[Originally sent to Ricky Jamaraz’s email list on March 25th 2026]
It’s that time of week! Time for the latest updates on everything JAMARAZ.
How have you been this past week?? I’ve been fairly busy!
Once again, I’ve had one of those weeks that hasn’t been particularly musical (surprisingly!), but I’ve still managed to express my creativity in other ways…
…which you’ll hear about later in this email :-)
But yeah, today I plan on sharing some successes I’ve had, but also some failures I’ve experienced, since I think it’s important to acknowledge both sides of the coin (I’m human after all believe it or not)
So let’s get on with it…
SUCCESS: ‘Glinter’ Surpasses 1k Monthly Listeners on Spotify
Now listen, I know Spotify isn’t the greatest platform etc etc, HOWEVER it is currently the most popular method of accessing music, so monthly listeners on a certain artist are (in my eyes) still a very valid, quantifiable measure of popularity.
The current number as of 6am on 25/03/26 is 1,110, and yes, that’s actually quite a small number considering other numbers people may associate with me. For reference, my actual ‘Ricky Jamaraz’ artist page on Spotify has consistently had over 40,000 monthly listeners for the last year I believe.
But, regardless, Glinter is a totally new project of mine that didn’t exist before the start of this year, so the fact that 1000+ people are now listening to the songs is a really positive sign!
I’ve been checking it every few days and the number has just gradually risen higher and higher, and it’s not slowing down yet! I’m like a proud dad :-)
Of course, it’s about more than just the numbers… you guys are the ones behind it, so obviously a big thank you everyone for your recent support of this album :-)
FAILURE: Writer’s Block
For the past couple weeks I’ve been a bit out of sync with my usual songwriting habits, and because I’ve been so busy in other areas of my music career (designing merch, promoting stuff, general planning, it’s all important too!), I haven’t given myself much of a chance to actually make music.
Which is honestly fine, because I’m still enjoying what I’m doing, but it feels strange to me…
Any musicians reading may be aware that my overall creative output is a lot higher than average, and when operating normally I end up writing at least one or two new songs a week.
However, the last time I wrote a new song was… a couple weeks ago… OH NO WHAT WILL I DO!!!!!
As you may know, my current priority in terms of creating music lies with writing the debut album for a fictional band of mine called Sweat Glass Halo, and I’ve actually basically finished it now…
However, there is one song that I’ve been WANTING to write for ages, but I haven’t managed to yet; the closer for the album, for which I only have the song’s title: NOW! That’s What I Call Closure.
It’s a play on those old CD compilations you’d get with all the popular hits of the time.
My problem is I want this song to be special, and I want it to be really good, like a closing song on the album that makes you feel heavy and light at the same time.
But what I’ve learned, and anyone remotely creative will have probably learned too, is that the best things are always unexpected and can’t be deliberately made.
I never ever try and write songs with the intention of making them “good songs” – I just write songs and some are better than others. But the moment I TRY to write a good song, it all falls apart and I overthink it all and get nowhere.
So yeah, it’s perhaps a bit harsh to call it a failure that I’ve had this week, but it is what it is, and the song will come to me when it decides to make itself known :-)
Glinter Merch In Design!
A fair few of you guys seemed pretty excited about the idea of me dropping some Glinter-themed merch in the next couple months, so this week my main focus has been DESIGNING EVERYTHING!
(BTW thanks everyone who did that little merch survey, your ideas helped out a lot!)
It’s been super fun, and it’s a great way to express my creativity in more visual ways, which is something I’ve been exploring more and more this year.
I don’t want to reveal too much just yet, but I will show you this new poster I’m planning on releasing:
I’M REALLY PROUD OF IT!
I made it yesterday. I was going to do something like that but just a digital version, until I saw a big slab of cardboard in my room and thought I’d have some fun making it with real paint and paper. So I did :-)
AND THERE’S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM!
But like I said, I’m heavily gatekeeping all the designs for now ;-)
The grand reveal will be sometime soon!!!
The End
Soooo yeah not too much to say this week I guess.
That’s kinda it for this week’s issue of Jamaraz Weekly, thanks for reading, I appreciate it as always!!
I’d like to quickly give a shout-out to Jesse, the world’s greenest Glinter fan:
Thanks for putting up those posters man, what a legend.
Next week’s issue will be a fun one! This Friday I’m playing a gig in Manchester as part of the band Knutmo Five (I’m the drummer!), then on Saturday I’ll be at the third ever Dorset Caravan gig in Birmingham, which is my friend Ollie’s band, who is also the guitarist in Knutmo Five…
So I’ll tell you guys all about it next Wednesday :-)
If you fancy coming down to one of these gigs, I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed!
Tickets for Knutmo Five @ Off The Square, Manchester > [expired]
Tickets for Mac Wood (supported by Dorset Caravan) @ Dead Wax, Birmingham > [expired]
Thanks for your support of all my music and art (blah blah blah), feel free to reply to this email and keep those messages coming in! Any cool new bands you’ve found that I should check out?? Let me know…
(niche RJ reference)
(and actually kind of a Glinter reference too if you can spot it)
Stay safe
RJ