James Cook is a man who puts every fibre of heart and soul into his music, without question.  Currently resides in Berlin, as he has for the last three years, I had to ask about his perception of London and how it reflects his music. As we sat in Convent Garden his response was accentuated by constant interruption in one of the most intense area’s in London:

When Cook moved to Berlin there was an obvious change in the mood of his songwriting.  The busy, pop-electro of Nemo gave way to picturesque string-based melodies in The Dollhouse and more presently, on new record Art’s & Sciences. This change is partially the result of the involvement of Anne Marie Kirby: a close friend who composes the string arrangements and does an overwhelming job of it to say the least.  When I bring up their working relationship, James explains simply: “She’s one of my oldest and best friends and I don’t often have to make much suggestion, she always gets what I need.”

At this stage Cook had to run a small but unusual errand. Shortly after I was introduced to the talented Ms Kirby, she performed in the string quartet Oopsie Mamushka, in the famous Convent Garden Square.  And whilst I basked in the flawless talents of the classical band, James circled the room for collections. Once the band had taken their final bows and soaked in the applause that echoed through the room, I recollected myself from the amazing interlude and we briefly had a wander in search of a quieter location.  After realising that would be hard pickings on a Friday night, we settled in the Savoy and I got down to the shameless question that I was eager to ask: What do you think of The Velvet Onion?

© BonMag!

“I think it’s great,” he enthused. “I think there’s not enough talking about the Boosh world. It’s a very big and interesting world and I think that in years to come people will look back and see it as a very important scene because most of the people around it are all amazing and talented in their own right. In the future everyone’s going to go on to great things, so I think it’s important to document it such a huge pool of talent.”

Cook’s involvement in the Booshniverse goes back a long way, before any television or radio episodes after being introduced to Dee Plume and Sue Denim with whom he shared a manager. With that, came an introduction to Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt (with whom he and Anne Marie shared a flat for 3 years) and then-Sneaker Pimps front man, Chris Corner. James still works closely with Chris in the production of his albums:

The collaborations continued, with Corner remixing a selection Nemo songs and in exchange, James provided a cover of the IAMX song Running for the recent reworks album Dogmatic Infidel Comedown.  Though, covers is a somewhat distasteful word in James’ vocabulary, as he tells me of having to decline his nan’s request for him and his cousin to sing Danny Boy for her!  “For me it just can’t be a straight cover.  It has to have my style on it”. To this end, we can look forward to a Jacques Brel interpretation, translated by Cook himself on his second solo album!

© Chris Corner/James Cook (Taken from ‘Face to Face’ music video)

“I remember when I was a kid,” he explains, “and people used to do cassette copies of albums.  I had loads!  If I really liked an album, I’d go buy it.  I don’t like it when they just give you a little snippet of a song. It’s a question of whether you want people to hear your song and like it or not listen to it at all.”