Right at the beginning of his venture into solo musicianship, Josh Barnett’s wonderful mix of harmonies and an ever-growing band is proving to be the start of some very exciting new music. he speaks about how starting Jooloosooboo has given him the space to explore personal songwriting.
This is your first solo project. How did it start and how are you finding writing alone?
It started with recording a few demos myself, then with Jonny, and sending the tunes to some friends. The original plan was to get my friends to help craft a release. However, being asked to play two Nice People shows wasn’t something I wanted to turn down so the live shows have come first. It’s something I am thankful for; rehearsing for a live show has changed the songs massively. It’s something I wouldn’t have been able to do myself. Writing alone feels amazing but, without having a second pair of ears to help me, I think I would have gone insane.
You are a member of several other bands, (Tall Talker, Pravitas, Whatjacallit). Is Jooloosooboo a way for you to explore new things?
Certainly. This is my only project where I write the melody, harmony and lyrics. With this project, I feel there are so many instruments I can mess around with. However, I quickly realised working with other people is the best way. The tunes now wouldn’t be as good without the help of the band (Jonny Gleadell of Segel, Adam Fenwick of Dusseldorf, Adam Greener and Alexander Kershaw of The Magic Eye Pictures, Tom Nixon of Nice People).
Which artists would you say have influenced you most on the project?
Andy Shauf’s The Party influenced me to make the first demo. It all stems from getting into The Beatles and getting into way more pop bands. At the moment I am trying to rip off The Zombies, Scott Walker, Sun Kil Moon, Nick Drake, Jonathon Wilson and Richard Dawson.
What’s next for Jooloosooboo?
Record the songs and release them in some way; I want to get more people involved. Who knows, hopefully we shall release something grandiose. I’m on a path towards something. I’m not forging anything so far, more just throwing shit and seeing if enough of it will stick.