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“Visuals are absolutely fire!” — Neptis

“I was fed up with all the negative and toxic things in my life,” James Flow recalls on the six-track May 2018 release. “I decided to make a change.”

Making decisions and following through is something of a mantra for the Toronto-area artist.

“It was throughout all the changes I was making and the constant ‘letting go’ of things that didn’t help me that I created OverFlow,” he shares. “It was while meeting and working with producer Ovrthro that the name of the album came about. We really tried to match each others’ energy when it came to the music.”

Energy plays a vital role in James Flow’s multi-faceted artistry.

A jack-of-all-trades with a ‘golden touch’ when it comes to creative endeavours, James Flow sits comfortably in the driver’s seat of his songwriting, recording, sound engineering, photography, videography, video directing, and then some.

“Being an artist my whole life, I had no choice but to see things differently,” shares the word maestro and young philosopher. “I used to think it was selfish to take my own time as a priority over other things, but I realized around 12 years old, you gotta make time for yourself in order to enjoy your time with others.

“You realize, you must prioritize yourself unless you’re okay with finishing last.”

Finishing last is not an option for James Flow, a message he displays loud and clear in his newly minted video for his new single, aptly called “No Time.”

“That’s the point,” James Flow shares on the cinematic treatment. “You can’t complain when you finish last if you’re wasting time or not prioritizing it. People don’t have to understand your priorities, but you better make sure they respect them and your time.”

It was along the lines of time wasted by way of a disappointing video commission that first prompted James Flow to roll up his sleeves and learn how to add director and videographer to his growing creative CV.

“After feeling frustrated with the result of a music video done for me, which ended up not being released, I forced myself to watch videos on how to edit and film in the last two weeks of summer before starting a course on it that upcoming semester,” he shares. “I come to find out, what I learned in those two weeks was everything I’d be taught over the next five months! I had 103 absences but passed with an 89% that semester.

“Since that time, I’ve always had my hands in all aspects of my work because knowing how to execute and convey your artistry is a clear advantage.

“When I was creating the concept for the “No Time” video, I was thinking about how time waits for no one. I want to be in a situation where it’s at my luxury and that’s the mindset I came into this whole record with. You can watch the story of the video and view it as my ‘last straw’ where my character progressively gets his time wasted until…”

Watch the video on YouTube here to see.

As for OverFlow and its powerful energy and water-filled symbolism, James Flow felt offered some kismet on the release. “I actually didn’t discover this story until after finishing the EP, so it almost feels like the entire project was meant to be.

“I found out my mother’s great grandfather — also named James — used to work in a church in Jamaica,” he shares. “There was a six-month drought in the late 1800s so he went and prayed all day.

“24 hours later, it rained constantly for seven days straight.

“I see my entire life as a movie,” he reveals on his ‘stranger than fiction’ day-to-day. “The way so many things have come about in my life, I often find myself saying ‘you can’t write this.”

OverFlow is available now.

We would like to thank Eric Alper for the artist profile and press release.