Going through the motions as a new artist is just as difficult as moving onto that cliched, ‘difficult third album’. To assume that bands just ride a wave of momentum and let the opportunities roll in is nonsense. They have to work hard at it. Josef Salvat’s story is one of years of writing, prepping, saying no and eventually building up to the point he’s at today. And he only has two songs to his name.
Those two tracks - ‘This Life’ and ‘Hustler’ - are enough to propel him into the public consciousness, all ears alert on the fact that he’s an exciting new solo artist. What they don’t hear about is the years preceding. The decisions, decisions, decisions that Salvat had to take.
He moved to London to pursue music. Studying in Canberra - a place which is noted by Salvat himself as the “drug and porn capital” of Australia, while also being the standard hangout for working politicians - Josef played shows at university, and it was all fairly comfortable. “I knew a lot more people and a lot more people knew me. They knew I played music and so it was a much more natural thing for me. It was easy.” With the London move, he was exposed to a city of various fragmented ideas. Communities were there, opportunities too, but it remains a tough place to settle into. “Everyone is doing their own thing...it has been tricky.”
His first fully produced non-demo changed all this. ‘This Life’ emerged at the very beginning of the year, where post-Christmas bloated blues defined the agenda, everyone scurrying around the re-gather their bearings. The only thing required was a downtrodden pop song. “Somebody described the lyrics as 'maudlin'" Josef explains, of a style he’s already being distinctly attached to. “But being too indulgent, too wallowing - even if I’m in that emotional state you always have to offset it with something else.”
In ‘This Life’, that offset comes in the form of quick, cutting lines. Witty quips like “I just need to tell my story / if you’re drunk I’ll get done quicker” are brilliantly self-aware, a quick connecting point between listener and storyteller. The truth is, straight-up sadness isn’t Salvat’s game. “I get to this point where it’s like ‘get over yourself, Josef!’... I don’t want to be all ‘woe is me, stick a record on and stare at a photo of a 1940s pin-up and cry and smoke.’”
While there's a clear awareness of where he's currently at, where he feels he deserves to be - at one point he states "touch wood, I will have a career that allows me to put out a lot of material" - beyond any ambition or hard-work ethic is an awareness that musicians are here to do their own thing. His involves humour, poking fun at the confessional guy behind the microphone. "Listen to David Bowie’s stuff: It’s really intelligent. He never took himself too seriously."
Salvat's still very much in development, even after years of practice, the odd shortcoming. But it's relief that coats these experiences. A sense of gratitude that sure, he might not have skyrocketed years back with rougher versions of these songs, but he wouldn't have been cut out for it anyhow. "In hindsight I could look back and be thankful about things going slowly." Things are about to speed up for Josef. Infact the process is well underway. But you'd be hard-picked to find anyone more prepared for the experience.
Josef Salvat headlines London's Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, Wednesday 21st August.
Those two tracks - ‘This Life’ and ‘Hustler’ - are enough to propel him into the public consciousness, all ears alert on the fact that he’s an exciting new solo artist. What they don’t hear about is the years preceding. The decisions, decisions, decisions that Salvat had to take.
He moved to London to pursue music. Studying in Canberra - a place which is noted by Salvat himself as the “drug and porn capital” of Australia, while also being the standard hangout for working politicians - Josef played shows at university, and it was all fairly comfortable. “I knew a lot more people and a lot more people knew me. They knew I played music and so it was a much more natural thing for me. It was easy.” With the London move, he was exposed to a city of various fragmented ideas. Communities were there, opportunities too, but it remains a tough place to settle into. “Everyone is doing their own thing...it has been tricky.”
His first fully produced non-demo changed all this. ‘This Life’ emerged at the very beginning of the year, where post-Christmas bloated blues defined the agenda, everyone scurrying around the re-gather their bearings. The only thing required was a downtrodden pop song. “Somebody described the lyrics as 'maudlin'" Josef explains, of a style he’s already being distinctly attached to. “But being too indulgent, too wallowing - even if I’m in that emotional state you always have to offset it with something else.”
In ‘This Life’, that offset comes in the form of quick, cutting lines. Witty quips like “I just need to tell my story / if you’re drunk I’ll get done quicker” are brilliantly self-aware, a quick connecting point between listener and storyteller. The truth is, straight-up sadness isn’t Salvat’s game. “I get to this point where it’s like ‘get over yourself, Josef!’... I don’t want to be all ‘woe is me, stick a record on and stare at a photo of a 1940s pin-up and cry and smoke.’”
While there's a clear awareness of where he's currently at, where he feels he deserves to be - at one point he states "touch wood, I will have a career that allows me to put out a lot of material" - beyond any ambition or hard-work ethic is an awareness that musicians are here to do their own thing. His involves humour, poking fun at the confessional guy behind the microphone. "Listen to David Bowie’s stuff: It’s really intelligent. He never took himself too seriously."
Salvat's still very much in development, even after years of practice, the odd shortcoming. But it's relief that coats these experiences. A sense of gratitude that sure, he might not have skyrocketed years back with rougher versions of these songs, but he wouldn't have been cut out for it anyhow. "In hindsight I could look back and be thankful about things going slowly." Things are about to speed up for Josef. Infact the process is well underway. But you'd be hard-picked to find anyone more prepared for the experience.
Josef Salvat headlines London's Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, Wednesday 21st August.