'Sketches Of Europa' Album Interview

The SoulJahm album 'Sketches Of Europa' started out as a bunch of recordings we made while travelling Europe between 2010 and 2014. This was not a holiday or typical backpacking adventure. We felt a call to Europe and went in search of people and settings that were more in tune with us than what was around us in Edinburgh, where nothing much had been happening for years.

With no plan, and no safety net, we ventured into the unknown and went wherever life took us. As it goes in "Walking Through A Postcard", the opening track on the 'Sketches' album... "I will go anywhere that you take me to".

First, instruments came (ukulele and melodica), then songs came, then recordings came. The recordings were intended as private sketches for us to come back to later and record properly. About half of them ended up released in one form or another. The only thing that didn't come were people and as the journey went on the weight got too much for the two of us to carry. I guess something had to give...

It wasn't until 2023 that the remaining recordings were finished and the 'Sketches Of Europa' album we always intended to put out got it's release. By that point, I was quite exhausted. So the album went out quietly without much promotion. This interview was intended for that time but the right time was this summer. Better late than never!