Artist Spotlight: Meet Jaime’s Tone
Can you share any interesting or unique musical elements or production techniques used in "War?"
With the 3rd Jaime’s Tone’s album, from which “War” is extracted, I wanted two things: improve the sound, and try to be more straightforward with the songs.
In terms of sound, this album marks my first collaboration with the electro-rock mixing and mastering engineer Etienne Pelosoff. Etienne has really helped me improve the overall quality of the sound for the two singles, and he is currently working on the other songs of the 3rd album. I was a little bit disappointed by the sound I was getting from the previous albums, I thought that my songs could sound better somewhat. Besides working on the sound, Etienne also comes up with some ideas to enhance a song, but he is respectful of the overall song and the type of sound I wish to have. We always discuss a lot about each song, and I must say that I have been really happy about the two singles. I am sure he will do a great job for the other songs as well.
Then, the 3rd album contains shorter songs than the previous ones, as an attempt to be more straightforward and to the point. I wanted to try and show that feelings can be conveyed in short songs than the ones I had released previously.
What has been one of your most favorite memories along the path to making "War?"
For me, the part which is always great is to see the song building up. For “War”, the music and the lyrics came in parallel, because I wanted the music to follow the words and vice-versa. The other great memories were the first time I heard the master from Etienne Pelosoff, and then when I managed to create this striking lyric video, which, in my view at least, represents really well the song visually.
How does "War" fit into your overall artistic vision and what can listeners expect from you in the future?
“War” is the 2nd single extracted from the upcoming album from Jaime’s Tone. It is a heavy-oriented song, both from the standpoint of music genre, as well as from the lyrics point of view. “War” was written down before the current events in the Middle East. It refers mostly to the conflict in Ukraine, but talks more generally of how it feels to try and live in a time of war.
As usual with Jaime’s Tone, there are various types of songs in the upcoming album. The 1st single, “Take a Chance”, was more pop-rock oriented; the new one, “War”, has been described by some listeners as being closer to progressive metal -some even mention a punk influence! The band Rush is often cited as a reference.
The 3rd album includes various themes. I always like to reflect not only on what is going on in the world, but also how people may feel in front of a particular situation. This may lead to lyrics describing a context close to reality, or completely imaginary. I always try to convey feelings. There are softer songs, heavier songs, slower songs, faster songs… This represents the versatility of the music I compose and play. Still, there is always this kind of 80’s vibe and keyboard orientation that is the trademark of Jaime’s Tone!
Can you tell us more about you as an artist?
Jaime’s Tone is a studio project at the crossroad of 80’s pop rock, progressive rock and hard rock.
Jaime’s Tone was initiated in 2020 by Jacques M., a composer / songwriter / arranger from Paris, France. Jacques is attracted to progressive rock, hard rock, power metal and progressive metal, and also listens to classical music. He is particularly fond of such bands as Ayreon, The Neal Morse Band, Redemption, Threshold, as well as Kansas, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Alter Bridge, and Delain.
Jacques has been building his own home studio since 2019 and has been training with the latest music technology combined with some loving sounds from the past. He plays all instruments in Jaime’s Tone, and is its main vocalist, although he often invites guests to perform lead and background vocals.
Jaime’s Tone has already released two albums: “Futuristic Apocalypse” and “Alone in the City of Dreams”, as well as two singles from the upcoming 3rd album. “Take a Chance”, a pop-rock oriented song, received very positive reviews. The 2nd single, “War”, was released a few days ago. The preliminary comments focus on the energy of the song and the relation of the lyrics to the world context.
Can you walk us through your creative process when writing and composing music?
I just go on with musical ideas and then, most of the time, find lyrics to accompany the music. I am not attempting specifically to follow a specific musical path, but, eventually, when the songs take form, especially during the arrangement and production part, a kind of “cohesive musical identity” is there and is heard by the listeners when the songs are released. Still, “Take a Chance” and “War” are two examples of how far one song can be from another one, while still keeping the Jaime’s Tone’s trademark.
I am always trying to describe feelings that people may have in front of a given situation or context. “Speedy Lightning”, from the 2nd album, describes someone who wants to be first, whatever the cost. The song is about a race, but it could be translated into any other context. “Alone” is about people willing to meet someone, and tries to describe how frustrating this process may be. So, although each situation is different, and “War” is still in another context, I am always trying to describe people’s feelings.
I came up with the lyrics for “War” because I follow the world events and I am scared somewhat of the path we seem to be going into. The conflict in Ukraine has really resonated as a striking example of that evolution. There are also other conflicts that are more forgotten in the media. I wanted to try and make the listener perceive how a person could feel when disaster happens in life.
I am doing my best to learn and evolve from one album to the next. I am listening to the feedback I get from the audience, and I can feel I have evolved positively in terms of the way I compose songs, and the way I arrange and produce. I hope the 3rd album in its entirety will feel the same way to the listeners.