INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD WILLIAM JENKINS

I came away from Richard William Jenkins Album One genuinely charmed by its sincerity. Jenkins embraces timeless songwriting built around melody, storytelling, and heartfelt performances. Knowing these songs have been decades in the making gives the album an added emotional weight, while the combination of his own vocals, guitar playing (including one of his handmade instruments) and AI-assisted arrangements creates an unexpectedly engaging listening experience. For me, the record celebrates creativity without age limits. After a remarkable career in filmmaking, Richard William Jenkins proves that it's never too late to share another lifelong passion with the world.

Interview with Richard William Jenkins

You spent 28 years at the NFTS and worked on iconic sets like 2001: A Space Odyssey. How does the solitary act of songwriting at home compare to the collaborative chaos of a film set?

I’m actually a shy introvert although I do have the ability to be someone who is in charge of a room, whether it be singing in a folk club, or taking control of a film set or location. It’s the social chat after that I cannot manage and I’m really very happy alone working on a lyric.

You’ve been writing songs as an amateur since you were a teenager. Why did you choose now—at 84—to finally share these tracks with the public?

It’s recent innovations in AI that’s made it possible for this shy introvert to convert his songs into productions just using his voice, his guitar and his computer. I then thought they were good enough to release.

Using AI backing musicians is a bold modern choice for a classic storyteller. How does it feel to have an "AI band" playing behind your original guitar work?

See above

You famously supervised A Grand Day Out. Did you ever find yourself "directing" your songs as if they were scenes in a film, or does the music have a life of its own?

My supervision of Nick Park was financial and facilities, it was all Nick’s genius that created the film, although it was about five years over schedule, which didn’t reflect well onn either of us. ….. but I do use a mental storyboard structure when figuring out some of my lyrics if it’s a narrative song....

Your book James Bond Paid My Mortgage covers your time as a junior AD. Do you find yourself hiding "Bond-era" secrets or anecdotes inside your lyrics?

You learn much about human nature travelling the world with an army of film crew and living amongst and meeting foreign peoples

You’ve made 24 acoustic guitars. Is there a specific sound you were trying to achieve, or was the joy simply in the act of making them?

I fell in love with guitars when I first saw a Roy Rogers (look him up, he was a Hollywood cowboy in the forties and fifties) movie at the age of about five …. as a boy I liked guns too, but I’ve never attempted to make a gun. I only make small nylon string guitars and my favourite is based on the shape of a (very famous with guitar aficionados) Martin Baby Ditson but with my own bracing. I think it sound fabulous

How did your battle with cancer change your perspective on creativity, or did it provide the final push to get this album finished?

I think having cancer twice just left me numb, and some the melodies and lyrics in my songs are quite sad and pessimistic.

Your secretary famously wrote 50 Shades of Grey after leaving your office. Did that experience—seeing someone else’s massive literary success—influence your own decision to publish your book and now your music?

No. I wrote the book just so my five children and ten grandchildren would know what their grandad did.

Album Two is already on the way. Did you have a massive vault of songs you had to sort through, or are you currently in a burst of new productivity?

Yes, I’ve written loads of songs and I’m now trying to finish them as I believe soon I might not be able. My ambition has always been to be the writer, not the performer.

Which of your self-made guitars did you use on the album, and does it have a specific personality or "fault" that you’ve grown to love?

The Baby Ditson look alike. The soundboard is made from an industrial wood cladding for buildings known as Thermowood, which is cheap pine which has been cooked to bind all the resins. I’m not a skillful joiner so it looks like a battered antique of dubious quality.

You’ve worked with Albert Finney and Sean Connery. If you could have cast one of your old collaborators in a music video for this album, who would it be and why?

James Mason, who was once a big star, and I got on with him really well … and we shared a birthday. Richard Burton who was tickled pink when we met as I shared his birth name. He was born Richard Walter Jenkins

For all the people who think they’ve missed their window to start something new, what would you say to them from the perspective of an 84-year-old debutant?

I’m lucky because technology finally allowed me to achieve an ambition. Also lucky as I have a great wife who encourages me. But the answer must always be JUST DO IT.

(•)> That's all, Folks! Check out Richard Willian Jenkins on Pigeon Opinion Playlist