TJ Bilham
TJ Bilham is a singer/songwriter on the rise, and he is back with his brand new single One More Kiss; which was co-written by Andy from Lawson.
We caught up with TJ to chat about the new single, working on his debut album and what lies ahead for the musician.
- You are about to release your brand new single One More Kiss, so what can we expect from this new track?
We are not sure what is going to happen with the single; we do hope it is going to go far. We have worked really hard on it, and it is something that has been in the pipeline for some time.
I was co-written by Andy from Lawson; so it does have a few names behind it. I am looking forward to seeing where it goes.
- Many people will be coming to your music for the first time with this track so how would you sum up your sound?
There are rocky influences and I also feel that there are pop elements; however, it is not too pop (laughs).
The music that I usually play is acoustic/pop stuff, but this does have more of a rock influence. Everyone asks me that question, and it is the one that I really don't know how to answer (laughs).
- You have mentioned Andy Brown from Lawson already and he co-wrote this track. So how did you end up working with him?
The guy whom I work with most days, in fact, we are finishing a song off today, is John McLaughlin, and he writes a lot of songs with Andy and knows him personally. So I really got into contact with Andy through John.
- And how did you find the writing experience with him?
It was a huge learning curve because he is an incredible songwriter. I haven't been going for that long, but I have been writing songs, for as long as I can remember. But going from writing songs in your bedroom to suddenly writing with professionals is quite a leap.
I was just like 'right, this is the level that I have to write at'. I feel like I have adapted quite well, and I am really enjoying it.
- You pen all of your own stuff so how much co-writing do you do? Is it something that you enjoy - I talk to artists who really do prefer to write by themselves?
I actually do really enjoy writing with other people and other artists purely because when you are writing a song, you can get stuck.
I have written songs and in the first twenty minutes of the session, I have got all the chords down and maybe a chorus. But then it has taken another two months to get the next verse.
Sometimes when you have someone else to bounce your ideas off you come up with much better ideas.
- There are a couple of weeks until the single is released so how are you finding the response to the track so far?
It seems to be going down well, and all the responses that we have got so far do seem to be positive.
- Your mixtape Illusion was very well received so how much confidence have you been able to take forward after the success of that?
Quite a lot. It did change my perception of things because when you haven't released anything you don't know if it is going to work or not; it was really nice to get positive feedback for the first thing that I released.
It was just really really humbling and nice to receive feedback like that.
- One More Kiss is the first track to be lifted off your debut album so are you working on that at the moment? And how is it going?
Really really well. We are writing for it every single day; I am working on it with later today. We have got a new song that we are working on at the moment.
I started about a week and a half ago, and I sent it over to John - who was in the south of France - and he was, like 'we will write that'. So he is coming around later to continue working on that.
It's great when you write something and someone else approves of it and wants to come and work on it. I am just really happy with that.
- How do you think One More Kiss will introduce us to the rest of that record? Are we going to see you go down a similar path in terms of sound or are there some surprises on there?
Definitely, some surprises (laughs). I just love singing ballads, and I am hoping to be able to sneak a few ballads in there (laughs).
- So where did your love of music start? And what bands and artists were you listening to as you were growing up?
When I was growing up, I listened to a lot of operatic stuff because my mum loves all of that. I also listened to The Rolling Stone and the Beatles as well.
My dad played in a band when he was in the army; they played in a band that was the warm-up actor the Beatles. My dad's band split up pretty early, but it is a good story.
So I grew up listening to all of my parent’s music really. I have only recently moved back to the UK, and so I have been hit in the face with lots of new music; in the south of France, it is a completely different chart.
- What kind of music are you listening to at the moment?
I love The Script. I listen to a lot of Spotify playlists. I also listen to the charts a lot to stay up to date with what is in the charts and to make sure I am not writing the completely wrong genre of music.
- Of those artists who would, you say have been your major influences as you have come to write and record your own music?
I don't think I take any influences from the music that I listened to growing up - just good memories. I just remember singing and dancing along with my mum and dad. I wouldn't really say that inspires me musically.
I take more inspiration in things that happen in life; so breaking up with girlfriends and stuff like that (laughs). It is things that happen in real life that inspires me.
- You have got an ever growing fan base so for the fans reading this interview do you have a message for them?
Without the fans, I would be nothing, and I just want to thank everyone who has supported me so far. There is definitely more to come, so watch this space.
- Finally, what is next for you over the next six months or so?
You will have to watch this space (laughs) - I am going to leave it on a cliff-hanger (laughs).
We have got a couple of live shows; we have got a big launch show planned for One More Kiss in Glasgow. There should be other gigs lining up as well.