Singer-songwriter Jamie Miller is “really excited to come over” to the Philippines and is planning to visit sometime in February next year, once the pandemic situation has improved.
“I’m really excited to come over. I feel like with this COVID-19 (situation) right now, it’s making this a little bit difficult. But the minute COVID-19 is out… me and my team have been talking, I wanna come over, fingers crossed in February,” he said in a virtual exclusive interview with The STAR.
“I wanna do shows in the Philippines and see what the fuss is all about. I know the food is incredible there. The landscape is something that I really wanna check out. I’m just really, really excited,” he added.
Jamie, the artist behind the hit single Here’s Your Perfect, also praised talented Filipino artists, particularly citing Morissette Amon. “I was a huge fan of Morissette before she found me. I think there’s a few that I’m still getting to know… I would say one thing, I feel like everybody in the Philippines has an angel voice. I feel like they are the best singers in the world. It’s crazy.”
Last month, Jamie and Morissette performed Here’s Your Perfect on a virtual stage for ASAP Natin ‘To. The latter caught the attention of the Welsh singer when she did a cover of his songs. Fans suggested the collaboration and so it happened.
“I cannot wait to come out, my Filipino fans and friends. I don’t wanna call you fans ‘cause I see you guys as my family. I love you and I cannot wait to come out, play shows for you and hug you in person. I want you all to be my tour guide. I wanna go out and experience the Philippines with you. I really do. I cannot wait to come out there,” Jamie reiterated.
The 24-year-old singer was born in Cardiff, Wales. He joined The Voice UK in 2017 and placed third.
Following his stint at the singing competition, he moved to Los Angeles after signing a deal with Atlantic Records and is currently working on a debut album.
His other tracks include City That Never Sleeps, Onto Something, Hold You ‘Til We’re Old and Running Out of Roses (with Alan Walker).
In his heartbreak anthem Here’s Your Perfect, he opens up on a certain part of his life. “That’s the chapter that I need to disclose. I went through a breakup, unfortunately. I feel like it was one of the situations where I was like, if I don’t write the song, I’ll never gonna be able to move on.”
Jamie furthered, “I don’t wanna change any parts of myself for someone to love me. I was like, if I need to let you go then… that was the inspiration behind the song.”
That song has changed his life “in so many different ways.” “It got me exposure to the right people… It got me millions of fans. I got over two million followers from 800,000 followers on TikTok. My social media growth was over like a million followers and I feel like that song means so much to me. That aside, I was just happy to put that out and to the world,” he shared.
Music has become a therapy for him after that heartbreak experience. “It was definitely therapeutic. I would say, it was also scary to be vulnerable. But then at the end of the day, that’s what music is all about. I don’t wanna keep going on and not being able to be honest with myself. Again, I wrote the song to let that part of my life be a memory. I was very proud of what I came out with.”
On his first single City That Never Sleeps, he found it kind of weird to debut in the middle of a pandemic. “I feel like debuting when the whole world is shutting down is not the ideal way to go about it. But I would also say that I learned a lot about myself. I didn’t have time to really be one with myself. I was forced at that time to find out what I wanted to say, who I wanted to be and I engaged with fans.”
Nonetheless, his love for music has kept him going during this time of pandemic and of course, the fans. “The fans really made me feel so special this time — so seen, so heard, and so loved that I was like there’s no way that I’m giving up and letting this slide. I feel like the fans made me feel so incredible throughout this hard time…It was a ‘wake me up’ moment that people are out there and love me for me.”
There was also a time when he thought of quitting music. “For a long time, I had this struggle of like, ‘Am I gonna be enough for people to listen to? Am I gonna ever be enough for people to come to the show?’ I feel like every artist has that scare and thought in mind. But I feel like I’ve been lucky,” he admitted.
“People like Shawn Mendes, Kelly Clarkson and Camila Cabello, they’ve all followed me and they’re really good people that I really look up to. James Arthur (sends me a) message now. ‘Wow,’ these are the people that I’ve looked up to for so long and to get that recognition by them, I was just like, ‘Wow,’ I feel like I’m doing it… It’s crazy.”
His piece of advice to aspiring artists is to “keep going.”
“No one is gonna believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself. Post every day. Be consistent. Put on music that you want to put out. And just know that there is more to life than the street you grew up on. You’ll be able to get there if you believe because you’re the only person who’s gonna get in your own way,” he shared.
He hopes to inspire people with his music, as well. “I wanna go out and just make sure that my music is touching everybody, from every corner of the world. I just wanna be that person of hope and love and light.”
Jamie will soon start his American tour with Jesse McCartney. He is also working on an album which will be released in the middle of next year. “You’ll expect real stories, big Jamie notes and some cool collaborations, for sure,” he said of the upcoming album.