About
Ben's Brother is London-born Jamie Hartman.
Rewind // 2007: His debut album Beta Male Fairytales was an out of the box success, with the whole country embracing Jamie’s heartfelt vocal and lyrical delivery. In the UK, the album went Gold, with the respective singles earning top 10 airplay positions and a prestigious Ivor Novello nomination (only losing out to Amy Winehouse).
With his trademark look and engaging personality, Jamie led his band through sell out tours at home, and major festival stages around Europe, picking up fans in the US on the back of a major TV ad, and top 10 hits in countries across Europe and South America.
Fast Forward // 2009: All change: markets crashing, house prices plummeting, jobs lost and for some, record labels came and went. ‘Battling Giants’, Jamie’s new album, released via his own imprint, Flat Cap Records, is a personal snapshot of these changing times. After the massive changes at the beleaguered record company EMI, Jamie is an integral part of the album release this time around. “I suppose the theme of this album is about that sense of adversity… being the little guy again, squaring up to the monster.”
Jamie (real-life brother to the titular Ben) is keen to point out that the new album is “a lot more optimistic this time around too, and I think you can hear that when you listen to Battling Giants. To be honest, I’m just in a better mood this year!’ The lyrical focus and depth prevalent on Beta Male Fairytales is combined with a “sense of optimism that pervades ‘Battling Giants'. This upbeat mood is enhanced by the appearance of special guests Jason Mraz and Joss Stone.
Jamie on Jason // Battling Giants ”He loved the title track from the album, Battling Giants, so recorded some parts for me. His vocal harmonies were perfect, and really helped lift the song to a higher level.”
Jamie on Joss // Stalemate “...I nearly fell off my chair when she said she loved the song and wanted to sing it...with that wonderfully individual voice of hers. I’m immensely proud of how it turned out.”
Jamie’s lyrical prowess attracted further collaborations. The first single ‘Apologise’ was written with Natalie Imbruglia. “The lyric is pretty self explanatory from my point of view – just say sorry for once so that I can forgive you. I think it meant something else to Natalie, but that’s the beauty of songwriting, the best ideas come from what’s going on in your world at that given moment.”
That notion of writing about life experience resonates throughout the album, from the nagging self doubt of ‘What if I,’ through the resignation of ‘Bitter End’ to the joyful release of ‘She Is Love.’
“I didn’t know it when I wrote it, but ‘Battling Giants’ became the most relevant song on the new record. It now reflects where I am, making my own record the way I always wanted to – with amazing people I admire – and putting it out on my own label. I’m going my own way. Like a lot of people in the world, I’m facing a 2009 which poses as many questions as answers – with so much change in the music business and the world in general. But I’m also strangely happy and excited about it – and what’s more I just know I’m doing the right thing.” He muses, “We’re all battling giants now, and I can’t wait to take the world on!”
