From the moment that talented U.K. vocalist/songwriter Nathan James launched himself onto the international rock stage with his band Inglorious back in 2014, he has been hailed as an artist who is helping to not just keep alive the classic rock stylings of the past, but someone who is carrying this vibe forward in his own manner, style and with great confidence.
To paraphrase one early reviewer, rock music is in good hands with Inglorious. On Jan. 25, those who have followed the band through its two previous incendiary releases, and those who are new to the game, will have a chance to hear how Inglorious has continued to evolve, continued to pay homage to the great rock music of the past, but in a way that is forward-thinking and modern, with the release of the new album Ride to Nowhere on Frontiers Music.
“The album has been getting great reviews and it’s been a very positive experience. I am super happy with how people are receiving it,” said James, who first came to prominence in his home nation through a couple of music-based TV reality shows, and then later sang for German metal legend Uli Jon Roth and also the Trans-Siberian Orchestra before starting his own band.
James said it was inevitable that he has changed both as a person and as a songwriter over the five years since the release of the band’s critically-acclaimed self-titled debut album. Part of the evolution of his process and the output of that creative process are songs – particularly from the lyrical point of view – that are more inward looking that on the first two albums.
“A lot has changed. I’ve got a lot more life experience. I have a lot more things to write about. I think we are a little bit different on each album, but we’re still able to maintain our main influences and things that people liked about us for on the first and second record. In a writing respect, I came from it somewhat differently because I had more things I wanted to say and things I kind of wanted to address. And for myself and for the listener, I wanted to be honest with my feelings and record some songs that I know would be hard for me to record,” said James.
“Prior to this album I had always written stories about other people and written stories about people around me and characters in my life. But for this album, it’s more about my feelings and my relationships with people, which is, I suppose, the main difference. I don’t know if I was confident enough to write about these things on the first two albums. The first album was the first time I ever wrote, so I think I was a little bit inhibited about these types of lyrics. So, this third record was kind of the first time I have really exposed my feelings in such an open way in my entire life.”
More specifically, James opens up about some of the great losses and frustrations he has endured in recent years, baring his soul in a way that gives the songs a real emotional urgency and authenticity to go along with a darker, heavier musicality.
“Since the last record, I lost my grandfather and I lost one of my best friends. The song Never Alone was a song that was actually written about the friend that I lost. She looked after me when I was growing up and kind of ran away from home. She lost her battle against cancer earlier last year and I felt that when we lost her, I wanted to honour her by writing this tune,” he explained.
“I have also written a song for my mum on this album, a song called Queen, which I have never done before. But anyone who knows me, knows that I am a mummy’s boy and I love my mom. I just felt it was time to write a song about her. Also, the song Glory Days was actually the hardest one to write of all, but yet it was the quickest. I wrote the lyrics in about 10 minutes, because it’s basically me talking about the breakdown of a relationship with someone I thought was my soulmate, and it turned out not to be the case. Overall, it was a tough album to write, but I am super happy with how it came out and I think they are very sincere sounding songs and hopefully the listener will appreciate that.”
There have been some lineup changes since the release of Inglorious II back in early 2017, with 19-year-old Danny Dela Cruz (lead guitar), rhythm guitarist Dan Stevens and bassist Vinnie Colla joining after the recording of Ride to Nowhere. Drummer Phil Beaver has been alongside James since the band’s formation.
“Danny was actually our guitar tech for the last year. He was a very obvious choice. He was someone I always said I wanted to work with even when I first saw him play at 16. He is a phenomenal guitar player. It’s all looking very good and very positive and I am just excited to get this new band out on the road and show people these songs and show them that we’re still here and that it’s a younger and more exciting band, full of guys that are really hungry to show people what they can do,” he said, adding that its fitting too that the overall vibe of Ride to Nowhere is infused with a sense of hunger possesses a definite edge.
“That was a conscious decision. After touring for four years, the stuff that goes down the best in the live situation is the harder, heavier, grittier stuff. It’s the kind of music that really winds people up. And that’s what we learned on tour. We have done so many big festivals with so many humungous bands and we learned by watching what they do and how people would go crazy when they did certain songs. So, we tried to bring an element of that to what we do to make our show kind of more in that style.”
As with Inglorious II the band produced the new record themselves but brought in the legendary producer/engineer Kevin ‘Caveman’ Shirley (Iron Maiden, Rush, Black Country Communion and many more) to mix. Working alongside such an experienced and expert music industry professional was in itself a spectacular educational experience, according to James.
“Obviously working with someone as legendary as Kevin is so humbling, and he is such a wonderful bloke. He mixed the album so quickly and I think that’s because when he really gets the essence of a band, he gets into it, and puts that time aside to focus and bangs it out. And you know you’re going to be happy with it,” he said.
“We actually worked him a bit harder with this album because we wanted it to sound less vintage and less classic sounding than the last two. We wanted it to have a slightly heavier edge, as I said previously, and a bit more grit. We self-produce our records but having Kevin oversee it was amazing. He has such knowledge and what I will say is that unlike a lot of younger guys, Kevin has seen everything. He has been there when it really was classic rock, so he is not trying to recreate something; he is not using plug-ins, he is not cheating to get that sound. He was there. They don’t come more authentic and you can’t get a better pedigree than Kevin Shirley.”
Inglorious has become a top draw on the U.K touring circuit and that’s where James said the band is going to continue to focus its energy moving forward into 2019. But there are also plans to hit the rest of Europe, including the summer festival circuit. He also said if there is the financial wherewithal and enough interest, the band would come to Canada and the U.S.
Towards the end of 2019, he also confirmed that he and his bandmates would start the process for another album.
For more information on the band, touring plans and the new album Ride to Nowhere, visit http://inglorious.com, or https://www.facebook.com/weareinglorious.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAJ1pzQBEZA
SHARE THIS POST:
