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INTERVIEW WITH
JOSHUA RADIN
Q: You started
your tour about a week ago?
A: Yeah, we
started this tour about two weeks ago.
Q: I like how
your official web site is so user friendly.
A: You mean the
tour website? Yeah, that’s cool.
Q: That’s nice
stuff.
A: It still has
some kinks but we’re working it out.
Q: Yeah with the
technology nowadays, the sky’s the limit.
A: Yeah,
totally.
Q: Where did you
start out?
A: I went to
school in Chicago at Northwestern as an art major and then I went to South
Africa for a little bit and then I went to New York.
Q: Where did you
get your big start?
A: Geez, I don’t
know. I wrote my first song about three
years ago and moved to LA about two years ago and started playing. After about 3 or 4 months of playing some
shows in LA, some music scouts started coming down to see us play and were
asking for demos and things like that.
And I actually took them up on songs I had been working on in my
bedroom. They started using them on TV
shows and film and things like that, so I was basically just paying the bills
that way. Eventually, I made a full
length record last year, they put it on the radio. Then I ended up signing with Columbia. They re-released the full album exactly as is
in June. I’m going to tour with that.
Q: I’m going to
your show inSan Francisco
.
A: Oh cool – at
the Independent. I really like that
place. I love coming to San
Francisco. I lived there for about a
year after college and I was in Berkeley for six months.
Q: You’ve been
all around.
A: Yeah, I’m a
trooper.
Q: Does that
influence your writing – traveling around?
A: All my
writing is from true experience.
Everything I do kind of goes into my writing. Every place I’ve been. It”s kind place is
more about my relationships with the people.
I guess that’s just what it comes down to.
Q: Did you have
a special producer.
A: The producers
name is Chris Holt, she is a buddy of mine.
She recorded the whole record in the bedroom.
Q: Wow, no
kidding like old day recording.
A: It’s sort of
like a do it yourself, very low fi. I’ve
blown either or records for so long time.
That whole album was made on an 8 track.
I didn’t have any money to record to go to a real studio, I pay a bunch
of musician session people to come in.
We did with what we had.
Q: I think a lot
of people really appreciate that .
A: More
intimate. More intimate that way. I feel like people get to know the artist
more. _
Q: Who does the
background music with you, the vocals?
A: There’s a
girl named Priscilla. She did a tour
with me we play a lot of shows and sing backup harmony.
Q: She has a
beautiful voice.
A: Her voice is
wonderful.
Q: Which song
was used for a sound track?
A: Just about
all of them on the record have been sound track.
Q: I thought it
was just one particular one like Winter.
A: Yeah, like 5
of them have been have been on Scrubs, Every song on the record.
Q: The title
track “We Were Here,” is there supposed to be a story where you got that name?
A: Yeah, for the
most part the songs on the record are about falling in and out of love.
Q: The whole CD
is like a mini-masterpiece.
A: Well thank you. It’s really just very personal. I wanted it to have some more sound.
Q: You sound
like Catstevens. His new name is Yusuf
Islam now.
A: I don’t
really love his politics, but I’ve always appreciated his songs.
Q: You have some
kind of reverb sound effect to get that sound or did you dub over on your
voice?
A: On some of
the tracks I doubled my vocal. It gives
it an echoey sound, that’s the reverb _
Q: That’s right,
John Lennon used to do that.
A: Yeah, I sing
the songs and then put the headphones and redo the lyrics to the mike while I
was listening to myself so I could sing along with myself.
Q: Oh, what a
great idea.
A: Since my
voice is very soft and in certain songs it helped the sound.
Q: Are you
playing tonight?
A: No, we have
the day off today. We play in Boulder,
Colorado tomorrow night.
Q: Red Rocks is
right outside of town
A: That would be
cool.
Q: Did I hear a
rumor that you were supposed to tour with Bob Dylan?
A: Well, we’re
working on it. There’s a bidding war in April and obviously Dylan is my
favorite. So I toldColumbia I’d sign with them if they could
procure the concert with Dylan. They
said no problem. So, we’re working on
it. Obviously, Dylan has to decide but don’t tell Dylan we’re looking for
him. The last half of the tour, he tours
all the time, but this last tour he turned out for Beck, Foo Fighters .So we’re
working on it. We’re getting close to
it. But my first headlining tour so far every show is sold out so far.
Q: I understand
inChicago you
had to add an extra show?
A: Yeah, we had
a 7:00 show and we had to add a 10:00 show that night. It was sold out.
Q: That’s good
stuff man. That’s really a nice
indication of how your path is going.
A: Yeah, it’s
happening a lot quicker than I thought it would. We’re really lucky. Yeah, I just play what comes
out just trying to be honest and hope the people respond to it.
Q: It really
shows.
A: Whatever CD make you’ve got to go tour with 2 years all over
the world and you have to like what you’re doing. If you don’t like what you’re doing, then you’ll
drive yourself crazy.
Q: Especially
if it’s something wild like metal music that you need earplugs for.
A: Yeah, I don’t
want to be screaming my head off everyday. I don’t even listen to that kind of
music. I would never write.
Q: I sometimes
have to go to those things, but I don’t know what’s going on when I go
there. You can’t understand the
words.
A: I hear you.
I appreciate you talking to me and I’ll go ahead and write
this up and put it in and spread the word.
I’ll see you in San Francisco.
Take care of yourself.
A: Thank you love to
meet you there. Bye
By Randy Cohen
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