He strives to make each song sound different in order to show his depth and creativity as a songwriter. “On Your Way” is about an ex-girlfriend and is more of a quiet somber song, while “This is Dying” covers a darker subject matter and is a bit louder. A lot of his songs come from bad experiences with girls and relationships, but he is also very aware of world issues and is writing more songs with those issues in mind.
“Songs come from anywhere,” said Gaven as to how he comes up with his music. “I like to use really descriptive words and I want to create a different emotion to really capture the moment with words that are rarely used or not often heard in songs.”
Gaven never knows when his next song will come to him, but when the words do he tries to finish the lyrics as completely as possible because he knows his feelings at that moment will change five or 10 minutes later. There has been times he has written full songs in class, but one of his favorite spots to write music is Sayen Gardens in his hometown of Hamilton, N.J. Gaven describes it as an obscure park, void of crowds and somewhere he can go that is peaceful. Whenever he is in the forest there, he has the sense that something good will come out of the visit.
Naturally, he also listens to other musicians for ideas such as Dashboard Confessional and earlier Jimmy Eat World. Lately, Gaven has been listening to Bright Eyes, a one-man acoustic act like himself.
“He’s only 24 and he already has seven CD’s,” Gaven said of the artist that has been compared to Bob Dylan. “I don’t want to steal from him, but every time I listen to him I get the sense that I am going to write a song because he’s really descriptive. He doesn’t write his lyrics to rhyme, which I like because it’s pretty raw.”
Gaven prefers playing alone because he is passionate about how he wants his music to sound and its style doesn’t always lend itself to a band sound. He has played with a drummer on a couple occasions, but attempts at playing his music with a band in the past have not produced the desired results.
“It’s like a team, you have to feed off each other,” Gaven says when talking of the similarities of playing in a band and on the soccer field. “In a band, maybe a guitar is out of tune and the guitarist doesn’t realize it. If it goes out of tune during a song then it doesn’t sound right and you won’t accomplish what you wanted to.”
Gaven takes pride in playing live and the connection he can have with the audience and his fans. He has developed a distinct style of playing on stage that sets a tone for his music and connects with the crowd.
“When I’m on stage I play with my eyes closed,” Gaven said. “I think it’s subconscious, because I’m not afraid of the crowd. It’s something I’ve become used to doing and I think it sets the mood for my shows. The way my lyrics are, it makes the setting intimate and allows people to drift away in the moment with me.”
His first gig came at a fashion show while he was in high school. As Gaven tells it, his mother was organizing the event and they needed someone to do an interlude between acts. That start has led to bigger shows, which culminated with a show last winter at “The Conduit”, which is the second-largest musical venue in Trenton, N.J. Gaven got an offer to open for the headlining band, Loser, because he went to high school with them. Gaven took advantage of the opportunity to play in front of his largest audience.
“The bands let me wait to play until the crowd filled in,” recounted Gaven of his most memorable music experience to date. “I was really happy because I got to play in front of almost 200 people on a stool with a guitar as the crowd sat there silently listening to my music.”
His deeply thoughtful music has made an impression with teammates, fans and friends alike. He has received emails and instant messages from fans that he has never met, thanks to the sharing of his music over the internet and word-of-mouth among others that have seen him play. Among his biggest supporters are teammates Tom Dziamba, Victor Kotynski and Jason Hernandez, who often come out to see his shows. Gaven’s music has even found its way to music downloading websites and on to fans’ iPod’s. Gaven is continually shocked by the following his music has attracted.
“I can’t believe my music is floating around the internet, which is pretty cool,” Gaven said of the sharing of his music. “It’s all really cool to know that my lyrics end up on away messages and profiles.”
Gaven’s music has also found its way to the lockerroom of the MetroStars of Major League Soccer. Jim’s younger brother, Eddie, is one of the stars of the team and provided some free publicity when he mentioned in an interview how he listens to the music on his iPod before games. In turn, the team has been exposed to Gaven’s sound and some of the players have taken a liking to it.
“I’ve met the whole team and I’ve gone to shows with [goalkeeper] Zach Wells,” Gaven said of his most famous fanbase. “He’s into the same type of music as me and he’ll ask me about how my music is going. It’s all thanks to Eddie.”
While Jim plays guitar, Eddie has just recently picked up the instrument and is also a talented piano player. Gaven has thought about the possibility playing with his brother and believes his brother’s natural musical ability and the quickness with which he picks things up could lead to a future partnership.
“I’ve thought about collaborating with him. I like the touch of a subtle piano in the background and I think that he is well on his way. We’ve tried to jam and I like how it sounds, but we haven’t recorded yet. I’m excited to go home and lay some stuff down with him.”
Gaven ultimately hopes to be signed by a record company and has been approached by several independent labels to put together an album, but his goal is to finish college first. He has put together his own EP entitled Feelings, Thoughts, and Tendencies, which he did on his home computer. Although he prefers playing his music live because of the emotion he wants convey, Gaven admits that he practices recording his music in case he ever finds himself in the studio. His song, “On Your Way (To Unhappiness)” was done professionally and has the potential to be a single on his first CD. Gaven hopes to continue playing and writing music as a creative outlet when he finishes school.
“Songwriting will always be a part of me whether I make it or not,” according to Gaven. “I love performing, but anyone could use my music as long as I get paid for it.”
As he pursues his music dream, Gaven also has advice for others pursuing a musical career. “Follow your heart and if you want something that bad, you can make it happen. You’ll get a lot of critics and you have to learn to brush them off because they’re most likely just jealous because they can’t write music – that’s what I tell myself.”
To listen to Jim’s music or see where he is playing, he has websites at www.jimgaven.com and www.purevolume.com/jimgaven
Click here to listen to "On Your Way".
Click here to listen to "The Art of Miscommunication".
