I am very excited because one of my favorite singer songwriters musicians is here in the vinyl pad from the UK

Jacob aka Puma blue. Thank you so much for coming

Did you approach this any differently than your debut? Yeah, hugely. Okay, the first one was almost about like

Getting away from what I'd been doing on the EPS a little bit and trying to show a different side, but it was still this kind of idea of I

Wanted to kind of make like a headphone. Listen, like a

Intimate project. Yeah, and then I ended up writing it largely before the pandemic but recording and producing a lot of it in the pandemic, so I think something I really missed was live shows and yeah, I feel like my favorite thing about

This project is playing with the guys in the band

So for this one, it was more about taking it out of the laptop and into the studio a bit so I wrote a bunch of

Songs and recorded demos for them rather than finishing them and actually took it to the band and now that's great

It was cool

It was like the first time we've ever been so involved with each other in at that point in the process

So like we would rearrange some of my demos together or like writing completely new songs out like jams and oh, that's amazing

So like maybe a third of the songs were like written

Between the four of us or the five of us because my friend Luke was there as well. So yeah, it's a lot more live

It's a lot more collaborative. I feel like the energy was very different. I mean

First of all, it made me it's like less self-conscious of this album because oh

It's not just a reflection of of me. Yeah, it's like a family

Photograph. So even if I'm pulling a weird face, I'm like, oh, I love this photo of like us. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense

And I love the fact that this this is included. Yeah, I wanted to like yeah open the book

Yeah, and just feel kind of transported to I don't know the process and ever everyone was just so important

Yeah

I kind of wanted to honor that but also there was this like bouncing off of each other thing that is what I wanted to capture because that's what happens live like

These songs exist and and we keep the structures largely the same

But I've always encouraged the band to like really improvise and express themselves live

Yeah, but obviously that that isn't allowed to happen when

I've just like made a beat and finish the song on my computer and like that's it

So right this was cool because a lot of the moments that are my favorite moments just happened

Spontaneously like just the chemistry in the room or whatever. So

Yeah, I mean, I know I'm just describing

Like how a lot of albums are made, but it was just new

Yeah, I just hadn't made music that way strangely before right because like if we even go back to some of your earlier stuff

I mean, it's just it's just you and your computer. Yeah, which is funny because I don't know

I mean, we're just not a band, you know, and we we are and now more than ever a band, but

That's that's not been the approach. It's been this kind of like solo artist thing. Yeah, so

Yeah, this was just the first record where I really embraced the fact that we kind of are a band a little bit and I

Yeah, I'm so proud of it because it's like all of their magic as well as my contributions so I can kind of just listen and be like

Enjoying their playing. Yeah, rather than cringing at my own

It's not all on you. Yeah, exactly

Darkside was a huge influence on this record

And it kind of interesting always been an important album to me because it's like

One of the first albums I like had on my mp3 player that my dad like showed me

Age six or seven. Wow, but um, so you are you were a cool kid, man

I don't know. I was honestly not a cool kid, but I we had good taste. I loved music

Yeah, you know, I really did love music

But it was cool coming back to it

More recently and I don't know there was there's something about the feeling of that album and like the

The color of it. Mm-hmm that I wanted to emulate on on this a bit

I

Like the way it flowed seamlessly. I did that nowhere near as

Geniusly, if that's a word as they did it's not as thought through perhaps

But that was just a conscious decision to have it kind of flowing

Honestly, um that song

Us and them was like pretty much the reason there's sax and pink blue

Yeah, oh my goodness

But yeah that that was a big it was a big one some of the backing vocals. Mm-hmm. I was listening to yeah

Yeah, I love you and it feels like it was more of that on here. Yeah, I feel like I was trying to

Use my voice as a more important instrument on this record than the last one

I was kind of burying my voice on the last one. Mm-hmm. And this time I was like leaning into the vocal diva thing a bit more

Just letting it all kind of hang out. And yeah, it was fun to sing. I'd I like really expressed myself and

Some of the vocal arrangements. I like spent a lot of time on

And

Yeah, I'm proud of it. I get a real strong feeling from your music just in total like obviously there's certain songs that like

Especially on this I think it's a second song but there's like a quiet confidence but also like a melancholy but like more of like

Remembering sweet moments in life versus like super sad if that me. I mean, that's what I'm getting

I love I think music's so powerful because everyone kind of interprets it. Yeah on their own, right?

and

You can get help, you know, you can like research what the artist meant by it or you can ask your friends or whoever like

What what their

Takeaway was and you can kind of analyze it

But I think the most beautiful part is that you often come away with your own understanding. So

I'm trying to explain myself like less and less honestly, but yeah people get their own meaning and and feelings from it and which is

Really beautiful. I mean, I think yeah, I think it's a push not a push and pull, but I think it's a little bit of

You created it and now and now it's theirs right a little bit and like obviously

You steer the conversation with what you wrote and with the lyrics

Because like it's always a funny thing like so many people think every breath you take right is romantic. Yeah, but then it's like well

And also I was just talking about weird

Yeah, and then the shape of your heart or shape of my heart or whatever another stinks like that

I love that too. That too is not like I was actually thinking of that song

Oh, really when I was writing the last track on this album

I just and that's the other thing to like the incorporation of

Just the blending the blending of your music is thank you. That's really sweet. I

Mean I and two guys in the band. Yeah, we just listened to

So much stuff. Yeah, and

A lot of it doesn't really sound

You know, you wouldn't think

Based on the music that we put out that that's what we listen to some of it you might

Write a little black Sabbath a little honestly. Yeah

Like burial is like a huge one for me and I love burial. Yeah, I think that's coming out more and more

Yes wearing it on my sleeve. But yeah, I think I think I've always wanted to make music. It was just kind of an amalgamation of my favorite music and

Yeah, actually the better I get writing and the more I'm able to access

Authenticity. Oh, yeah, the less I'm able to even hold back from

My influence is kind of coming out. So

Even even in places where I'm like, you know

Like in the song epitaph. Mm-hmm. I was like singing this vocal melody before I had the lyrics I thought this is reminding me of

Anthony Kiedis

But I was like, there's nothing I can do about that

I just did I just grew up on Chili's and they mean so much to me

Even if that's like not what you would pair in your mind necessarily with my music

Yeah, I was like, I'm just gonna like lean into this because that's beautiful. That is like very true to me

You know way, you know, you like being out in Atlanta. I love that area you do. Yeah, I mean like

Yeah. Wow. Wow, you've really just thought of everything

Yeah, I got I immediately saw the Jeff yeah, I saw

Julie London Donnie and I love Julie. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I she was a good find because at the time I was very influenced by

Jazz singers. Yeah

But I was more listening to people like Billy and oh, right, right, you know, first of all, she's just got an incredible

Vocal like full stop, but she also has this raspiness that I don't have really at all

I don't know like Billy was really inspiring, but I think finding Julie was encouraging because she has such a like

Soft little voice. Yeah, that is mostly projected with the microphone

Whereas Billy sounds like she could just sing. Yeah in a dry room and it would sound like perfect

So, yeah, she was really inspiring

Just like a smoky quality. Yeah, it's beautiful

I think it's awesome that your your tastes are so varied

You wouldn't think the style that comes out of those records you're influenced by these other bands

But I like that because that keeps it from getting to like specific or to like derivative of some. Yeah

You know what? I mean the more you listen to you the more that you're gonna subconsciously channel and

Yeah, I think I think it just adds more to the palette and like you said it it's less derivative that way

Yeah, just listen to like

One band, you know, and then you're gonna sound like that band because that's all the information you have

You've dipped into classical as well. Like you enjoy love classical music. Yeah. Yeah my parents of they were like more they had better knowledge of classical music than

Anyone I kind of knew growing up and I

Wasn't really interested

For a long time. I just didn't it just didn't speak to me and

Then maybe when I was like 14 15, I found a few pieces that really spoke to me. I think it was like rock man enough and like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and

Some of the more like famous stuff. Yeah, and I realized there was

Something worth exploring

Obviously, but I just didn't know that and now I'm

You know a geek. I love like scrabin and Ravel and

Shostakovich and

Yeah, there's a there's so much great stuff that I wasn't aware of. I still love rock man enough as well

Yeah, I feel like a lot of it is present in the music in some way

Even if it's just the emotions or like sense of harmony that I'm hearing I try and

Emulate that but it's it's so hard. I mean, I'm not classically trained

Yeah, probably never will be we'll see. I was gonna ask actually have you thought about perhaps given the opportunity?

To score a film. Yeah, it's it's been a lifelong ambition to be honest amazing

Film is pretty much the next thing

Aside from music that I care the most about and I you know

I've made little short films and oh no, I would love to be on that side of it. Honestly, like writing a screenplay or directing something

But honestly even the opportunity to score a film or God even if I was just

Being given the role of like music supervisor right and like picking the tracks

Yeah that like already exist I think I'd have so much fun and right put so much like love into it so yeah, I'm really just um waiting for a good opportunity to

To do that and hopefully one will come and if not, I believe just you know, make it happen for myself. Yeah

But yeah God doing a film school would be amazing

It's it'd be a cool opportunity to do something that you know, it doesn't really sound like myself at all it wouldn't be thinking about like my

Artistic identity I'd just be like serving the film right?

So that would be a cool challenge your name

Where what's the origin of that? I was just going by Jacob Allen for a while

You know just using my name to play shows and

Back when I was like

Being put on like random bills with other people

Showcase type game, right? Right, right. I was kind of getting put on with a lot of like acoustic pop stuff I think because I was just using

My name and I didn't have any music out probably

Sounded like oh, it's another like folky poppy singer-songwriter type. Gotcha. Okay, so

I wanted a name I think because I wanted

People to picture something else

Not a band but like

Some kind of artist project. I suppose there were a few people that were like using like aliases

Like flying Lotus. I was just like yeah, that's a that's a good choice for that project so

The inspiration was like Delta Blues musicians like oh, yeah

I love this like double-barreled superhero name thing

Because it sounded like it could almost be their real name in some kind of mythical

Way muddy waters or like Howlin' Wolf

Lead belly I was like and I want a name

That sort of is in tribute to

That sort of is in tribute to these guys because they kind of like invented what I've

You know way down the line. What what I'm doing in a way

So that was the initial inspiration I was just trying to think in my myth, like what would my name be and I

Think I had blue written down on a on a

Piece of paper like a hundred times and I was just writing other words next to it

Yeah, and nothing really fit or made me feel anything so I was gonna move on and then

One day, I think I was watching a nature documentary and it could have even been a David Assembly one

Someone in the voiceover was describing a puma. Yeah, it's just like sleek blonde

Mysterious thing and I was like, that's like what I am trying to do. Yeah emulate if blue is the kind of like dark

Metacolic side the other the other side is this kind of sexiness or like?

Something you know because the the two kind of main points of reference for me have always been like Jeff Buckley and D'Angelo

But it especially was back then that was like very much

Me trying to make something in the middle