Inspired #0016 - JC Stewart
It isn’t long till JC Stewart’s free headline show at The Waiting Room in London, which happens on the 4th December. He took a moment out of his busy touring schedule to talk to us about Freddie Mercury and his love for Belfast.
Who are you top three musical inspirations and why?
Freddie Mercury - The guy was an enterntainer and a showman, but most of all, he was a songwriter. He wrote some of the greatest songs of all time and was consistently brilliant. As one of the few people who changed the world with his music he should be an influence to every musician.
Gary Lightbody - He’s written some of the biggest anthems of my life, he’s Northern Irish, he’s a super humble and lovely guy. Essentially everything you could ever dream of being right?
Robyn - She has gone out and unashamedly written some of the best pop music of the last fifteen years and has been such an inspiration to me and nearly everybody I work with. And she’s Scandinavian so that’s always cool.
Is there a certain film that inspires you and why?
I love films that make me think, and as much as I want to give a really arty answer and say some French film where nobody understands what’s really going but we all nod along and say that it was great at the end, i’m gonna say either inception or interstellar. Two big blockbuster hits, but they inspired me because I couldn’t believe someone had actually come up with those concepts and executed them so well which made me want to try and push myself more in what I was writing.
What city do you find the most inspiring and why?
For me, it’s got to be Belfast or Nashville. Weirdly, they are actually sister cities (little fact of the day there) and I love them both. Being from Northern Ireland, I’ve spent a lot of time in Belfast and the people, the place, the culture and just everything about it makes me super excited. It’s a city on the up and most of my favourite writers and musicians are based there. Nashville really speaks for itself but there’s just something in the air there. I love it!
Who is the most inspiring person to you and why?
My parents are by far the most inspiring people to me. They are ridiculously creative, compassionate and just lovely people which, even outside of music, is everything I want to give to the world. Creatively, they have always thought out of the box and have been massive influences to their own industries and have kept all of their integrity while doing so.
How would you like to inspire people?
I suppose I just want to show people that you don’t need to try and be Lady Gagaor David Bowie. That’s great if you want to do it but i’ve always just been myself and written what comes naturally which, for a long time, really didn’t work. I knew though that I couldn’t really do it any other way so I stuck at it and it’s very very slowly starting to pay off. I do think more people should try finding their own creative outlet though. EVERYONE is creative weather they like it or not but I think it’s mostly fear that seeps in and stops them being who they’re meant to be and saying what they’re meant to say. That was an incredibly long, waffly answer but yeah, be yourself and say what you want basically.