You’d struggle to meet a more amicable guy than our Musician-in-Residence, James McGinley!

James has a ‘proper’ job in Edinburgh, Scotland, but whenever he manages to take some time off, he tells us that music is his ‘medicine‘. He has little interest in sightseeing or lounging on a beach, much more content creating wonderful improvisations on guitar or piano.

During his residency he aims to get some of his tunes written down, to ensure he doesn’t forget them!

James is spending two weeks with us doing a ‘Work Exchange’ residency (half price in return for 15 hours per week work on the house). He’s worked his butt off today, cleaning all of the windows on the ground floor, inside and out, so that he and Colin can make a start on re-puttying them while the weather is good.

That’s a lot of windows, by the way, and I’m thoroughly enjoying watching the house being cleaned and fixed around me as I write this post.

 

James describes his approach to composing music:

The big thing I “discovered” was you don’t need to know what the note or interval or scale is called … You just need to know that the next note you are looking for is out there and then try a few till you find it …

May take a bit of time but eventually you get there.

We are glad that James has chosen to put the time aside to find his notes at Studio Faire!

Our self-directed residencies give people the time, space and support to focus on their own projects, without distractions or expectations from others.

Image: The Garage Studio at Studio Faire