JOSHUA GRIERSON

PHOTOGRAPHY: MIKE CARELSE / STYLIST: CLAIRE GRITTEN
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/joshuagrierson
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Alt-Country / Folk / Blues

I KNOW IT HAS BEEN A FEW YEARS ALREADY BUT DO YOU THINK YOU’VE ESCAPED THE NESHAMAH SHADOW OR DO YOU CONSIDER IT AS A GOOD THING TO BE REMEMBERED FOR BEING A PART OF THAT PIECE OF LOCAL MUSIC HISTORY?

Good question. It was definitely part of my journey or musical history that led to where I am today. Without it, maybe other things could not have happened that had. Everything happens for a reason! I got a taste of touring through the US Neshamah tour for a month. The tour was an amazing experience and one that I do not regret at all. Who could complain about touring another country for a month with some of the best bands in the hardcore genre?

Through Neshamah I learned a lot about myself, about the music industry and the people who can make it great or not so great at times. I don’t think there was a “Neshamah shadow” to escape.

WHAT FINALLY CONVINCED YOU TO PURSUE A SOLO CAREER? WAS IT A COMBINATION OF “OUTSIDE FACTORS” OR WAS IT PURELY A CREATIVE DECISION?

Soon after I left Neshamah, a very good friend at the time - Darryl Roggen and I started a new project called LOVEHUNTER. While this band was in its formation, I was still doing my solo project (as I had been since I was 15). The band went on to play for about 2 years and I was happy to be part of it but in the back of my mind I was always leaning towards just doing my solo project.

The “creative differences” thing did definitely play a role but also through all my meanderings with other projects and/or bands, I realised that I am a leader and not a follower and thus gave me the confidence to leave all the other projects and focus all my attention on my solo project and in hindsight, the best decision I could make. I have never really been a good team player.

WAS THE TRANSITION FROM HARDCORE TO FOLK AN EASY ONE AT FIRST OR WERE THERE A FEW CREATIVE “STUMBLING BLOCKS” AT THE BEGINNING?

I was not brought up with bands like Norma Jean, Zao, Living Sacrifice and others in that vein, I was brought up with foundational music – Bob Dylan, The Doors, Beatles, Sting, The Police and Elton John, to name a few and so I was exposed firstly to Rock, Pop, Folk and its roots and thus it lay deep and strong in my veins from a very young age. When I was about 11 or 12 years of age, I was then introduced to the big wide world of metal and its subgenres and I enjoyed all it had to offer. Between the age of 5 and 21, I was very thirsty for all and any style of music and thus opened myself to anything that came my way.

I have subsequently become quite the snob as to what music I choose to fill my ears and heart with. Needless to say, I cannot appreciate hardcore music anymore. To answer your question, there was no transition from the hardcore stuff to folk. I have been playing acoustic music while in my mother’s womb and I sometimes get the feeling that my soul was carved from the streets of Greenwich Village before it found its home in me.

DO YOU COME UP WITH SONG IDEAS PRETTY EASILY OR DO YOU SOMETIMES HAVE TO SIT YOURSELF DOWN AND REALLY WORK AT GETTING A SONG TO SOUND THE WAY YOU WANT IT TO?

I don’t have structured rehearsal times and thus only write when I feel inspired but I always seem to write at least one idea when sitting with the guitar but that does not mean my mind and heart stops thinking or working when away from the guitar. I can get very inspired by listening to other artists. Like recently, I have started a working relationship with Laurie Levine (www.myspace.com/laurielevine) and she has been a great source of inspiration. Words come to me when washing the dishes or at that time just before you fall asleep. I am an open vessel and the spirits bring me what I need when I need it.

Most recently I wrote a song from 2 separate situations: A few months ago, I was lying in a friend’s bed and was tickling on her guitar and these notes just arrived on my fingers. A melody ensued and I hummed along. The next day I went over it again and the lyrics just came to me. The song was finished in 10 minutes. That song you can find at my MYSPACE site @ www.myspace.com/joshuagrierson it’s called Send All My Love To The Kids. So as you can read, I don’t like to push songs out of me but rather wait for the stars to be aligned!

WHAT SUBJECTS HAVE BEEN SHOWING UP THE MOST IN YOUR LYRICS LATELY AND DO YOU LIKE TO LOOK AT THINGS FROM A POSITIVE OR SOMETIMES NEGATIVE PERSPECTIVE DEPENDING ON THE “FEEL” OF THE SONG YOU ARE WORKING ON?

This question could be answered much the same as the previous one but whatever I am feeling at the time, I put down. My lyrics generally deal with life, love and everything else in between and I try to write about topics I have experienced myself and feel confident to sing about and thus most of my lyrics have dealt with Love. I have experienced though where lyrics have to come to me from some spiritual source and it has no real factual story behind it, at the time, and then that exact story will unfold later on in my life. It is well documented that artists, like Bob Dylan, have been prophetic in their lyrics. One story goes that Bob Dylan released his Love and Theft album on the same day that the twin towers fell and in the lyrics from that same album, it almost would seem the man knew what was going to happen that day! Read the article - http://www.counterpunch.org/vest7.html

Being a man with many ideals and romanticised ideals about life and Love, I stumble back to that place time and time again but I recently wrote a song as an opinion to a video clip I saw on www.youtube.com. A group of individuals decided to state in their divine opinion that Oprah Winfrey is the anti-christ and then right at the end of the clip, they were promoting a book that they wrote. This type of propaganda and fear-type leadership really pissed me off and thus lead me to write a song about it. It’s called Light Your Candles And Say Your Prayers and it can be found on my 2 CD set, which is on sale at all my shows for R100.

I am a journeyman, a man wandering through this life with his ears and eyes open. I am gathering up my tales to tell a new tale of survival through an almost rebellious passion and not allowing this life and its devils to push me down!

THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR SEEMS TO BE YOUR NUMBER ONE INSTRUMENT OF CHOICE THESE DAYS. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT AND DO YOU STILL PLAY ELECTRIC GUITAR FROM TIME TO TIME?

When I play the acoustic guitar, a different type of guitarist comes out of me than when I am playing on the electric. The acoustic has always lent itself to sounds that conjure up imagery of bluesman and ‘folksies’ playing in the corner of the room, with no amplification but singing loudly above the crowd and putting their hearts on the line.

In a sentence: It is the right instrument for me right now.

I will return to the electric again one day.

YOU HAVE TWO RELEASES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. ARE YOU ALWAYS WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL AND CAN WE EXPECT A NEW EP OR ALBUM FROM YOU ANY TIME SOON?

I am always writing. Constantly moving in and out of creation. Inspiration can hit at any moment and you have to ready for it! A new album should be out by middle next year or hopefully sooner. I could release a new selection of material every 3 months but the lack of funding for this, is the problem that is stopping this! Laurie Levine and I are busy working on a collection of songs for an album to be released next year and thus keep your eyes on the press!

I SAW ONE OF YOUR SONGS BEING USED IN THE T.V. PROGRAM “GOING NOWHERE SLOWLY”. DO YOU THINK THE LOCAL MEDIA IS SLOWLY NOTICING LOCAL MUSIC AS A BETTER OPTION TO USE IN TELEVISION AND FILMS?

Yes I would say so. Local companies seemingly want to use more local talent for their adverts and TV programs but the bands with larger profiles always seem to get the bigger ad’s but programs like Going Nowhere Slowly and Cooked are establishing a great platform for the growing smaller independent bands to showcase their work and we applaud them for this.

Only drawback to this is that they generally don’t pay the artists for their contributions but it does help the artists to spread their music into homes where it might not have been able to get into otherwise. I recently got my music into a program produced for the Sports Illustrated magazine and will feature the song “Slow Train”. It should be airing on the MNET channel soon! On the Sports Illustrated website, all the artists featured in the program, will get a spotlight and all the necessary info about each artist/band will be there!

A FRIEND OF MINE WHO HAS SEEN YOUR LIVE SHOW TOLD ME THAT YOUR SONGS ALWAYS TAKE A DIFFERENT DIRECTION EACH TIME BUT THE CHORUSES ALWAYS STAY THE SAME. IS THAT TRUE AND DO YOU FEEL MORE “FREE” MUSICALLY ON STAGE COMPARED TO A RECORDING ENVIRONMENT?

That is partly true yeah. I can’t play a song the same twice but the basic structure will always be there. When I am on stage, I move in and out of whatever I am feeling at the time. An artist also gets bored of playing a song the same way over and over and thus we change little details to keep the song fresh and it also helps to keep the listener coming back for a fresh new look at each song, each time. If a song does not make ME want to cry or tap my foot, how can I expect my audience to get it!

YOU HAVE PERFORMED AT MANY VENUES. DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE AND IF SO WHY DO YOU ALWAYS RETURN TO PERFORM THERE AGAIN?

Very difficult to answer but there are 3 definite places I really enjoy playing because of the atmosphere the venue has, the sound that is great and the people that frequent that place! These will have to be Mercury Live, Zula Sound Bar and The Waiting Room!

YOU ARE ALSO TRAVELLING UP TO JOHANNESBURG IN NOVEMBER TO PERFORM WITH LAURIE LEVINE AND JOSIE FIELD. ARE THERE ANY PLANS FOR PERFORMANCES IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY AS WELL AT A LATER STAGE?

Yes, I leave for Joburg on the 4th of November, to spend with a week with Laurie Levine. After my very successful time at the White Mountain Folk Festival, which was held at the White Mountain resort in the Drakensberg, I am set to go back to Durban in December for 10 days. Planning to fly on the 13th of December. A trip to Dubai and the UK is on the cards for early next year and thus let’s keep our fingers crossed for that!

MUSIC IS OBVIOUSLY IN YOUR BLOOD. DOES YOUR STRONG LOVE AND PASSION FOR MUSIC MAKE YOU CARRY ON WHERE OTHERS WOULD HAVE PROBABLY WALKED AWAY FROM THEIR “DREAM”?

Music is truly the only thing that makes sense to me in this life! It is my destiny to do what I am doing now. One thing that I have learned in this life is that sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing is the same! To a large extent, we choose our destiny and I am very happy with my choice!

ANY COMMENTS OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Thank You: First and foremost, THANK YOU Neil for offering me this interview and for being interested in what I am doing!

Secondly, a huge Thank You needs to go to Sean Wienand, Mad Brew Productions and Maddy Wolmarans for all their hard work and dedication to what I am doing!

Comments: Please check out Laurie Levine’s MYSPACE site @ www.myspace.com/laurielevine and my MYSPACE site @ www.myspace.com/joshuagrierson and Josie Field @ http://www.myspace.com/josiefield

Lastly: If you don’t have a passion for this industry, PLEASE don’t get into it!