(INTERVIEW) Jay Stolar: 29 October 2013

Jay Stolar is a soul singer with an arsenal of heart gripping songs. His live performances hark back to the early days of R&B, when it was an artist’s job to connect to every person in the room.

Jay is on tour following the release of his first album, More Than We Think.

Of course we had to get all the details from Jay himself! We had a great chat with the in-demand up and comer! Check out what he had to say about the show, his new album and his dream lineup!

How excited are you to be playing in Atlanta?! Have you played here before?

I love hanging out in Atlanta! I’ve played there a couple times. I played recently at Vinyl with Charlene Kaye and Alexz Johnson. It was a great show and a great audience. Everyone was super amped up and really proud to live in Atlanta [laughs].

You sing, you write songs and you play several instruments. What came first?

I started playing piano when I was three or four. I remember writing my first song in third grade. When I really started singing I was about nine years old and there was a play at school and that was the first time I sang in front of a large group of people. Around 12 or 13 I was writing songs and playing guitar, while still keeping up with piano. In the last few years, I’ve taken up bass.

You produced your debut album which was released a few weeks ago. How did you begin producing?

Production came into play when some of the people I was writing songs for needed albums. I told them, ‘I think I can produce this album. Why don’t you give me a shot?’ I did a couple of them and when it came time to produce my album, I thought I would give it a shot too, and it worked!

What does this album mean to you?

This record for me is life changing. Before I was in a band and I was at a point where I felt like something needed to shift. I spent a year and a half writing all these songs and not really sharing them with anyone. As I put them out, a lot started to happen. The people who I work with and write with, my managers and everyone are just really good people and they are really excited about the music. We’re all really excited!

What has been your most memorable show thus far?

There was a show in Chicago last August and the room must have held 250 people and there were 300 people in it. There was complete energy. Every single person was singing or screaming. It was the most connected audience I think I’ve ever played for. It was earth-shattering; it was an amazing experience playing for those people.

What would be your dream gig?

I would want to play at Madison Square Garden with Paul McCartney, Prince and maybe Radiohead would play after that just to change it up. I’ve become really into Trombone Shorty. So it would be Trombone Shorty, me, Paul McCartney, Prince and Radio Head playing a sold out show at Madison Square Garden.

What artists/bands do you normally listen to?

It changes a lot depending on what is going on in my life. I’m really into the new Daft Punk album. I’m always listening to older stuff like The Beatles, Michael Jackson and Prince. I’m really into this band called Haim. I saw them at the Governor’s Ball recently and they’re really amazing. They’re three sisters and they write really great songs and play them really well. They put on a killer show when I saw them.

What plans do have in store for us?

We’re going on a big national tour. Until then, we’ll be making videos and recording some news songs to have after the album comes out and just writing music