Jared James Nichols – "It feels like the amp's about to explode!"

The blues rock power of Jared James Nichols, a man of many Les Pauls...

- By Ellie Rogers

Nothing can slow down the Les Paul-loving blues-rock force of nature that is Jared James Nichols - not even a freak accident caused by picking up a road case “the wrong way” that left him with a broken right arm, now held together by 16 screws and a metal plate. “It’s pretty raw and there’s a lot of bumps and bruises,” he tells us - referring not to his recent injury, but to his self-titled third LP, which is released in January.

What was your sonic mission for this album? I base everything I do off of the energy of live performance. People were starting to come up to me at shows and say, ‘Man, the show was awesome - you sound so much better live than you do on your records!’ That echoed in my head and I was thinking about how to get the energy across. Everything was cut to tape in an old school way - there was no tuner, no metronome, and the only overdubs were vocals and about three guitar parts.

What’s your favourite moment of tone on the record? I’m super proud of Easy Come, Easy Go because it’s got this really cool fuzzed-out guitar sound. I remember being in the studio and playing through this ’69 Marshall Super Lead turned all the way up, and using a Klon. I’d kneel in front of the amp to get feedback, and if you listen to that solo, it almost feels like the amp’s about to explode!