London artist Joe James Boyle will be opening for the next edition of Basement Bash on January 18th at Urban Spree. On this occasion he let us get a sneak peek of his thoughts.
indieBerlin: Tell us about your musical background
JJB: I grew up in London and started playing guitar when I was fourteen. I used to play a lot of lead guitar in my bedroom to Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Nirvana, all those guys. Countless hours were spent making a real racket. And I had some great times with my friends at school playing in the school rehearsal rooms. We’d try to make jazz music even though we didn’t really know the chords and so we’d just improvise. Then I got very much into folk music, early Dylan stuff and started out life here in Berlin busking in bars and writing very lyrical folky and bluesy music, all unplugged. That was almost like a workshop in how to learn to play music in front of people. In the last year or so it’s sort of come full circle where I’m playing with a band that is very much inspired by some of the records I used to play whilst growing up and practicing in my bedroom.
indieBerlin: Where do you get your inspiration from?
JJB: I get a lot of my inspiration from my favourite musicians, but this varies from time to time People like Dylan and Bowie have always been a constant presence, that’s for sure. I love writing and stories so writers like Samuel Beckett and James Joyce inspire me to try and write lyrics perhaps outside the norm of what could be in a rock n roll song. In the last year, Roberto Bolano’s books really blew me away. But then again, I’m a bit obsessed with books, a bit of a literary nerd – my friends would definitely vouch for me on that one! Perhaps I really belong in a library.
Photo by Laura Cherry Grove
indieBerlin: What was the last record you bought?
JJB: I recently bought ‘The Notorious Byrd Brothers’. I’m a late arrival with The Byrds. Obviously so much has already been said about them. I just love how the chords are country but the tone is psychedelic, with those harmonies, and how they manage to include these experimental / ground breaking touches all within a three minute pop song. The album really has a transcendent feel to it.
Don’t miss this lyrical mystic poet at the next edition of Basement Bash, where Soda can and Black Pope will be performing as well!
And, because we are super cool, we have some tickets to give away! Email win@indierepublik.tempurl.host and get yours !
