John Joseph Brill released his debut EP, Pieces, on the 23rd of February. With a unique style of flawlessly executed music, he plans to take his sound around the nation this year.
We caught up with John for a quick chat before his EP Launch show in London on Wednesday, 25th February.
You released your first EP, Pieces, on Monday the 23rd. There’s already quite a buzz about it – how has the feedback been so far?
Really lovely, actually! It’s a funny one ’cause it’s been kicking around and we’ve been waiting to release it for a few months. We played it to people we trust, like friends, and everyone’s really enjoyed it. The response from various radio stations and other magazines have been, mostly, really positive!
Musically, which artists have inspired you the most, and how has it affected the way in which you approach writing music?
I have a very lyric-heavy approach to writing music, which I suppose comes from listening to a lot of music from guys like Neil Young or Tom Waits. From a music point of view, it’s kind of odd – I almost write country songs and then turn them in to something else. I’m a big fan of a lot of alternative country stuff, like Gillian Welch. My music sort of morphs from being a very simple country song in to a slightly different beast, and it becomes a John Joseph Brill song!
You spent time in a band called Burning Beard. Do you find a big difference when it comes to playing music on your own as opposed to being a part of a band?
This has kind of involved into feeling like more of a band project! I’ve moved to Liverpool and found a group of musicians who I’m doing all the live shows with and will be recording with. So even though it’s under my name, it does feel like a band project. I will say that it’s been a nice change of pace having complete creative control and being able to have my own final say.
You have a gig coming up on the 25th of February in London, are you excited for that? What can we expect from you there?
Yeah, really excited, it just sold out! It’s quite flattering! Everyone’s pretty pumped to get playing these songs live more. We’re gonna do a longer set than usual, as we’ve just been doing supporting shows here and there. We’ve only been playing pretty short sets so we’re looking forward to playing 45 minutes to an hour. We’re looking forward to doing new material that we’ve been doing together and seeing how it goes down – that should be interesting!
2015 has really only just begun and you’ve already released a stellar EP, but what are your plans for the rest of the year?
I think we’re talking about releasing another single from this EP in the Spring, perhaps ‘Golden Kids’. We’ve been talking about it. I really love that song, and it’d be great to get it out in the world a bit more. Hopefully a new EP in October as well. In the meantime, we’ve got quite a few gigs coming up including festival season and we’ll have a pretty tight gig schedule towards the end of the year as well.
Make sure to check out John Joseph Brill’s Pieces EP and his first single, ‘Muscle & Bones’!