All about this artist
Biography:
Born Jamie Treays, 8 January 1986, Hammersmith, London, England. Treays began playing music after saving for a bass guitar and joining a local punk band. The foray into band life proved positive in terms of the fact that he knew that the solo artist route was the way for him.
Staying with the bass, although this time using an acoustic version, Treays spent many hours in his late teens in Wimbledon, and then coming home to record his observations of the night out. Treays spent many hours in his bedroom working with an Apple Mac computer and software programmes usually used for dance music.
Around this time, Treays was spending too much time partying, which resulted in him suffering from panic attacks; music was the best way of calming the attacks down, in particular listening to the Beastie Boys, the Clash, and Billy Bragg.
With such an eclectic taste, combined with using unconventional equipment and techniques, Treays created a ragamuffin twist on the storytelling folk genre. After gaining a huge following on Myspace, Treays released his first EP, Betty And The Selfish Sons, on his newly formed Pacemaker Records label in March 2006.
The cacophony of sounds jarring against each other combined to great effect with lyrics of life on the periphery of an urban jungle. Low-key gigs followed along with a major label recording contract with Virgin Records, although Treays stayed true to his roots by producing mixtapes for his fans, showcasing his diverse musical taste.
With a major label behind him, and some of the UK's most famous DJs waxing lyrical about this new talent, Treays spent the rest of 2006 releasing EPs, and recording his debut album. Released in January 2007, Panic Prevention demonstrated Treays' eclectic musical style, taking in ska, lo-fi folk and drum 'n' bass, alongside more gritty tales of drunken nights and drunken fights.
