By Tyler Wright
During Victoria’s 2021 lockdown period, Upwey musician James Hampton teamed up with Irish lawyer and songwriter Conor Bowman to release a new album Bubblegum Revolution.
Pianist Hampton worked remotely with Bowman to put together a 13-song album drawing from pop and gospel music influences.
The two men had never met but managed to create a total of 50 songs and collate their favourites into an album, released on Saturday 27 August.
“I just wanted to work with someone whose specialty was lyrics… somehow through a website, I put the word out that I was looking for someone to collaborate with, and [Conor] got in touch with me,” Hampton said.
“There’s one song that’s it’s got a bit of a legal theme to it called Perjury Express.
There’s a little bit of humour in the lyrics, Conor’s got a good sense of humour.”
On the track is the song with the album’s namesake, and a sadder track called ‘Me and the Tin Man’.
“But overall, it’s a happy album with a positive feel and clever lyrics,” Hampton said.
The duo were eventually able to meet and record parts of the album in the studio together as restrictions eased, making the production even more “rewarding”.
“There was times I thought I was never gonna get this done, but we got through it all,” Hampton said.
“It was different doing bits in lockdown…I’d never done that before.”
Hampton was first inspired to play music at five years old when he was gifted a cassette player for Christmas, and started playing mix tapes.
“I was always really interested in music as a kid, and we always had a piano in the house, too…I would always jump on the piano and have a play,” he said.
“There was even a time where once I saw a violin in someone’s house, and I snuck into the house to have go on the violin.
I got caught before I got to have a go, I was pretty devastated and I was scared out of my wits as well.”
Now, Hampton’s musical style is described by Triple J as a ‘fusion of Michael Bublé, Randy Newman and Rufus Wainwright all rolled into one.’
You can stream his newest album, ‘Bubblegum Revolution’ on Spotify and Apple Music.
You can also visit his website, at http://www.jameshampton.com.au/
