Introducing….fat boy jamz

Human music is the honest music made by real people. This site will introduce you to some of the people I have met who make human music, which is music that comes out of their own mind and spirit as it confronts and interacts with the reality of the world as they experience it.

Fat Boy Jamz has made six albums of music and poetry that explore his own struggle with mental illness. Here are some thoughts on those albums as well as links to them, where streaming is free and downloads inexpensive.

Thoughts For The Fallible Journey
https://fatboyjamz.bandcamp.com/album/thoughts-for-the-fallible-journey

The opening track on the first album by Fat Boy Jamz is a proud overture that announces the intention to begin a journey, if not to recovery, to discovery, understanding, acceptance, and action. The strong piano and drums lead off with a flourish of a simultaneous arrival and departure. The songs to follow are simpile, with a high tensile strength. They are poems written in the form of songs, with choruses that stick in the head of the listener due to their repitions. There is no misunderstanding what is being stated and explored here. The persanal struggles of one suffering from mental illness, as well as the politics of mental health. In “You dont Have to Be Well to Make a Difference,” he tells us that everybody, regardless of their situation in this world, has something to say that can have a positive effect on humanity. And listening to these tracks of spoken words against indietronic marches we become better people from the understanding his words give us, taking us beyond statistics into the heart and soul of an individual who is not afraid to share his existential crisis through the art of the song. But the album is not a series of positive affirmations, although it carries the flag of positive intention. He does not bury the pain and recurrent despair of dealing with mental health issues, but addresses the manifold obstructions that musit be faced and overcome on a minute by minute basis. It is a journey of change, a journey into the unknown, where the primatuy objective is to come out on the other side. And each song is a step in that direction.

Personal Evolution
https://fatboyjamz.bandcamp.com/album/personal-evolution

The second album of Fat Boy Jamz’ mental health series starts off on a faster clip that the previous one. “Thoughts For The Fallible Journey” introduced us to this person who was setting out on a journey. With “Personal Evolution,” he packs his suitcase for the trip, addressing such issues as the role that failure plays in progress, the ups and downs of daily self-confrontation, fractured emotions and the periods of stability that come with creative intention. The rhythms of “Personal Evolution” are somtimes syncopated, sometimes cautious. The vocals are sometimes recorded up front and confident, other times distant and searching, always carrying the message of love and hope in the face of debilitating circumstances.

Mental Health lll
https://fatboyjamz.bandcamp.com/album/mental-health-iii

Unlike those who exploit chronicles of their seasons in hell with diabolically surreal imagery, Fat Boy Jamz speaks to us directly, communicating his unique perspectives and experiences in a precise articulation that neither exagerates nor diminishes the content of his poetic expression. Although his personal struggles with mental health issues are the dominant factor in his writing, the poetic value of his work goes beyond his individual journey to reflect a crisis of the mind that is universal. While less than one percent of the worlds population suffers his particular disease, over fifty percent of us face similar, if less debilitating conditions, and sharing through art, fat boy jamz’ journey, we learn more about ourselves and how to deal with the things that obstruct our progress as human beings.With “Happenings,” the opening track of Mental Health lll, he acknowledges ‘others’ with the verse “What people go through / Is not a joke or an ad for Costco/ The tough things people experience/ Are not planned for nor are they sought out/ In this oh, so crazy world.” The music is snappier and looser than in the first two albums. It is a more relaxed and intimate album, as the audience is drawn into his life experiences as his references to loneliness, depression, and the longing for personal connections to the world one lives in are themes that are universally shared as he begins to refer to “we” as well as the “I.” The songs work both as a personal testament as well as a motivational tool for those in search of a self help manifesto. Plenty of what Fat Boy Jamz has to say, for instance his understandong that peace and quiet is something we all need to find, is of universal value. As we begin to understand him, we gain a better understanding of ourselves…and as a result, become better people.

Stronger
https://fatboyjamz.bandcamp.com/album/stronger

The first songs on Mental Health lll address more explicity the medical aspects of mental health. With his fourth album, Fat Boy Jamz enters into a new reality, that of the here and now, becoming more present in immediate reality. He stands behind the miracles of proper medication, but does not deny the possibilities that crises may strike at any time. He tells us that we all have the right to feel good, and medication often fulfills that right. With a invigorated confidence as both a writer, musician, and performer, “Stronger” encompasses a broader field of vision as he displays a compassion for people who often endure judgemental attitudes from the outside world. In “Dead by Suicide, he writes, “None of what you or I or anyone with serious mental illness / Goes through, can be understood by everyone.” And he is right. But albums like this bring us closer to such understandings. The importance of music to his life is a recurring theme here, and as he expands his musical horizons, his poetry becomes stronger and more penetrating. The album climaxes with the belief that stability can be attained, happiness can be rediscovered, and that the things that keep us from being “okay” can be overcome. And it concludes, accompanied by the soft tones of an organ, with a paean to love and the acknowledgment of the things that can be discovered in knowing another person.

Managing My Mental Health
https://fatboyjamz.bandcamp.com/album/managing-my-mental-health

“Managing My Mental Health” is a subscriber-only special. Check out ‘subscriber benefits’ at https://fatboyjamz.bandcamp.com/subscribe for more details.

The FBJ Story
https://fatboyjamz.bandcamp.com/album/the-fbj-story

The most recent album by Fat Boy Jamz takes his story to another level, both in his music and poetry. It is less focused on rhythm than his previous albums, with the addition of an acoustic guitar accenting the reflective nature of the poetry. As we listen, we are immersed in expanding truths from somebody we have begun to know by his first five albums. While before he spoke to us as a teacher, now he speaks to us as a friend. For the first time, he names the disease from which he suffers. He also names the person who he loves and who gives him the love he needs. In “20 Years Ago” he defines illness in general and the hope one must maintain in order to cope with it.