Weekly > Interviews
Joe Brooks
Some of you may not have heard of Joe Brooks I would guess? It won’t be long though before you do as he’s got just short of 12 million MySpace plays, has a great following on both sides of the Atlantic and is about to embark out on a headline tour that if you haven’t got a ticket for yet, you really do need to get a move on because it will sell out.
Despite the attention this young acoustic singer/songwriter is getting at the moment he isn’t signed to a label for the time being, which makes his achievements so far even more staggering. Tom caught up with the grounded and level headed singer recently to find a little bit more out about what makes him tick.
Your have a very large fan base for an unsigned artist which I find stange so I was wondering, have you ever had a record contract offered to you and if so why did you turn it down?
Yeah I’m very fortunate to have a large and awesomely quirky fanbase online and yes I’ve had several record contracts that have been offered, but nothing that has really taken my fancy as yet… I’ve always believed that it has to be the right people with the same vision and at the right time… it’s all about finding hard working folk who share the vision! Things are moving just fine right now without one, so there’s no real rush, when I complete the puzzle, I want the picture to look good, so I need all the right pieces in the right place first.
Where do you get your inspiration for your songs?
I look to all sorts of experiences, situations, emotions and people to find inspiration for my lyrics. I always try to write about things that I know about or have experienced, I find that the song comes across as being much more genuine and I believe people respect and relate to that more. There’s the obvious relationship highs and lows, but also a lot to do with travelling, I love to see and embrace different cultures and I also find much inspiration from my faith as a Christian and sometimes weave these ideals into many songs without it even becoming apparent to the listener, it often gives a positive lift to a lyric.
You seem to have a large female fan base, What’s the strangest thing you’ve received from a female fan?
Yes I do indeed and I’m certainly not complaining! Erm presents… presents… I was given a fully customised pillow at a show once that read ‘Sleepwalk With Me’ (which is one of my earlier songs), erm and a glow in the dark pink football… because I once wrote online that night football is a lot of fun… some of the fans are pretty damn creative and have a good sense of humour! A cuddly toy is the usual, ha.
And what’s the strangest thing you’ve received from a male fan?
Strangest from a male fan… hmmm, you know I don’t really recall any present as such… but I do remember receiving the biggest and somewhat awkward, even scary hug from one guy… I kinda had to cut it short from worry of becoming permanently attached to his inhumanly tight grip.
What was the reasons behind moving to America? Was it to further your career?
I haven’t ‘moved’ there as such, but yeah I’ve spend a lot of time out there, I feel it’s an important market, and many of the online fanbase come from the US… they really appreciate acoustic singer/songwriters just as we do in the UK, except their country is a gazillion times bigger than ours and so I thought I should give it some of my time too. Also I have a fantastic manager based in New York and have made lots of friends on the West Coast, so I kind of flutter back and forth… like a border flirt.
It must be strange to pick up a paper or log on the Internet and read about yourself. Do you bother to read your own press? And if so does it worry you that other peoples opinions of your music might lead you to change your creative process at all?
Good Question, and it’s funny because I’m online a lot but really try not to read anything about myself… actually it’s always my friends and family that come to me and say ‘have you seen this or read that…’ and I never have. I think that if I were to, one moment I’d be high as a kite with a head the size of the moon and the next I’d be as low as the ground thinking of packing it all in! Of course, people’s opinions matter to me, but you’re always going to get extreme opinions, so I like to keep most of the feedback from sources that I trust are going to say it straight, like my manager and my parents.
Who or what have been your biggest influence in life and music?
In Life, Jesus Christ, a remarkable man! In music; Ray Charles! James Brown, John Mayer, Bryan Adams, Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz the list is endless! I mean I like all sorts of music and take influence from all kinds of genres… but these more than any.
How does your song writing process work?
To be honest, it’s different every time… I go into a room and I start playing the guitar… Jot down some lyrical ideas, play around with melodies… and keep going until they all fit together nicely and sound great… You know I’ve been told by one of the world’s most successful songwriters today that it’s a mathematical equation… bollox… Get the feeling and go with it, be yourself and write about something you care about… that’s what I say!
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Add to favouritesPlenty of artists say that many of the songs they’ve wrote may have seemed autobiographical and were written in the first-person but were actually based more on a concept or a feeling than on events in there personal life. Your songs seem to have a personal tone… how much of your music is autobiographical, and how much is just sort of “fictional” song writing?
You know, I find it very hard to just make up stuff and then sing it like I’ve lived it… I know some artists who do that very very well, and fair play to them, but I’m not one. I much prefer to give a personal account of the subject, I think the words come across as more genuine and people certainly respond to that. Of course, sometimes it’s necessary to elaborate and enhance your feeling to really hammer home the point but it all stems from something real.
Do you find singing personal lyric at all uncomfortable or is it sometimes part of the healing process for you to just get those emotions out into a song?
I prefer singing personal lyrics…I’m an artist, people come to shows to hear my stories that I sing, they want the details and I find that as I get older and naturally have more experiences in life, my lyrics become more and more personal.
Do you ever find yourself censoring what you put into a song, or is pretty much anything fair game? Are your family/friends/girlfriend ever unhappy with their portrayal in your songs?
Occasionally it’s not necessary to say something that directly points a person out by their name etc. because I think I’d only come to regret that, but there are ways of going around that satisfyingly, but most of my lyrics aren’t exactly ‘controversial’ anyway.
Playing live or in the studio?
Both! You can’t beat playing live to an audience who just love music, you simply can’t beat that feeling. Playing a slow intimate song to a silent crowd of hundreds of people, all hanging on every word… simply amazing. However, I have a lot of fun in the studio creating and experimenting with weird and wonderful sounds, the whole creative process from the writing to the production process I find fascinating.
How much of a motivation is fame or commercial success for you?
The one thing that I dreamt of when I started playing and writing was that millions of people would one day enjoy my music… at the time that was a totally ridiculous dream… but it’s one that has somehow (largely thanks to the internet) become a reality, so everything from that moment was a bonus. Obviously, goal posts move at that point and you aim for the next dream and carry on working hard, but really now I just want to see where this industry can take me.
Without a doubt I want to live comfortably, with less financial worries, don’t we all and hopefully one day that will be a reality… but it’s going to take a lot of hard work. The fame side of it, and I know most people say ‘I don’t do it for the fame’, but it really doesn’t bother me… sure it’s nice in these small doses that I’m experiencing now, it’s an experience most don’t get to try, and so I feel fortunate for that, but none the less… I just want more and more people to enjoy my music, I know that I won’t ever stop doing normal things and will never lose that middle class English attitude that I love so much about this country.
What are you listening to on your ipod right now?
I’m not listening to my ipod right now (jokes). Erm well I like Jason Reeves’ latest album… ‘The Magnificent Adventures of Heartache’ and I like Charlotte O’Connor’s music… she’s supporting me at Birmingham Bar Academy on the 28th Jan and Manchester Roadhouse 29th Jan 09, come check it out.
The full list of dates is as follows:
27 Jan 2009 20:00 King Tuts (14+) Glasgow
28 Jan 2009 19:00 Bar Academy Birmingham SOLD OUT
29 Jan 2009 18:00 Roadhouse (14+) Manchester
30 Jan 2009 19:30 Talking Heads (14+) Southampton
2 Feb 2009 20:00 Cavern (14+) Exeter
3 Feb 2009 19:30 Barfly London SOLD OUT
For your chance to win two tickets to the show of your choice then head over to the competition we currently have running until the 20th January 2009.
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