I've been featured again by the good people of Ultra Brit, an online magazine dedicated to promoting worthwhile British music in Spain, South and Central America. Click
here to view the full interview in its original context. The translated version is below.
At the end of last year we introduced you to this new London-based artist with his first single, “Jesus Christ”. ( HYPERLINK "http://www.ultrabrit.com/2011/12/12/nuevo-artista-joseph-coward/" http://www.ultrabrit.com/2011/12/12/nuevo-artista-joseph-coward/ ), a dark edgy song that highlights his Curtis like voice.
This new release “If you want to get going, get talking (to me)” has a more Smithian, pop sound. These are the sounds that have been Coward's main influences in life, along with literature and religion. He creates an air of mystery, some self-sufficiency and an intellectual style by quoting Bertolt Brecht and refusing to give details of his next steps in the recording studio. It reminds a little of the first statements of a young Morrissey during the rise of The Smiths as the next great Indie band in history.
In this and other things we talk with Joseph.
- O Genesis calls you their favorite son, how is to be the first artist released by a
new label?
I was pleased that O Genesis had enough confidence in me to release my single before any other artist or group; I think it was a good decision on their part.
- After these singles and the progress in your blog with the "Hate" demo, can we expect
an album this year? What is your plan?
I'm not going to tell you! I've lots of secret plans, involving lots of secret people. As for an album, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. Sorry I can't be more illuminating.
- On The quietus interview: “All the bands I was into, and still am, like The Smiths and
Smashing Pumpkins, were real dorks, they're not trying to be cool. Music to me is about
communication.” Can you tell me more about that idea/concept?
The idea for me is always just to be myself. I don't feel as though I'm reaching out to people, just sharing very ordinary experiences that lots of people have all the time but never really talk about. I really think that I communicate with my audience just through expressing how I truly feel about things, and knowing that they feel the same way. We're all human, after all.
- How do you see the current music scene? Do you feel part of a scene or movement?
I don't really feel there's much of a scene at all, there are small groups of artists and bands who are friends with each other but there doesn't appear to be any cohesion or momentum behind what anyone's doing. I'm not part of a scene but I wouldn't mind if people felt they had to include my name in a list of people who play a certain way. I just sing and then go home at the end of the day, I don't care much about other bands or musicians.
- I am a huge fan of Morrissey, as are several others of the UltraBrit team. In The
Quietus interview you talk about him and I can not help comparing it with the first
notes he gave at the beginning of The Smiths. They have various things in common:
religious background, lack of false modesty, confidence in the music itself, literary
knowledge and care or imports in the lyrics ... was this a conscious choice on your
part?
Not at all, I only became a fan of the Smiths and Morrissey in my mid-late teens and I'd been writing for several years before then. Just a happy coincidence, I suppose. Or perhaps not.
- What is it like working with someone like Tim Burgess who has more than 20 years
experience in the business? How did you meet him?
Tim has been a great help to me, both as a creative partner and as a friend. I met him through Nik Void from the group Factory Floor; it was her idea for us to work together in the first place.
- This site, as you know, is for Spanish speakers. We have readers all over Latin
America and Spain. I hope the tour plans to include these countries in the future. Have
you ever visited Latin America? What image do you have of it? Could you send a specific
message to our readers, please?
I've visited Spain once but never Latin America, though I'd like to very much. I'd like to thank your readers for taking an interest in me and, more broadly, an interest in British music. I hope you become inspired to make music at home.
