James McKean profile picture

James McKean

About Me

James sings for The 'A' Train, a five piece indie rock band, with rootsy and electro leanings. Formed in Oxford, and based in London, they create music that is both measured and alive; reflective but forward-looking. Their collective vision is both singular and populist. There’s no wish to pander but a definite desire to connect.
It resounds through the glorious, sophisticated pop of Another Day Closer, and in the ennui of The Painter; the battered souls in Advantages and Cinematic, and the lonely girl in Why Would He Leave?; the sense in Black And White Memories and Somewhere Near The End Of The World that time is moving faster than you want it to. Motion, restlessness, and emotion. Its time to get on board.
“Special... A band worth keeping tabs on.” BBC
“…easily the best unsigned band I have ever heard.” Up All Night
“They glow with passion, ambition and musical confidence,” The Mag
"Very interesting...Go see!" Nightshift Magazine
“Accomplished...polished...clever...like Dylan in full electric flight.” Russell's Reviews
“Remarkably polished, joyously unabashed pop music. Keep an eye on them.” The Acrylic Tom Tom
“Utterly enthralling...” Subba Cultcha
Buy 93 Feet High And Rising Tickets

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 23/01/2006
Band Website: www.monkeyrope.co.uk
Influences: CJ Lewis, Montell Jordan, Diana King, Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, Mark Morrison, Ini Kamoze, K7, Snow, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Apache Indian, Red Dragon, Eternal...
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

The Mag review

Stuart from The Mag has reviewed some of our latest recordings (all of which are up on the music player on our page at www.myspace.com/theatrainmusic). He reckons " this is a full-grown Eureka m...
Posted by on Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:45:00 GMT

In The Stillness Of The Night and Hard to Pretend

I've just uploaded a new song called called In The Stillness Of The Night. I wrote it late last year, but only recently got round to recording it. Dan and Yo Zushi both contributed to the recording. ...
Posted by on Thu, 29 May 2008 04:25:00 GMT

He’s Not Right For You (I Am)

I think I wrote 'He's Not Right For You (I Am) sometime in December, and recorded it pretty much immediately. It was a title I'd had floating around in my head for ages. I think musically I was aiming...
Posted by on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:51:00 GMT

(Silver Threads) Into The Gold

Here's another new(ish) song. Written a couple of months back. Inspired in part by Nick Tosches' fascinating book Where Dead Voices Gather... Its a fairly basic recording, with the rather dubious deli...
Posted by on Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:53:00 GMT

The Life You Save

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. There's a new song called The Life You Save on my page. Written yesterday, recorded today. I took down Still In Tune With You. If anyone wants the mp3, then ask me.
Posted by on Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Come Hell Or High Water

Having not changed any of my profile songs for a million years, I'm going to try to change them pretty regularly now I've got a bit of a demo backlog. So anyway I've uploaded a new song, called Come H...
Posted by on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 02:57:00 GMT

New demos up

This is the first time I've logged on here in months. Dan and I have been recording quite a lot over the past few months, and I've written a lot of songs. I thought I'd upload some. They're fairly bas...
Posted by on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:42:00 GMT

New songs

Having finally got over the uber-strength cold / flu followed by chest infection double whammy, I can now sing again. I celebrated by recommencing work on a Hawley / Zushi-esque rockabilly n...
Posted by on Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:29:00 GMT

Arsenal 2007-8

So, after a fairly successful pre-season, the new season begins on Sunday at home against Fulham... In a whole lot of ways we're in pretty good shape. But there are still questions marks. We've streng...
Posted by on Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:14:00 GMT

Somewhere Near The End Of The World

I've up-loaded the demo of this onto my music player' its a pretty basic home demo, and the vocal is not the best, but, hey ... I hope you like it. The song title is too long for Myspace, so poo poo t...
Posted by on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 08:34:00 GMT