With Sword and Shield

The fact that Jim never had a plan B is the exact reason his music is so good. You can literally feel the drive and passion for what he does permeate through every aspect of his work. His commitment to music is absolutely contagious and is one of the reasons why his music is so captivating to those who listen to it. The dedication that Jim brings to the albums he writes is just serendipitous in every sense of the word. You never know what’s going to happen when you begin a Jim Guthrie album, but you always know it’s going to be a journey — one that you are glad you took part in when it's all said and done. The pure authenticity and courage that he delivers with every project he releases absolutely resonates from out of the tones, it truly encapsulates who he is as a person and I love it. Jim has this way of evoking a sense of belonging, and truth through his compositions that, in my mind, helps to elevate what he does to a totally new level. Throughout all of his eclectic music, and lo-fi fuzz, there's one thing Jim never ceases to deliver on and that is his unadulterated muse. Like an extension of himself, Jim reaches out to us, the listeners, through sonic tendrils that completely wrap you up and embrace you within his own soft and melodic world of notes. Jim Guthrie is a master of melancholy riffs and transcends the material world to give us all a gift that can never truly be described. Jim has always had a way with his music that totally displaces you from time and space and Below evokes that experience in spades. From his lo-fi early days to his indie rock masterpieces, the one thing that has remained constant in everything Jim does is his contagious love for music. I just had to know what games or soundtracks if any that resonated with him, and helped influence his sound.

"It’s so hard to say. I didn’t actually play a lot of games growing up. I had an Atari and maybe an NES but…. I can’t even remember if it was mine or I played at my friend’s house? So I definitely love the Mario jams but I wouldn’t say it’s an influence. I then got a PS1 for free years after it came out and loved Abe’s Odyssey and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater among others but it wasn’t a huge passion — just fun. Although I remember playing the first Silent Hill and being pretty blown away! All this to say, I don’t have any real magical moments with games growing up but I do love their potential. As for movie soundtracks, I was always drawn to 70s and 80s horror movies. I also have a huge memory of seeing the movie Amadeus in theatres when I was a kid and that blew me away. I love classical music even though I can’t read or write music. I think that makes me love it more? But yeah, I’ve never obsessed over too much. I’ve always tried to keep moving and listen to new things because even after all these years I still get goosebumps when I hear a good song."