Frontiers Records is known for bringing together mega-talented artists and creating unique bands. The latest is Iconic, featuring Michael Sweet, Joel Hoekstra, Tommy Aldridge, Marco Mendoza, and powerhouse vocalist Nathan James. Nathan recently took the time to talk with me about this new band, his band Inglorious, and much more!
Please press the PLAY icon below for the MisplacedStraws Conversation with Nathan James –
On how Iconic was built – Well, first it was Serafino (Perugino) from Frontiers who basically said he wanted to build a project around myself, and then with Michael Sweet. So he said, “I wanna build the bond around yourself and Michael Sweet”, and then he said, “Joel would be a great fit”, and I obviously agreed. Then what happened was, after Michael Sweet and Joel were kind of involved, Serafino said, “Who would you like to be the band?” I said, “Well, it’d be amazing to have Marco Mendoza”, at the time he just finished with The Dead Daisies. I toured with The Dead Daisies in my own band Inglorious, it kind of would be a great fit. Then they came back to me and said, “Okay, cool. We’ve got Marco Mendoza and we’ve got Tommy Aldridge”. I couldn’t believe it. It took me a few days kind of process that he’d said “yes”. If I were to pick a band, it would be those guys, that is madness to me. 1:03
On his previous relationships with these band members – It was kind of all Serafino’s doing. It’s got nothing really to do with me. I’m describing this as kind of like his toy, his baby. It’s very much he’s doing. I met Marco on the Daisies tour, and toured with them a couple of times. I met Tommy Aldridge once, backstage in a Whitesnake show when I was like 24, probably very drunk. Had a picture with him. He was a super nice guy. Very, very sweet guy. So I’ve never worked with him, just met him, and then with Michael, actually met him on the Monsters of Rock Cruise. On that cruise, he did the most amazing thing, he leaned over the balcony while I was doing a Q & A with Don Jamison, and he said, in front of everyone, he pointed down and he said, “That’s the best singer on the whole ship”. I remember thinking, “Oh my gosh, that’s crazy”. It’s a huge compliment. What an amazing guy, so I got to hang out with him on the cruise and then I went and saw Stryper when I was over in Buenos Aires a couple of years ago, and just obsessed with him. I’ve always been obsessed with his voice, it’s just an Incredibly high, powerful voice. Also as a guitar player, which I think is really cool about the band, is that he’s really getting to just focus on that side of things. Guitar was his first thing, he said it many, many times that he considers himself a guitarist before a singer, which just think is amazing that you can be so great at two things. It’s obnoxious really. 3:05
On being able to blend his voice with Michael Sweet – We didn’t actually think of it like that. I think we just individually wanted to do the best we can, and then hope that that would be what was best for the song, which is what we did. So whenever we went into the studio, he gave a 100%, I gave 100%, and then it just came together and it worked. I’m so thrilled that it did. We didn’t hold back. I think also it wasn’t a competition, there’s no competition about it, it was very much a respect and an understanding that what the other one was gonna do was gonna be what’s right for the song. 5:16
On whether they recorded as a band or separately – Everyone recorded separately…but that’s kind of normal now. That is the normal way of doing it. So regardless, it would have been done that way. It kinda took the pressure off a bit, like getting to do it in your own time. I know Joel recorded most of his parts at home. So it gives you more time. It’s a relaxing experience. You’re not worrying. I would have been terrified singing any of these parts in the studio in front of Michael, so kinda cool that we just got to deliver everything individually, and then Alessandro (DelVecchio) glued it together and made it work for us, which is just an incredible talent. 6:03
On if he thinks having the band write the songs makes it a stronger record – Yeah, I definitely do. Why have all these incredible writers in the band and not have them write? It also makes us care more about the project. It’s less of a project, it’s something that we are fully invested in and that we believe in. So yeah, it makes perfect sense to do it that way. All of these guys have written such great songs before. Joel’s written some incredible music, and Michael has a history of writing great stuff, so it did make a lot of sense to have us write. I’m just honored that two of the songs that I co-wrote made the album, and one of them even got picked as a single by the record label so that’s super. From my point of view, as a fledgling writer, it’s quite an honor to be able to see my name on the back of the disc with those guys. 8:04
On David Coverdale and Whitesnake – I’m hugely influenced by him. That’s safe to say. I don’t think I particularly sound like him, I don’t think I remember trying to do an impression of him, which some people do, and that’s fine, he’s one of the great singers all the time, If you’re gonna impersonate anyone, it should be him. I was very conscious on this (record) about not sending too much like him falling into the trap of sounding like him, which is very easy to do. So there might be a couple of moments on there. I know there’s a couple of ad-libs on there. But it just happens, it’s just a natural when they are playing a bluesy riff, you do feel that. So yeah, I was kind of conscious about not doing an impression, but also he’s one of my biggest inspirations. The last song, “Enough of Your Love”, when I was writing the lyrics and the melody, I was thinking, “What would David do?” because it’s the bluesy Whitesnake shuffle, that exact same feel that you would have heard on 70s Whitesnake album. I remember thinking it’s got to be in that vein because it’s the blues and he sings the blues. 9:32
On the fact that he doesn’t sound like any other singer – That’s a huge compliment because it’s something I’m very conscious of. I think there’s quite a few people who sound so much like someone else before, which there is nothing wrong with, but I’m not trying to be unique. It’s not like I’m actively going, “I have to be my own thing”, it does just happen, I do sing that way, and my most important thing as a singer is about having versatility. So being able to do all those things, when it gets to a ballad on the album, I wanna have a sweet palette to play where I wanna be able to bring the list they’re in rather than it being the same the whole way through, I want dynamic, I want to keep my technical ability so it’s interesting for the listener. 11:30
On the track that best sums up Iconic – I’d pick track three, which is “Second Skin”. It’s heavy riffs, it’s big vocals, it’s me and Michael splitting, it’s dual guitars, it is all of that stuff. It’s hard to pick a song like that because it’s a very meandering album, there is high and there are lows, and there’s soft moments, and there’s really metal moments, there’s really melodic moments. To me, it’s what I would consider to be a perfect structured album. The structure of the album is fantastic, there’s something on there for everyone, and you can listen from the beginning to the end and not feel like you’ve heard the same thing twice, which is very hard to come by now. 12:42
On Inglorious – We’re keeping busy, we just started writing the next record and we are about to announce a UK tour for later on this year. Obviously, we wanna travel more places and get out there, but it’s still so tough with the pandemic, the logistics just aren’t there yet to make it work. So hopefully next year we do a bit more traveling, but yeah, festival season this summer, doing quite a lot of festivals here in the UK, then we head out on tour and release the new album. I’m looking at doing an acoustic album as well, just trying to try to keep busy. 14:57
On the future of Iconic – I have already signed the option for a second album. So if Frontiers says we want a second album, I have to do it, I’m signed to do it. I’m keen to do it, I’m keen to get out there and do it live, that would be amazing. But it’s scheduling. Two guys are on tour with Whitesnake on their final tour, Michael’s on tour with Stryper now, Marco is on tour in Europe, the same thing, and I’ve got my band. So it is tricky, logistics, very treaty to put together. But the best way that I can see it happening is if the album is a success, so the album has to sell in order for the label to go, “Oh, maybe it’s worth us doing at tour or doing a date or headlining the Frontiers Festival, doing the Monsters of Rock Cruise”, whatever it may be, that maybe that live element to this amazing band would be the success of this album, it has to sell units. Otherwise, it won’t tour. 16:06
On if they played live – It’d be so much fun and pick a setlist. Obviously, we’ve only got 11 songs of our own. We’d have to pick from people’s back catalogs and previous resumes, which would be just so much fun, I think, the live element. To see Michael Sweet and me singing Whitesnake songs or me singing a Stryper song, or whatever it might be, it would be really cool. 17:37
