Interview: Josa Barck - An Exile's Guide to Amnesty (Pt. I)

Josa Barck is a unique character in the European Pop-sphere. With an extraordinary musicality he demonstrates with equal joy and ability how you can challenge the ordinary Pop-schematics. There is something unmistakably optimistic evolving around the Danish artist Josa Barck. It manifests itself in the lyrics as well as the dreamy soundscapes - The entire universe seems engulfed in an essential underlying trust in the future, without ever losing sight of the the imminent beauty of the present. Josa Barck fits in, right between the razor sharp cheekbones of David Bowie and the quircky underplayed absurdity of David Byrne, and has in recent years found inspiration in the songwriting and production of the late 70s and 80s, but within the framework of modern indie productions, and with clear references to his earlier Dream-pop and Psych-pop releases.

By Kamil Bobin

Discovered via Musosoup

Hey Josa Barck, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?

Hi! I’m not entirely sure what exactly got me into it, I suppose its a mixture of many different things. I think my first memory of really feeling that this was something I wanted to do, was as a kid, spending afternoons with my fathers old record collection. Hours and hours, as a child, just going through all kinds of music from the sixties and seventies definitely made an impression on me. Later on in life, what has kept me going, is a mixture of the people around you supporting you, and getting good experiences when actually playing.

How do you balance your time in the studio with other commitments such as a part-time job, family, admin?

I would be lying if I said there was any balance. It’s utter chaos to be honest - but you slowly learn to navigate it. For me its about figuring out what the bare necessities are - what are the things besides your music that just have to function in a steady way (bills, rent, bla bla bla), and then arrange your life as a musician around that. Im happy to live a more simple life, with a smaller income and less luxuries if it means I can spend more time playing music - So thats what I try to do.

Your latest release is 'An Exile's Guide to Amnesty (Pt. I)'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?

The most unusual thing that happened during the making of the album, actually happened with our very first single ‘The Future’.

At the time I weren’t aware that an album was coming -And moreover I wasn’t really sure where to go musically, so we were just playing around in the studio.

But it was quite clear for us, as soon as we started the recordings - There seemed to be just one direction to take this song, no matter what we threw at it, there was really just one way to go. As soon as we gave up trying to force it somewhere else, things fell really quickly into place.

We decided to just go along with it, and to go all-in - and we were having so much fun.
After that there seemed to be a path layed out for what could be an album - And it gave me a framework to start writing within.

The studio process itself is very straight forward and not exactly full of surprises. Before I start recording, the song is usually very ‘finished’ in terms of overall sound, arrangement, melodies etc. A lot of the basic creative decision making is already there in demo-format - So a lot to the studiowork is about recreating this, or translating it into proper playing. Obviously ideas come up - and sometimes tracks take on completely different lifes once you open them up in the studio.

Where did you get the inspiration for this album?

I suppose there is two kinds of inspirations - The one you know about, and the one you don’t. Whatever you are in to at the moment interplays with all the music that’s become a part of you throughout your life.

Specifically for this album, I have been very caught up in a lot of amazing recordings from the late seventies and eighties, that i’d not really listened to a lot before.

It seems that there is a sound of an entire decade that has opened itself to me. Once everyone had this sort of ironic distance to the music from the late 70s and 80s - You know - Major shoulder pads, corny synthesizers exaggerated reverbs and all that stuff.

To me, It is an aesthetic that I have been culturally blind towards - and there seems to be an underlying sense of apocalypse beneath it all, with the Cold War, the fear of nuclear disasters and whatnot - it all serves as an incredibly strong counterpart to the often very polished music. I find that very relatable to the world of today.

How long did you work on the 'An Exile's Guide to Amnesty (Pt. I)'? Was it an easy process for you?

It’s been quite a long process making the album. when I started the writing the music, It was important to me, to try and make the process less stressful than with the previous records I’d made. When you write, record and produce everything on your own, you really can beat yourself up sometimes - lots of self doubt, anxiety. When you mix that with too tight a deadline - It can really mess you up - I think I managed to keep the stress and the expectations somewhat at bay - At least until we got nearer the actual deadline for mixing - So overall its been a very positive experience.

The actual recording and production process was pretty straight forward - Once I start the actual recordings, I am usually pretty sure about where I want things to go. I run my own recording studio in Copenhagen, so we had the opportunity to spend all the time we needed to really get into the details of the recordings. Having decided not to mix the album myself, it was very reassuring to know, that at the end of the day It would all be sent off to the amazing Brian Batz for mixing, and he would be our second set of ears.

Is there a hidden meaning in any of your music?

Well - In a way there is. - Liberating myself of the idea that a that a song must have a certain specific message or meaning - or has to be about something - has changed the way I write songs. I find that I write much better songs when I let go of this. The worst songs always come out when I decide ‘Oh - I wanna write a song about this or that’.

I usually dont know myself what a song is really about until long after it’s finished. They take on meaning by themselves - in time. So in that sense - there’s almost nothing but hidden meaning in the music. And also - It doesn’t always have to mean anything - Words can be beautiful in themselves - just being words.

What interests or hobbies do you have outside of music?

Honestly, not that many. The rest of my time (part from occasionally day jobbing) I dedicate to being with the people I love. I always wanted to learn how to tapdance - But never did. Probably never will. Bought the shoes though. The shoes are nice.

How do you find yourself in the music business? When you started out in music, did you know it would be like this?

I don’t find myself too well in the business part of things. To me its just something you have to deal with, and get over-with, for the fun part to work out. Like doing the dishes in order to have a nice dinner. Only much worse. To me the music industry seems to be designed by extroverts to be run by all the ‘cool kids’. And if you’re slightly introvert and not part of the club - it can be hard to navigate in. I think it often serves a lot of other things than the music - And a lot of amazing music never gets the attention it deserves because of this.

How do you nurture your own creativity?

It might sound a bit pretentious, but I consider creativity as a way of being in the world, more than a state you step in and out of.

It is kinda the glasses you see things through, I may sound a bit full of myself, but it feels like it’s a part of your brain that is going most of the time - Not that it’s constantly producing stuff, but you're kind of tuned in to it, in your everyday life, and unconsciously processing stuff in a different way. In that sense, nurturing your creativity is really just allowing yourself to function in that way. I guess you cant really practice a frame of mind, but maybe you can practice being mindfull of which ‘filters’ you perceive your surroundings through, and to enhance your aesthetic experience of the world. I find that meditation, when practiced regularly, de-clutters my head and helps me being present in a way that, I guess, nurtures creativity.

When it comes to actual creating something, it’s a bit more pragmatic, simply about making room for it - Creating boundaries of time and space where you can feel undisturbed. That - and procrastination.

What are your plans for the future?

In the immediate future - We are releasing Pt. II of the album this spring, and playing a bunch of shows in Germany and Denmark that I am looking very much forward to.

In the bigger picture, I guess just more of the same. More songs, more concerts bla bla. I love it, it’s what I always wanted to do, and I’m fortunate enough that it seems to be working out alright, so i couldn’t wish for anything else.