Josef Salvat Makes His Way To Manchester
| 9th February 2016
Following the release of eagerly anticipated debut album ‘Night Swim’ next month, electro soul sensation Josef Salvat heads back out on tour, and will be at Gorilla in Manchester on Sunday 6th March. . He’s become a global sensation with single ‘Open Season’ receiving 5 million views and a No.1 in France, with the Aussie’s stirring compared to the likes of James Blake, Peter Gabriel and Lana Del Rey.
With the critically acclaimed ‘In Your Prime’ EP, multiple sold out European tours and a French #1 with Open Season now to his name, songwriter and performer Josef Salvat is ready to reveal his much anticipated debut album Night Swim, set for release on February 19th 2016.
The album is the culmination of a young lifetime’s worth of experience from a true musical craftsman. Small symphonies of late-night electro-soul, with lyrics that address love, lust, obsession and betrayal; working with producer Rich Cooper, Night Swim is a record of the nocturnal shadow world, where love is a game in which there are few winners.
Find out what happened when we sat down with the man himself!
Your cover of Rihanna’s “Diamonds” somewhat threw you in to the music industry. What is it about that song that made you want to cover it in the first place?
I think the cover of “Diamonds” definitely made me commercial. I had been writing my own stuff before that, before getting signed. I’ve covered a lot of songs in my own personal time, that one just worked for me nicely – which surprised me. I quite enjoy singing it despite it being the type of voice I don’t use in my own material. Yeah, it just worked and people liked it, then it got on the ad.
Are you an artist that believes it is important to write your own songs?
Yeah, I do think it is really important, especially for a first timer. Particularly today, because you have things like Idol and X Factor. I’d started from a basis of writing songs, so that process is really important to me – an essential part of managing my life on a daily basis. I really love writing with other people, and moving forward, I really want to do a lot more of it. But this first album is 100% by me, and it was really important to prove to myself that I could make an album that I wrote – because otherwise it kind of felt like I shouldn’t be doing what I was doing.
That’s not to say that I judge anyone else for that – some of the best songs and best moments in music have come from a meeting of various talents and that is great. For me personally though, it was important that I wrote my first album.
So do you have a particular theme that you write about or is it all dependent on your mood?
I mean, it is definitely dependent on my mood the day that I write it, but I guess unconsciously I am drawn to life being quite bittersweet. Like when you’re happy – that ends. And that is kind of sad. When you are with a bunch of friends and then they start to leave one by one, and you are alone. It is so amazing for the three days that you are together and then people start to go one by one, which is tragic. [laughter] There can be humour in the most tragic of circumstances and there can be pain in the happiest of circumstances, which I think is really interesting. How we as humans take that in our stride. Unconsciously, that motif runs through everything – but I didn’t realise that until I sat down with the album finished and realised I keep writing about this thing, despite them being written on a particular day, at a particular time, in a particular mood.
Who would you say your inspirations are, in music or in general?
I moved to the UK because I found a lot of the artists coming out of here very inspiring. I’m inspired by people that go to the extremes of who they are, I find it very brave. It is something I would like to do, that on a daily basis I try to muster the courage to do. I am inspired by people who just live that truth. Whether that is obvious examples like David Bowie, or whether it is people that I meet going out, like some of my closest friends.
Musically, I am inspired by 101 things. I have an incredibly broad musical taste, so that particular song will inspire me at that particular time – I don’t have one artist or one genre that I am particularly inspired by in my life. Broadly speaking, it is people that do their thing to the extent that they can do it.
What has been your most memorable experience so far in your career?
There have been a few. Last year, I did a tour in France. I had a headline show at this place called the Trianon in Paris. It is a really incredible venue, imagine a typical French musical hall. It was amazing. It was sold out and was the biggest headline show I have done. The crowd was mental, and they stayed that way the entire time I was on stage. That was really amazing.
You are originally from Australia, but you are currently based in the UK. Do you see yourself ever moving back or do you feel that this is where you need to be to progress?
No, I think one of the best music scenes in the world is Australia. Certainly the best albums that came out last year, for me, were Australian. The Tame Impala album, an amazing musician Courtney Barnett, and Chet Faker’s new album hit Europe last year as well. I don’t really think about that. I just will be wherever I find myself. If stuff draws me back to Australia, I will move back. I love it here, and I love where I am from. I don’t want to sign up for something that will make me choose if I don’t need to. I will be happy with any outcome as long as I get to keep doing what I am doing.
To buy tickets to Josef’s Manchester show, click here.
Follow @josefsalvat on Twitter