5 Things We Learned After Talking to Ed Sheeran and Gingerbread Man Records Signee Jamie Lawson

Ed Sheeran launched his (aptly titled) label Gingerbread Man Records at the end of August. The first musical act Ed signed is a singer-songwriter and guitarist — much like Ed, whose name is Jamie Lawson.

Jamie's single, "Wasn't Expecting That," first gained traction in the U.K., where he's from, and now, it's picking up stateside. Jamie and Ed stopped by our offices to talk about Jamie's music, they're musical relationship, and more. Check out the five things we learned from their visit, and pre-order Jamie's self-titled album on iTunes.

Ed was drunk when he told Jamie that he wanted to put his record out.

Jamie: "[Ed and I] played together a few times before in London about 5 years ago before Ed became hugely famous. I got a call out of the blue last year saying, 'Ed’s doing a secret show in Dublin, can you come over and do it?' And I said, 'Yeah, sure,' and from that we reconnected and got on really well, and he said, 'I’d like to put your record out.' He was very drunk, so I didn’t believe him."

Ed: "It’s not anything out of the ordinary. I’m usually quite drunk."

J: "So it could’ve been any night, but he was drunk at the time. But he was legit, and here we are now, in New York."

This is the piece of advice Ed gave to Jamie when he first signed him.

J: "One of Ed’s very early pieces of advice to me was, 'The best person to make a Jamie Lawson record is Jamie Lawson.' I took a lot from that. So far, he’s been proved absolutely right. He’s just let me be myself, and you can’t really get a bigger compliment than that, can you?"

Jamie wants his music to give you comfort.

J: "The album has a similar theme of giving comfort. Hopefully that’s what people get from it — something that they can rely on. The whole record has warmth, and I think that’s what I was trying to aim for when I made it."

Ed thinks "Wasn't Expecting That" is successful because it makes people cry.

J: "The video for the song goes in chronological order of this couple when they first meet until the very end of their lives. You get this flashback of the characters’ lives. I think the video makes the song sadder than it is. It does, doesn’t it?"

E: "What I’ve found with music in general is, if you can get anyone to cry, that’s how it’s going to be a hit. Like that new Diplo, Major Lazer "Lean On" song, that makes me happy. Music needs to get a really extreme emotion out of someone, and that’s how it connects with people. But anyone who listens to the Jamie song and cries, you know you’ve won. Every radio program that we meet, the guys listen to it and cry, and then add it because it makes them feel something. I like that. Keep making people cry."

Ed and Jamie haven't collaborated yet, but they might.

J: "We haven’t written together. Ed’s been singing a couple of backing vocals and stuff on the album, but we haven’t collaborated much yet, have we?"

E: "I don’t really think he needs it. There's certain artists that you need to write songs for because they don’t write songs, but Jaime is a songwriter, and I’d love to do it, but I didn’t sign him thinking, 'I need to write a song.' Definitely down the line we’ll do something, but it’s not crucial."