Jamie Alexander Treays (born 8 January 1986), better known by his stage name Jamie T, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, guitarist and record producer from Wimbledon,

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

. Jamie T released his debut album, '' Panic Prevention'', in 2007, with his second studio album, '' Kings and Queens'', arriving in 2009. In 2014, Jamie released his third studio album, '' Carry on the Grudge'', followed by a fourth studio album, '' Trick'', in 2016. In 2018, he released ''B Sides (06-17)'', which was a compilation album of B-Sides from 2006 to 2017. He released his fifth studio album, '' The Theory of Whatever'', in July 2022.

Early life and education

Jamie T was born Jamie Alexander Treays in Wimbledon, South London on 8 January 1986. He was privately educated at Reed's School leaving at 16 to study at a local sixth form college. Whilst growing up, Jamie suffered from panic attacks, hence the name of his debut album, '' Panic Prevention''.

Career

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reed Lowe (born 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence through pr ...

made "Salvador" his single of the week and "Back in the Game" his Hottest Record in the World. On John Tweddle's show, "Back in the Game" featured as his "Pet Sound" and his single "Sheila" was Jo Whiley's Record of the Week. "Sheila" was also

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player, either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs that can be played once or in a loop. ...

ed by

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

thus receiving more airtime across all shows. "Sheila" was released on 29 July 2006. Two videos were made for the song; the first video in 2006 consisted of monkeys living in a house and short clips of Jamie singing, while the second video in 2007 features actor Bob Hoskins walking along the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

lip synching to the lyrics. On 16 October 2006, Jamie released his

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

ic tune, "If You Got the Money" which reached No. 13 in the charts. His next single " Calm Down Dearest" was released in the UK on 15 January 2007 and reached No. 9, his first top 10 hit.

''Panic Prevention'' (2007)

His debut album '' Panic Prevention'' was then released on 29 January 2007. Lily Allen provided backing vocals on the song "Rawhide" the B-side to the re-release of "Sheila" on 7 May 2007. He performed on the Main Stage on 19 May 2007 in Preston for Radio 1's Big Weekend. He also performed at Glastonbury 2007, Benicàssim 2007, Oxegen 2007 (8 July) where he performed at the green room, and Carling Weekend Leeds 2007. He played the 2008

V Festival V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

at the JJB Champion ARENA. In September 2007, Jamie T did a US tour and made his US television debut on '' Last Call with Carson Daly'' performing "Sheila". He also did an iTunes Session EP.

"Fire Fire" and "Sticks 'n' Stones" (2009)

On 12 January 2009, a music video appeared on Jamie's website for a new song, "Fire Fire", which he explained would not be released as a single nor would it be on the new album. 21 May 2009 saw the release of the official video for his single " Sticks 'n' Stones". On 29 June 2009, Jamie released "Sticks 'n' Stones", the first single from his second album '' Kings and Queens'', as an extended play with three other tracks, "St. Christopher", "On the Green" and "The Dance of the Young Professionals". "Sticks 'n' Stones" reached No. 15 in the UK singles chart. The song also reached number 14 for 2009 songs on the annual Triple J Hottest 100.

''Chaka Demus'' EP (2009)

On 31 August 2009, he released a further EP, the " Chaka Demus EP" which includes the second single taken from ''Kings & Queens'', also called "Chaka Demus". This features three other songs: "Forget Me Not (The Love I Knew Before I Grew)", "Planning Spontaneity" and "When They Are Gone (For Tim)".

''Kings and Queens (2009)

A week later, on 7 September, second album '' Kings and Queens'' was released. This features 11 tracks (plus bonus track "The Curious Sound" featuring Ben Bones, when downloaded from iTunes). Jamie has said that his favourite song in this album is "Emily's Heart" because it reminds him of Emily Evans (a former girlfriend.) Talking about ''Kings & Queens'', Jamie said "I didn't do my second album. I did my third one instead." '' Kings & Queens'' reached No. 2 in the UK Albums chart. After its release

, on his BBC Radio 1 show, declared ''Kings & Queens'' his favourite album of 2009, describing the album as "a brilliant, poignant, incredible observational record" and "flawless". On 25 September 2009, Jamie cancelled his Australian tour, due to laryngitis. Six days later, he postponed the first six shows of his sellout UK tour. A week later, however, Jamie cancelled the entire UK and European tours. A statement on his website informs that all Australia, UK and Europe scheduled shows were cancelled and since then, all three tours were rescheduled.

''The Man's Machine'' (2009)

On 26 October, Jamie announced he would be releasing a third EP from the album, ''The Man's Machine''. The four-track EP will consist of "The Man's Machine", "Jenny Can Rely on Me", "Man Not a Monster" and "Believing in Things That Can't Be Done". ''The Man's Machine'' EP was released on CD and 12" vinyl on 23 November 2009. A re-recorded version of "Emily's Heart" premiered as

's Hottest Record In The World on 19 January 2010, and it was confirmed as the next single, with a cover of

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

's "Atlantic City" serving as the B-side. It was released on 15 March. On 24 June 2010, Jamie T performed material from the ''Kings & Queens'' album at the Engine Shed in Lincoln as a warm-up to his tour. A day later he played the 02 Academy in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He then headlined the John Peel Stage at

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

on 26 June 2010.

''Carry on the Grudge'' and ''Magnolia Melancholia'' EP (2014–15)

Jamie T played his first gigs for four years in July 2014 at in Glasgow, Liverpool and Portsmouth. Around the same time a new single, "Don't You Find", made its debut on BBC Radio 1, chosen by Zane Lowe as his "Hottest Record in the World". In September 2014 his third album, entitled '' Carry on the Grudge'', was released. In April 2015, Jamie T released the EP ''Magnolia Melancholia'', which features the album track 'Don't You Find' and five new tracks. He performed at

on 28 June on the 'Other Stage'. He supported Blur for their short Australian tour in July 2015, with dates in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, as well as playing at Splendour in the Grass on 26 July. He also played various other festivals such as T in the Park and Melt! Festival before wrapping up the '' Carry on the Grudge'' tour at

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...

on 30 August.

''Trick'' (2016–2021)

In July 2016 it was announced that the new album '' Trick'' was slated for a 2 September release. The 12-track album was recorded in London and Detroit and preceded by the single "Tinfoil Boy". A UK tour in September and October followed the release, including three dates at

Brixton Academy Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Lon ...

''The Theory of Whatever'' (2022–present)

On 27 April, Jamie T announced his new album '' The Theory of Whatever'' and that it would release on 22 July 2022. it was preceded by the singles ''The Old Style Raiders, St. George Wharf Tower'' and ''Between the Rocks''. ''The Theory of Whatever'' became Jamie's first number-one album.

Awards

Jamie T won the ''Best Solo Artist'' at the 2007 Shockwave NME Awards. On 17 July 2007, Jamie T's debut album '' Panic Prevention'' was shortlisted as one of the 12 nominees for the

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

. ''Panic Prevention'' was often included in the 'best albums of the decade' lists, including: No. 13 out of 50 in ''Observer Music Monthly'' and No. 53 out of 100 in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

''. He won the Best Solo Artist award at the 2007 and 2010 NME Awards. In 2015 he was awarded a further three accolades by NME, including Best Song for "Zombie".

Artistry

Musical style

He has been nicknamed "one man Arctic Monkey". ''Canvas'' magazine has described him as "like the bastard lovechild of

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

and Mike Skinner doing his best

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British musician. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, and lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, formed in 1976. The Clash' ...

impression".

Discography

*'' Panic Prevention'' (2007) *'' Kings & Queens'' (2009) *'' Carry on the Grudge'' (2014) *'' Trick'' (2016) *'' The Theory of Whatever'' (2022)

References

External links

*
Jamie T's official websiteJamie T's live performance at The CurrentJamie T on The Lana Show
{{DEFAULTSORT:T, Jamie 1986 births Living people English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English record producers Rappers from the London Borough of Merton Musicians from Wimbledon, London People educated at Reed's School People educated at Hall School Wimbledon NME Awards winners Alumni of Richmond upon Thames College 21st-century English singers 21st-century English male singers Singers from the London Borough of Merton