the pop sucker talks to: graffiti6

jamie scott is resting at home in the u.k. waiting for my call. he's tired, and it's no wonder. scott is the lead singer of graffiti6, a duo who -- in a very short time -- has generated some of the most exciting buzz all year. on the early july day i spoke with him, the band had just done the first show of their tour in london. "it was really wicked," says jamie. "the crowd was buzzed. we're mastering the album tomorrow. i'm psyched." between the first leg of a u.k. tour, the release of their new single "annie you save me," and their debut album colours, 2010 is set to be the year of graffiti6. 

it's quite an auspicious beginning for a band still in its infancy. it was only 18 months ago, in early 2009, that scott met producer/writer/dj tommyd, an established name in the music biz, having previously worked with such heavyweights as jay-z and kanye and producing the early '90s #1 hit "i'm too sexy" by right said fred.

"tommy was introduced to me to write with, and experiment with a bit left of center," jamie says. (scott was previously signed to universal, which released an acoustic/folk album that got some play on bbc's radio 1.) "in that first session we got 'stare into the sun,' and we thought, 'we got something pretty cool here.'" that song, a psychedelic soul-infused pop number, was quickly picked up by the british newspaper the sun as its theme to a promotional tv campaign last summer. but the duo had no intention to rush out and find a label. they wanted to adopt a "let's see what happens" attitude, and discover the unique sounds that were birthed from their writing process.

"it's weird when you just click with another musician that you write really well with," jamie says. "the sound we got is just the two of us playing together ... we just jammed." scott, who grew up listening to crosby, stills, nash and young, joni mitchell, and tim buckley, says his melodies point to folk. tommy, he says, is the "fun rock guy" who likes hendrix, but also dj'ed house music for many years. those individual influences, along with an in-common appreciation of soul and r&b, are fused together in an amalgamation that becomes the graffiti6 sound. and their feel-good music is a nice change-of-pace for scott.

"i wrote a lot of harsh stuff [for my solo work]," jamie says. "i'm really loving graffiti6. it makes me feel happy as a person. it's pure energy." (scott's solo work is on the back burner right now, he says. "graffiti6 is definitely rocking my world.")

so despite initial reluctance, they're riding the wave of their newfound fame and praise. earlier this year, they released a 4-track ep, stone in my heart, and their single "annie you saved me" premiered yesterday. (read the pop sucker's original post and watch the video for "annie" here.) with their debut album scheduled to come out later this year or early next year, the stage has been set for what could be this century's british invasion -- with graffiti6 leading the way.

"i'm happy and glad it worked out [this] way," jamie says. "because of the internet, we have a good chance of more people hearing our music. the more people to hear it, the better. [and] we were number one on the hype machine! the fact that people in america are hearing our music makes me and tom feel so wicked."

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purchase the new single "annie you save me" featuring the so called scumbags remix and three other mixes here.

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Graffiti6 - Annie You Save Me - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

Graffiti6 - Annie You Save Me (So Called Scumbags Remix) - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker