Starcrossed Muses

Hi Everyone! It's Alex your BRJ blogger for the next week. Meet James Jeffrey Berrall, a.k.a. Jeff, best friend and style muse for Robert James and the lead singer for Starcrossed signs. I got the chance to sit down with him to talk about what inspires him, music and how these two came together.

About 10 years ago Robert and Jeff met randomly in the hallway of their apartment building and have been best friends ever since.

“When we first met we both were like this guy is cool and I can see myself hanging out with him” said Jeff. They lived in Jersey City at the time so there wasn’t to many people to hang out with.

They were roommates for 8 years up until Robert moved in with his girlfriend 2 years ago (though they still live in the same apartment building in Manhattan).

“Robert and I have been inspiring each other and doing collaborations for years. Him with my music me with his designs” said Jeff.

One recent collaboration is the James Jeffery shirt. (http://www.byrobertjames.com/shirts/-james-jeffery) Jeff said he wanted a polk-a-dot shirt he saw on Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger but couldn’t find it. So, Robert decided to make it and named it in his honor. It’s been featured in Maxim, Thrillist, Paper and has been one of the most popular shirt sold in the store!

Jeff has always leaned on Robert for fashion and merchandise when he plays. “Robert has been a designer as long as I’ve known him. I’m actually wearing Robert's shoes right now” said Jeff. Robert screen-printed the t-shirts for Jeff’s old band, Elefant.

Jeff and Robert have spent a lot of time on the couch looking at books and watching movies, inspiring and critiquing each other with music and fashion ideas. Robert works on his designs and Jeff writes his songs.

In Starcrossed Signs, Jeff wrote a song called "Many a slip between a cup and a lip". There is a funny back story behind this song. Jeff got the saying from Robert’s dad who’s a preacher. All three of them were sitting on the couch at home, and Robert's dad said "Many a sip between a cup and a lip". Jeff thought it was absolutely amazing and thought he HAD to write a song about it! Now the song is one of Starcrossed Signs' most well-known! How funny is that?!

You can check out the song here: http://www.myspace.com/starcrossedsigns

Black & White Photo by Keith Carlsen