do is spend a bit of time apart during the day when we’re working etc., but making sure we come together for meals and tv time etc. So if you have separate rooms in which you can work/concentrate that’s good, but not all day or you might as well be on the moon!
If you could pick up one new skill while self-isolating, what would it be?
Better recording skills I guess – see above! And the didgeridoo maybe.
Do you have any predictions for later this year?
I have LITERALLY just written a song entitled ‘Don’t Make Predictions’, purely because of the situation we find ourselves in.
Tell us some good news?
KFC Aldershot has re-opened for delivery, and that’s just down the road from me. Treat night here I come!!!
Jamie Lenman is taking part in new online festival Homeschool, which runs from 8th-10th May – visit homeschoolfest.com for details.
