Saltcoats: James Michael Rodgers on track Borderline

But he has still dubbed the track, inspired by his hometown, as the "most important song I have written".

James no longer lives in the area, having stayed around Berlin in Germany for the past eight years. There, he runs a successful weekly music night that brings in musicians from all over the world.

He is also signed to label Laydown Recordings in Portugal, who helped him to release a very important single.

His track Borderline was written while living on the outskirts of the German capital, though it was his times back home in the Three Towns which motivated the moving track.

Having toured Europe and supported the likes of Gerry Cinnamon, it is safe to say James has never forgotten his roots.

He told the Herald: "The Borderline is in fact the hole in the wall at Saltcoats Harbour. I go down there and sit and it feels like you're in a world of your own.

"Saltcoats means the world to me. Having distance from it helps me see the beauty even more in it.

"When I was starting as a writer, I'd watch the waves and it reminded me there was hope and a big world out there to explore.

"I always loved our history. My dad always knows the ins and outs of all the boats in the harbour or who used to own what pub.

"Our family have lived there for a few veneration so my history is steeped in it and every day I'm there feels like a time capsule."

The underlying message within the track is one which is far more powerful than a tale of his hometown.

James explained: "It's a song for an army of healers stuck in the trenches with mental illness, waiting for the sun to shine and for the end of the war.

"They cannot understand how to shine so bright if they have not yet seen the darkness.

"This is what Borderline leans into.

"That through the madness, comes serenity and that we are all on the journey together, whether your journey is filled with drug abuse, poverty, mental illness or the awareness of the dullness of your mortality."

James went on to explain how he was facing challenges of his own when he was inspired to write Borderline.

He continued: "It was the second month of the first wave of Covid, I was living by a lake in Jungfernheide on the outskirts of Berlin, cycling 30km a day to play music in the city.

"I was at the brink of breakdowns after leaving my fiance and diving straight into an intense relationship with a young singer songwriter from Australia.

"I was reading Damien Echols' book on magick hoping to fall deeper into the unconscious and hoping to manifest what I found into reality."

And very quickly the song was born, and it wowed crowds much beyond James' wildest dreams.

He said: "I wrote Borderline in 10 minutes. The first time I played it to a full audience was at the Neulich Sessions, a night in a brewery that I ran in Neukolln, to a crammed room full of folkies and stoners.

"From the first chorus everyone was singing along, I could feel my soul vibrate and I could see from the whites of people's eyes that they understood what I was trying to give them and that they needed it more than ever.

"I knew that I had tapped into that well of power that the old bards were talking about and it felt that I finally created some healing and community within a song. I had unlocked the mystery of songwriting - but it is not easy to recreate."

However, the full release of the song did not come until some time after James initially wrote the track.

"Despite Borderline having only three chords I think it is the most important song I have written," he explained.

"It was a few months later that I had several intense breakdowns in where I beat my face up and a psychiatrist asked if perhaps I had borderline personality disorder (BPD).

"It was the first I had heard of that term, despite the song title. Had I manifested this by myself?

"A few years - it felt like a few months later, perhaps with psychosis - I managed to free myself of alcohol and some of the curses I put on myself.

"It has been suggested I do not have BPD but severe trauma from childhood and the path of healing continues today, but it would not have began if I hadn't have dug so deep."

Now, in the present day, James has released the song on Spotify and YouTube, and it was played to audiences on BBC radio earlier this month.

"The reaction so far has been what I hoped for," He told the Herald.

"The most important thing for me is that the song reaches the people who need it and that it provides a soundtrack for anyone needing a boost, especially anyone from the Three Toons.

"Saltcoats, despite having the money and industry taken out of it, at times we've got some of the biggest hearts in the world.

"If we all remember that community and a smile can save someone's life, the town will always be an inspiration to whoever crosses its path.

"I've brought people from all over the world to Saltcoats - Canadians, Swedish, Germans, Finnish, Portuguese and Italians - they all fall in love with it."

As he looks to the future, James hopes he can continue to inspire with his music as he begins recording a new album with the help of Creative Scotland.

"I'll always be a songwriter and a musician," he added: "I have a few singles to release and I'm currently mixing the next album.

"We have a string section from the Berlin Philharmonic on it and some of the best musicians in Glasgow on it so it's gonna be next level.

"I also have a tour of Britain and Europe with the band is on the cards next year."

His Saltcoats inspired track Borderline can be listened to at tinyurl.com/JamesRodgersBorderline.

James said: "The song still rings as true as it did that first performance, now with a beautiful arrangement, mix and master.

"For the ears of every healer cracking open there shell, hoping to be healed by someone else but deep down knowing they must trust the path that only they can walk.

"I wish you all true serenity as you cross over the Borderline."