Meet Hopeless Romantic Josef Salvat
Fueled by the intricacies of romance, Josef Salvat is an artist that is opening his mind, body, and soul with his forthcoming release ‘modern anxiety.’ The past three years saw the singer-songwriter delving deep into life experiences and creating authentic pop tracks with deep meanings and feel-good productions. Josef’s journey to this musical and personal freedom wasn’t an easy one. Growing up, he was plagued by the cultural expectation of what it meant to be a “man” while also dealing with body dysmorphia. Josef didn’t let this rule his life, instead, he focused his energies on music, uprooting himself to pursue his dream. Josef released an array of singles leading up to his 2016 debut album ‘Night Swim, ‘ which was written between the ages of 18 and 23. The record is an inside look into his past relationships and mentalities, creating an intimate listening experience. With his upcoming album, Josef Salvat is continuing to share his growth and where it’s taken him so far.
We were able to chat with him about everything from his latest single ‘paper moons’, creating his album, sexuality, and more…
Listening to your latest single ‘paper moons’ almost feels like a cinematic experience. Was this your intention? What inspired you to create this track?
There’s a strong undercurrent of frustration in this song, and I wanted the music to reflect that. It’s about loving someone battling with addiction, and how fruitless an exercise that can be if they aren’t willing to also help themselves. It can be a lonely, empty place sometimes, you can feel like you’re going to explode, but you can’t because that won’t help them at all. So you compose yourself and start again. I wanted the music to reflect that interior struggle, which underpins the lyrics.
Sonically it also nods to the anxious drug-fuelled nights my friend was having, which would climax in these tear-stained phone calls I would get every morning, where I would just be there trying to talk him off the ledge. It was after one of those calls that the song was written.
The visual for the record is stunning! What do you want fans to take away after watching?
Thank you! Hopefully it helped dip people into the sonic of the song. Like a more immersive experience of the music. If people had even a small sense of that, then I’m happy.
You have a new album coming out soon! What was your creative process when making the record? Did you experience any difficult moments while creating the album?
I started writing the album in 2016. I wrote my first album entirely on my own. This one was a lot more collaborative with a lot of back and forth between LA, Stockholm, and London writing with people. I learned so, so much and met some incredible people. But that process is kind of like blind dating – there’s no guaranteed great sex (or great song) at the end of the day. There are some frogs to kiss.
In terms of a difficult moment – I suppose it was that a lot of songs were written across the years and the greatest challenge was first figuring out when to stop writing and actually make the album and then pulling together the songs that told the story most succinctly, that worked together and served the broader idea behind the album.
Your first project, ‘Night Swim’ was such a dynamic and fantastic album – I’m obsessed with ‘Every Night,’ ‘Closer’ and ‘Paradise.’ How will ‘modern anxiety’ be different? How will it be similar?
Modern Anxiety feels a little more linear to me and a little more focussed than Night Swim. It’s a bit more interested in the mundane and feel a little claustrophobic, and perhaps less hopeful in parts that was reflective of where my head and my heart were at while writing it. But I feel a connect to Night Swim lyrically and melodically. It’s still me.
Some of your songs and videos touch on the fluidity of sexuality. Why do you think it is essential for fans and music listeners alike to hear and see this diversity?
Ultimately I’m just writing about the truth of my experience, because that’s what I have to offer. The world is a very diverse place, and the great thing about making music or any kind of art is you get to reflect that, you don’t have to homogenise to succeed. You are ultimately throwing your perspective at the world and going: ‘Is it like this for you sometimes?’. As a listener, I can get massive comfort when I find an artist or a song that makes sense to me, or touches on an experience I have had that I didn’t realise other people had experienced. It’s kind of the point for me.
Let’s rewind a bit, do you remember the artist that inspired your “musical awakening”?
I feel like I’m always having a musical awakening. It’s still bloody going, it’s so exhausting. I’ll hear something, and it will alter everything I’m doing, the way I think, and the way I create, the types of melodies I want to write, everything. So there have been so many of those artists. The first albums of Coldplay were super influential. And I had a greatest hits CD of Eurythmics. I remember listening to them to learn how to write a song. Also, I loved Björk and her production and her sonic cinema. And then voices like Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf and Nina Simone. I wanted to communicate like them.
If you could collaborate with any artist (alive or not), who would it be and why?
I would absolutely love to collaborate with Rosalia I think she’s amazing. I don’t know what a collaboration would look like, but I would just love to sing with her.
What is your favourite aspect of falling in love? Do you believe in a person having only one soulmate?
I definitely believe in soulmates, but I think there are most likely a couple floating about out there. I get this feeling of invincibility and limitlessness when I fall in love. I get shit done. Nothing scares me for a moment. The most wonderful things are possible. I love that feeling.
Where do you hope to be as an artist in 5 years?
Still working, grown, and evolved. Challenged and satisfied
Make sure to check out Josef Salvat latest video for his single ‘paper moons’ below…
