Jim E. Brown has stumbled into the feeds of millions like a lone cowboy emerging from the horizon – his past is unknown, his lore is self-perpetuated, and he’s about to drink your town dry.
Over the past year or so, Brown’s popularity on Instagram has skyrocketed, with a quarter of a million followers tuning in largely for his food reviews, where he eats anything from barely identifiable deep-fried truck stop bain-marie items through to regional delicacies that he comes across on his world travels. The fattier and meatier (fleshier is his preferred adjective), the better.
The videos are pumped out at a more-than-daily rate, which is only dwarfed in its prolificacy by his musical output. Since 2023, he’s released 12 albums that sway between dissonant electro-pop, ’80s-style Jawaiian and jangly post-punk, with self-loathing lyricism and anecdotal tales of alcoholism and emotional anguish. For example, his latest record Dirt features tracks titled ‘I Am The Fattest Man In The World’, ‘I’m Not Perfect (I’m Pure Shit)’, and ‘Ryan Adams Unfollowed Me On Instagram’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlVYQdC1axc
Brown has frequented Australia a couple of times in the past year or so, with his persona seemingly having a black licorice effect on people: he’s either loved or hated – you’ll rarely find someone who’s indifferent to him. Do a little digging and you’ll find a thriving Reddit community dedicated to the latest Jim E. Brown news; dig deeper and you’ll read posts suggesting his character is all an act from someone called Max Margulies, the lone songwriting credit on Brown’s music.
Truth be told, I can’t say we lifted the lid on a side of this person we haven’t seen before, but I can promise you an entertaining read. Check out a conversation with the self-abasing, stodge-loving musician below, and head here to follow him on Instagram.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81JEfcx71Rw
Hey Jim. This is Harry from Life Without Andy. Thank you for the interview.
What the fuck is Life Without Andy?
It’s essentially a pop culture blog. We talk about music, art, boardsports. Are you interested in any of those things?
No, not at all, but I’m happy to talk to you. How much does this pay, by the way?
Oh, I think we came up with a figure with your manager. I think the cheques in the mail. I’m not sure exactly how much. I’ll have to speak to accounts.
Right.
You’re obviously a pretty prolific writer and songwriter. And I’m wondering how you find time to do so much. Are you writing and recording on the road a lot?
Well, a little bit, yeah, but I don’t have any quality standards to what I produce, so it’s all a bit shit. I think if I were to take my time or care about what I put out, it would take a lot longer, but I just can’t be fucked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlgzKcU_dgU
Fair enough. You wrote a song called Ryan Adams Unfollowed Me on Instagram. Did he return after that song and do you have any other celebs who follow you other than Kurt Vile?
Other than Kurt Vile and Ryan Adams?
Yes.
No, I mean, maybe. I don’t know. Who would be some potential celebrities? I’m not certain.
Well, any big names that you’ve interacted with online?
Interacted with? In what capacity?
Spoken to. Maybe they’ve reached out to you to congratulate you on your success, say?
There is a man with an unpronounceable name, Wantricks Never, something like that.
How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard it?
Just sounds like shit really. It sounds like a fat bloke who’s pissed, just gone into a studio and just diddled some melodies, chords and sang some lyrics to top it.
Nice. And how have the shows in Australia been? How have people been reacting to said shit?
Australian people are really abhorrent and disgusting and it’s a filthy continent/country. It’s just one of the most vile places I’ve ever been.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxfVNRZavU8
Is there any place in particular that you’ve enjoyed or any places stood out as particularly bad?
Yeah, well, I quite like Canberra, but I’m not going there this tour. I had a nice hotdog in Canberra last year. And I did enjoy the pie floater in Adelaide. That was lovely.
Your food reviews are getting obviously a lot of attention. I wonder when you came up with the idea to start them and why?
Well, it’s just the natural course of events for a fat person, innit? It’s just you eat like a fat fuck and you want to document it and say, “Oh, I remember when I ate that hot dog. I remember when I had that fish and chips.” So it’s just a way to remember all the lovely foods that I’ve put in my fat body.
How do you feel about your social following kind of exploding?
Has it exploded?
Well, it’s, you got how many, a quarter of a million followers? It’s-
Is exploding a disparaging term or is it a positive term?
Oh, I think a positive term. It’s-
Oh, I thought you meant it with set a flame, like it’s dissipated.
No.
Oh, right. I haven’t checked it in about an hour. How do I feel about it? I feel nothing. It’s difficult for me to feel emotions about much of anything really. I mean, it’s nice in a way because I might get the occasional message from someone like that bloke I mentioned earlier whose name I don’t remember the Wantricks Never. And things like that can be nice, I guess….
Sorry, I’m going to eat a crisp. Just give me a moment.
Go for it.
All right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkHjx-zEdsg
I’m wondering, I know you’ve been pretty open about your alcoholism. I’m wondering how many drinks you put away in a day.
Well, right now in Eastern Australia, it’s what time is it now? Two o’clock. I’m on my ninth pint. And then we’ll see how the rest of the day goes.
What are you drinking?
Right now I’m drinking a BrewDog Cerveza … Oh my God. What the fuck is this? It only has 0.5% alcohol. Sorry, I’ve got another one in my hand now. It’s an alcoholic ginger beer and I’m making sure that that has the appropriate percentage of alcohol in it.
What do you demand in your rider?
Just beer really. Any kind of beer is all right for me.
I see you’ve been playing a lot in the States as well. And I’m wondering who do you think has the better stodge out of Australia and the States?
Well, that’s a very difficult question because I quite like a bit of Australian stodge, if I’m perfectly honest, even though it is a shithole continent. The cuisine is far more familiar to me than it is in the States, but the States does have lovely cuisines such as the Skyline Chili in Cincinnati. It’s just a bit of pasta with minced beef and a pile of cheese a top it. That’s quite nice.
I was thinking about you stylistically as nearly a pop outsider. And it reminds me in a lot of ways of an artist called Oliver Tree. I was wondering if you’ve heard of him and if you had any thoughts on him.
No. I’ve not heard of him, no. Is he all right?
Who are you listening to at the moment?
I’m listening to you talk in your weird Australian accent.
Okay. What artists are you listening to? Say you hang up the phone and you have to put a song on…
Oh, if I had put a song on?
Yes.
Sorry. And I didn’t mean to disparage your accent. It’s all Australians. It’s not just you. I just can’t understand barely a single word of what they say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHWy_Uou7c4
Fair enough.
What city are you in?
I’m in Newcastle.
Newcastle, right. Why didn’t I play there?
Are you asking your manager or are you asking me?
Oh, I’m asking you.
Oh, I don’t know. I didn’t know it was my responsibility to get you here, but I’d love for you to come here.
Oh, no, I didn’t say it was your responsibility. I’m just curious why one wouldn’t, hypothetically? What is the population? What kind of stodge do you have there?
We have a lot of pies.
Maybe like a beef and cheese pie.
Lots of good pub grub.
Do you eat kangaroo flesh in that bit of Australia?
We sure do.
I quite like a bit of kangaroo flesh. Wallaby is even better. I find that the more small and cute the animal, the better the flesh tastes.
You’ve got a bit of a taste for the gamier species?
Yes. I really am just dying to eat a bilby.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwure7p-N5Q
Do you ever cook your own food?
No, I don’t know how. I mean, fire just seems very dangerous to me.
There’s this craze, it’s called looksmaxxing. It’s sweeping young men on the internet at the moment. And it’s all about maximizing your appearance to appear more attractive to people. And I’m wondering if you’ve experienced that or had any thoughts on that.
No, I’m deeply unattractive. I’ve given up on any attempt at anything like that. Most of my clothing is stained with semen and mucus and of course, grease from the chippies.
I would say some alcohol as well.
Yeah, I’ve probably spilled a bit of alcohol on meself.
I read a conspiracy theory somewhere that you’re not actually a 19-year-old from Manchester. And I was just wondering how you feel about reading or hearing about that kind of obviously made up trash.
Well, yeah, it’s exactly that. It’s just a bit of rubbish, isn’t it? I mean, most media is fake news. I don’t trust mainstream media. I get most of my information from the Joe Rogan podcast. I think he’s a great thinker of our times. And for example, did you hear about this pandemic that hit several years ago?
Oh, yeah. I did.
The pandemic, the coronavirus.
Yes.
And I was deeply concerned about it as someone who is obese. This virus was meant to kill you. So I received the COVID jab. But after listening to Rogan, he inspired me to get a blood transfusion to have the poisonous vaccine removed from my body.
So you really can’t believe much of what you read in these publications. These mainstream ones anyway.
With the exception of Rogan…
Yeah, right. And I don’t get a chance to listen to him often, but when I do, I find it inspiring, the bit about the vaccine. And he has bits about eating flesh, reindeers and things like that. I’ve not done that. I mean, I like him a lot, I don’t really trust him either. But he’s all right.
He’s a big health advocate as well in terms of gym, going to the gym and being active. Is that something you subscribe to?
Yeah. So that’s where he and I diverge. I mean, I agree about the blood transfusion for the COVID vaccine, but not about the health bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li1h6Zc-5BA
What have you got on for the rest of the day and for the rest of the year?
For the rest of the day, I will just be getting pissed, hopefully eating… I’m in Tasmania right now and I quite like Tasmanian stodge. They have these chippies with the deep-fried lasagna and the battered sausages, the Dagwood Dogs, the battered Kransky. I quite like the food culture here. So I hope to engage in some of that and I’ll get a bit pissed. One thing I don’t like is being awake. So hopefully if I eat and drink enough, I can fall asleep around 5:00 PM or something like that. And then I’ve got the gig tomorrow in Tasmania and then back to Melbourne for another gig.
In your many travels, do you ever find being a young musician on the road that you have interactions with women that are any kind of romantic interactions as you go around the world?
Yes. There is some sexual energy at times, but I find sex deeply abhorrent. I think sex is one of the filthiest things that humans can engage in. It’s just a weird biological thing of weird wet organs. And also, the type of humans that come to my show are really the lowliest life forms. If I were to engage in sex, it would absolutely not be with one of them.
Fair enough. Awesome. Well, thanks so much for your time, Jim. And hopefully I’ll see you if you make it to Newcastle.
Oh, yeah. I mean, right. Yeah. All right. Yeah, this has been absolutely lovely, mate.
Appreciate it. All right. Thanks, Jim E.
All right. Cheers, mate.
