interview with...
Australian Josef Salvat has just released his debut album ‘Nightswim’. Filled to the brim with soulful and introspective ditties, he’s currently touring the globe in support of his first effort. In an underground corner of Brussels’ Hotel Bloom, Josef took the time to answer Keys and Chords’ questions. Josef turned out to be jovial, kind, energetic and talented. Exactly as we like our artists.
Julian De Backer: “The song ‘Hustler’ is my favourite. It’s the highlight of the album.”
Josef Salvat: “Awesome. That means you actually like it.”
Julian: “I’m guessing you’re not a hustler, so where did the inspiration come from?”
Josef: “No, indeed, and if I ever had been a hustler, I would never say. ‘Hustler’ is about that negotiation you have when you’re young. Most obviously, it’s about sexuality. It’s about trying to figure out your place, and who you are. Whether you’re a good person or a bad person. I don’t know if you went through that when you were younger?”
Julian: “I was quite the wallflower.”
Josef: “Did you always psychologically view yourself as a good kid? I was a good kid, I was very well behaved, but … sometimes I did bad stuff. I had a mean streak, a darkness. I would hurt people on purpose. Exploring how to be an adult, what kind of human you’re going to be, trying to be loved as well: that was never very straightforward for me.”
Julian: “Did you have to revisit that place to write the song?”
Josef: “No, I was there when it happened. I wrote it in 2009. Ages ago.”
Julian: “Ah, yes, when you were 21. Bordering on being an adult. Not a boy, not yet a man.”
Josef: “21 is a weird state. You think you are an adult, but you’re not. Was I 21? I was at the University …”
Julian: “You were born in 1988, right?”
Josef: “Yes, 20-21. That’s when I wrote ‘Hustler’. I wrote it straight after a particularly harrowing experience that I put myself through. ‘Why did you do that?’ …”
Julian: “How does a 7-year old song evolve between the first version and the one you recorded?”
Josef: “It’s surprisingly intact. If you have ever heard an acoustic version of ‘Hustler’, that’s how it was written. Nothing’s changed, because it didn’t need to be changed. It came out quite perfectly. It’s one of the fastest songs I’ve written, and one of the most solid and self-assured. Straightaway, I just knew what it was about. Most of my other songs will be regarded as long-winded. ‘I’ll have to edit that!’. I never had to edit ‘Hustler’. Remember that song in ‘Romeo + Juliet’ by Baz Luhrmann? ‘Kissing You’ by Des’ree? ‘Ooh ooh ooh the aching’. I had that in my head. I wanted to try to do something like that.”
Julian: “I’m not a songwriter, but I can imagine that some songs go through lots of phases, before you settle on the final one. And even then, the doubt will remain. ‘Is this the best version? Do I have something better on my sleeve?’ …”
Josef: “Some songs are definitely like that. For my next album, I don’t want a single song that encourages those questions. The best songs are the ones without questions. I regret the times I had to ask those questions. I love all my songs, of course …”
Julian: “They’re your children.”
Josef: “Yeah, in a gross way. ‘Paradise’, for example, I would always ask myself: ‘Is there a chorus? Does this song have a chorus?’ …”
Julian: “Or: ‘Do you need a chorus?’ …”
Josef: “My ‘Paradise’ demo is not too far off the final version. It’s a pop song, so, yes, it needed a chorus. Some lyrics are heavy-handed and come with a lot of melodrama. Added strings and tremolo accentuate the melodrama. The melody can also be very melodramatic! Whoa!”
Julian: “It can go overboard.”
Josef: “I think it does. I’ll end up asking myself the ‘why?’-question. Followed by: ‘Who cares?’.”
Julian: “It’s okay. You’re a musician. You’re allowed to overact. You’re not an actor.”
Josef Salvat: “Awesome. That means you actually like it.”
Julian: “I’m guessing you’re not a hustler, so where did the inspiration come from?”
Josef: “No, indeed, and if I ever had been a hustler, I would never say. ‘Hustler’ is about that negotiation you have when you’re young. Most obviously, it’s about sexuality. It’s about trying to figure out your place, and who you are. Whether you’re a good person or a bad person. I don’t know if you went through that when you were younger?”
Julian: “I was quite the wallflower.”
Josef: “Did you always psychologically view yourself as a good kid? I was a good kid, I was very well behaved, but … sometimes I did bad stuff. I had a mean streak, a darkness. I would hurt people on purpose. Exploring how to be an adult, what kind of human you’re going to be, trying to be loved as well: that was never very straightforward for me.”
Julian: “Did you have to revisit that place to write the song?”
Josef: “No, I was there when it happened. I wrote it in 2009. Ages ago.”
Julian: “Ah, yes, when you were 21. Bordering on being an adult. Not a boy, not yet a man.”
Josef: “21 is a weird state. You think you are an adult, but you’re not. Was I 21? I was at the University …”
Julian: “You were born in 1988, right?”
Josef: “Yes, 20-21. That’s when I wrote ‘Hustler’. I wrote it straight after a particularly harrowing experience that I put myself through. ‘Why did you do that?’ …”
Julian: “How does a 7-year old song evolve between the first version and the one you recorded?”
Josef: “It’s surprisingly intact. If you have ever heard an acoustic version of ‘Hustler’, that’s how it was written. Nothing’s changed, because it didn’t need to be changed. It came out quite perfectly. It’s one of the fastest songs I’ve written, and one of the most solid and self-assured. Straightaway, I just knew what it was about. Most of my other songs will be regarded as long-winded. ‘I’ll have to edit that!’. I never had to edit ‘Hustler’. Remember that song in ‘Romeo + Juliet’ by Baz Luhrmann? ‘Kissing You’ by Des’ree? ‘Ooh ooh ooh the aching’. I had that in my head. I wanted to try to do something like that.”
Julian: “I’m not a songwriter, but I can imagine that some songs go through lots of phases, before you settle on the final one. And even then, the doubt will remain. ‘Is this the best version? Do I have something better on my sleeve?’ …”
Josef: “Some songs are definitely like that. For my next album, I don’t want a single song that encourages those questions. The best songs are the ones without questions. I regret the times I had to ask those questions. I love all my songs, of course …”
Julian: “They’re your children.”
Josef: “Yeah, in a gross way. ‘Paradise’, for example, I would always ask myself: ‘Is there a chorus? Does this song have a chorus?’ …”
Julian: “Or: ‘Do you need a chorus?’ …”
Josef: “My ‘Paradise’ demo is not too far off the final version. It’s a pop song, so, yes, it needed a chorus. Some lyrics are heavy-handed and come with a lot of melodrama. Added strings and tremolo accentuate the melodrama. The melody can also be very melodramatic! Whoa!”
Julian: “It can go overboard.”
Josef: “I think it does. I’ll end up asking myself the ‘why?’-question. Followed by: ‘Who cares?’.”
Julian: “It’s okay. You’re a musician. You’re allowed to overact. You’re not an actor.”
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Josef: “Sometimes! But it’s something I try to avoid.”
Julian: “It has something to do with age as well. Gabriel Rios, the Puerto Rican-Belgian musician, told me about the difference between his first album and his most recent, ‘This Marauder’s Midnight’. ‘It’s youth’, he said, ‘You brandish all your weapons. Use all the colours.’ The big sounds had been replaced by introspective hushes and whispers. Both approaches work. He matured as an artist. I’m guessing, by the time your fourth album comes along, it’ll be miles removed from this one.”
Josef: “Yeah. Even on this album: there’s six years between the oldest and the newest song. ‘Hustler’ is one of the most mature, one of the most sophisticated songs on the album. ‘Till I Found You’ was written a year or two after that. Also the mastery over the particular subject I was writing about has changed. Knowing what you want to say, and how you want to say it. I realised I’ve been thinking about this notion of the hustler in life for two years. ‘Till I Found You’ was the first time I was in an emotional agony. Like a teenager, as opposed to this wisened (or wizened) old man writing ‘Hustler’. The mental state that you’re in matters a lot.”
Julian: “Weird that the oldest song should be the most mature on an emotional level.”
Josef: “Because I understood what I was writing about.”
Julian: “When you make a musical voyage from 2009 till now: how many songs fell behind the stove while making dinner, to paraphrase Tom Waits?”
Josef: “So many. I had a pool of 40 songs that I had put forth for the album, out of a pool of maybe 200 songs. They’re all shit, except for those 40. Then out of those 40, we walked into the studio to work on 15. There’s definitely a culling process. And it’s not necessarily the best songs. The album was written as a body of work. It’s the songs that hold together thematically, because I never controlled myself within genres when I was writing. It was hard. I asked Rich Cooper, who produced it with me: ‘Which songs do you like, Rich?’ Because he had to work on them for the next few months! In my head, he had his taste. That was a sense of coherency. Because I couldn’t tell. I wrote them. I used his vision. He wasn’t aware that I was …”
Julian: “Channelling him.”
Josef: “Yes, but just to narrow stuff down.”
Julian: “That’s what a good producer ought to do.”
Josef: “Exactly.”
Julian: “Will you ever work on those 25 songs that didn’t make the cut?”
Josef: “No. I’m very sick of a lot of that material. I want to write new stuff. The album was finished in 2014. I’ve been sitting on it for such a long time, waiting for bureaucratic bullshit to happen. I really need to close that chapter. I need to say goodbye to all that material. I wrote it as a boy and as an adolescent. And now I’m a man. That sounds like a stupid thing to say, but you change.”
Julian: “Now I’m a man!”
Josef: “Yeah, but I did change. I’m an adult. I’m not singing from a youth perspective. Between the age of 15-25, you can get away with it. But after 25, aw, come on …”
Julian: “Grow up.”
Josef: “Yeah. Quite. Now I’m interested in different things.”
Julian: “You asked your producer for advice. Imagine if you were your own producer: you could have picked 15 other songs. It would have been a completely different album.”
Josef: “Not entirely. There were a few givens on the album. I liked a few songs that Rich didn’t, and I let them go. I was cool about that. We were fairly on the same page. I produce everything to a certain extent before I go into the studio. Except in certain cases, where everything works on its own. I never knew what to do with ‘Hustler’, because it just worked on piano. We developed it together from scratch. Everything else was guided by production.
But yeah, we weren’t that far apart. That’s why we work together well, because we have a similar vision. We are opposites, but we share the same vision. For this album. I don’t know if we’ll work together for the next one. I’ll always work with Rich whenever he’s got time, he’s one of my best friends. We’ve been working for more than five years, even before I officially moved to London. But I don’t want to make my next album with Rich, because then I’ll make the same album.”
Julian: “Or not. Remember the three collaborations between Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson. Three completely different albums, three absolute classics. They don’t sound alike. Working with Rich for a second time could work.”
Julian: “It has something to do with age as well. Gabriel Rios, the Puerto Rican-Belgian musician, told me about the difference between his first album and his most recent, ‘This Marauder’s Midnight’. ‘It’s youth’, he said, ‘You brandish all your weapons. Use all the colours.’ The big sounds had been replaced by introspective hushes and whispers. Both approaches work. He matured as an artist. I’m guessing, by the time your fourth album comes along, it’ll be miles removed from this one.”
Josef: “Yeah. Even on this album: there’s six years between the oldest and the newest song. ‘Hustler’ is one of the most mature, one of the most sophisticated songs on the album. ‘Till I Found You’ was written a year or two after that. Also the mastery over the particular subject I was writing about has changed. Knowing what you want to say, and how you want to say it. I realised I’ve been thinking about this notion of the hustler in life for two years. ‘Till I Found You’ was the first time I was in an emotional agony. Like a teenager, as opposed to this wisened (or wizened) old man writing ‘Hustler’. The mental state that you’re in matters a lot.”
Julian: “Weird that the oldest song should be the most mature on an emotional level.”
Josef: “Because I understood what I was writing about.”
Julian: “When you make a musical voyage from 2009 till now: how many songs fell behind the stove while making dinner, to paraphrase Tom Waits?”
Josef: “So many. I had a pool of 40 songs that I had put forth for the album, out of a pool of maybe 200 songs. They’re all shit, except for those 40. Then out of those 40, we walked into the studio to work on 15. There’s definitely a culling process. And it’s not necessarily the best songs. The album was written as a body of work. It’s the songs that hold together thematically, because I never controlled myself within genres when I was writing. It was hard. I asked Rich Cooper, who produced it with me: ‘Which songs do you like, Rich?’ Because he had to work on them for the next few months! In my head, he had his taste. That was a sense of coherency. Because I couldn’t tell. I wrote them. I used his vision. He wasn’t aware that I was …”
Julian: “Channelling him.”
Josef: “Yes, but just to narrow stuff down.”
Julian: “That’s what a good producer ought to do.”
Josef: “Exactly.”
Julian: “Will you ever work on those 25 songs that didn’t make the cut?”
Josef: “No. I’m very sick of a lot of that material. I want to write new stuff. The album was finished in 2014. I’ve been sitting on it for such a long time, waiting for bureaucratic bullshit to happen. I really need to close that chapter. I need to say goodbye to all that material. I wrote it as a boy and as an adolescent. And now I’m a man. That sounds like a stupid thing to say, but you change.”
Julian: “Now I’m a man!”
Josef: “Yeah, but I did change. I’m an adult. I’m not singing from a youth perspective. Between the age of 15-25, you can get away with it. But after 25, aw, come on …”
Julian: “Grow up.”
Josef: “Yeah. Quite. Now I’m interested in different things.”
Julian: “You asked your producer for advice. Imagine if you were your own producer: you could have picked 15 other songs. It would have been a completely different album.”
Josef: “Not entirely. There were a few givens on the album. I liked a few songs that Rich didn’t, and I let them go. I was cool about that. We were fairly on the same page. I produce everything to a certain extent before I go into the studio. Except in certain cases, where everything works on its own. I never knew what to do with ‘Hustler’, because it just worked on piano. We developed it together from scratch. Everything else was guided by production.
But yeah, we weren’t that far apart. That’s why we work together well, because we have a similar vision. We are opposites, but we share the same vision. For this album. I don’t know if we’ll work together for the next one. I’ll always work with Rich whenever he’s got time, he’s one of my best friends. We’ve been working for more than five years, even before I officially moved to London. But I don’t want to make my next album with Rich, because then I’ll make the same album.”
Julian: “Or not. Remember the three collaborations between Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson. Three completely different albums, three absolute classics. They don’t sound alike. Working with Rich for a second time could work.”
Josef: “True. I think so, but Michael Jackson already made some albums (with the Jacksons, ed.) before working with Quincy. I’m hungry for that experience. I’ll get Rich-goggles if I work with Rich again. I’ll see everything through his eyes.”
Julian: “When a joke fails, the punchline goes to waste. Your ‘Punchline’, however, is a very good song. Dark, brooding. On a superficial level, it could be a radio hit. Until you listen to the lyrics.”
Josef: “Most of my songs are like that. That’s why they’re so difficult to take to the radio.”
Julian: “Lyrical dissonance. Some people never listen to the lyrics.”
Josef: “‘Every Breath You Take’ as a wedding song, yes. Absolutely.”
Julian: “I do hope people will listen to your lyrics, and not just take the songs for granted.”
Josef: “Me too. You can’t control that. If you don’t listen to my lyrics, my music – at least on this album – doesn’t make any sense. It won’t feel like it has any gravity. When you do listen to the lyrics, it pulls together. And you understand why it’s so light. Then all the decisions make sense. Some will even sound a bit cheap. People will like it, because of that marriage. Or they will at least sense that there is something there. I’m not someone who listens to lyrics.”
Julian: “Never?”
Josef: “Never. I can never remember lyrics.”
Julian: “Really? I’m a big lyric fan.”
Josef: “Are you? I’m very grateful for all the lyric fans out there, because that’s the only reason my music makes any sense. That’s all I care about. But I only ever listen to the music. 99% of the time, I think the lyrics are shit, so I’ll just tune them out. If the lyrics are amazing, e.g. Leonard Cohen’s. ‘Bird On A Wire’, for example. He’s incredible. Like when you read a good book. Whoever is writing it, is saying exactly how you have felt a thousand times. ‘Like a drunk in some old midnight choir’, I see it. It’s so clear, that visual. When lyrics are like that, I listen to them.”
Julian: “One of the best you wrote is: ‘Where we’re heading, time no longer cares’ in ‘Paradise’. Has that ever been true for you?”
Josef: “Totally. That’s the goal of every Friday night. Or every night for that matter. Any time I don’t have something to do the next day. ‘Paradise’ is about total oblivion. An empty sentiment. Suspending time. That’s kind of a fantasy, right? Not literally timeless, but just those moments where you’re completely lost in that moment.”
Julian: “Your album sounds quite cinematic. I can always imagine a movie scene, or a spot on the soundtrack. Even the titles are short, precise and to the point, as if they’re movie titles. ‘Nightswim’, ‘Hustler’, ‘Closer’. Concise. Rat-a-tat-tat. Which is nice.”
Josef: “I don’t like long song titles. They’re not necessarily more specific. I’m not a fan of that specificity. The cinematic thing? Yes, the album was a very visual process. Both the writing and the production. One of the first things Rich and I had to learn … well, that Rich had to learn (laughs) in the studio was how to understand the shit that would come out of my mouth. ‘It has to sound like a big shimmering sea’. What!?
I did an audio engineering course when I lived in Spain. I know how to do it, I just didn’t find it very helpful. I did the course in Spanish, and I couldn’t speak Spanish. Now, I’m a little bit more specific. ‘I want this synth to sound like Blade Runner’, for example. ‘Shoot & Run’ was Blade Runner.”
Julian: “Are you a big fan of ‘Blade Runner’?”
Josef: “I do like ‘Blade Runner’.”
Julian: “One of my favourites.”
Josef: “It’s incredible to look at.”
Julian: “It still is. I saw it last year. They rereleased it in Belgian cinemas as a one-week engagement. It didn’t age one bit, and that’s because they didn’t use computers at the time. It’s all miniatures, and they age better than some questionable CGI.”
Josef: “It’s done so well. It’s a visually stunning film. ‘Shoot & Run’ started off as a super country song.”
Julian: “Some traces are still apparent.”
Josef: “In the vocal, yeah. But then I completely stripped away all the production. It had to sound like ‘Blade Runner’.”
Julian: “When a joke fails, the punchline goes to waste. Your ‘Punchline’, however, is a very good song. Dark, brooding. On a superficial level, it could be a radio hit. Until you listen to the lyrics.”
Josef: “Most of my songs are like that. That’s why they’re so difficult to take to the radio.”
Julian: “Lyrical dissonance. Some people never listen to the lyrics.”
Josef: “‘Every Breath You Take’ as a wedding song, yes. Absolutely.”
Julian: “I do hope people will listen to your lyrics, and not just take the songs for granted.”
Josef: “Me too. You can’t control that. If you don’t listen to my lyrics, my music – at least on this album – doesn’t make any sense. It won’t feel like it has any gravity. When you do listen to the lyrics, it pulls together. And you understand why it’s so light. Then all the decisions make sense. Some will even sound a bit cheap. People will like it, because of that marriage. Or they will at least sense that there is something there. I’m not someone who listens to lyrics.”
Julian: “Never?”
Josef: “Never. I can never remember lyrics.”
Julian: “Really? I’m a big lyric fan.”
Josef: “Are you? I’m very grateful for all the lyric fans out there, because that’s the only reason my music makes any sense. That’s all I care about. But I only ever listen to the music. 99% of the time, I think the lyrics are shit, so I’ll just tune them out. If the lyrics are amazing, e.g. Leonard Cohen’s. ‘Bird On A Wire’, for example. He’s incredible. Like when you read a good book. Whoever is writing it, is saying exactly how you have felt a thousand times. ‘Like a drunk in some old midnight choir’, I see it. It’s so clear, that visual. When lyrics are like that, I listen to them.”
Julian: “One of the best you wrote is: ‘Where we’re heading, time no longer cares’ in ‘Paradise’. Has that ever been true for you?”
Josef: “Totally. That’s the goal of every Friday night. Or every night for that matter. Any time I don’t have something to do the next day. ‘Paradise’ is about total oblivion. An empty sentiment. Suspending time. That’s kind of a fantasy, right? Not literally timeless, but just those moments where you’re completely lost in that moment.”
Julian: “Your album sounds quite cinematic. I can always imagine a movie scene, or a spot on the soundtrack. Even the titles are short, precise and to the point, as if they’re movie titles. ‘Nightswim’, ‘Hustler’, ‘Closer’. Concise. Rat-a-tat-tat. Which is nice.”
Josef: “I don’t like long song titles. They’re not necessarily more specific. I’m not a fan of that specificity. The cinematic thing? Yes, the album was a very visual process. Both the writing and the production. One of the first things Rich and I had to learn … well, that Rich had to learn (laughs) in the studio was how to understand the shit that would come out of my mouth. ‘It has to sound like a big shimmering sea’. What!?
I did an audio engineering course when I lived in Spain. I know how to do it, I just didn’t find it very helpful. I did the course in Spanish, and I couldn’t speak Spanish. Now, I’m a little bit more specific. ‘I want this synth to sound like Blade Runner’, for example. ‘Shoot & Run’ was Blade Runner.”
Julian: “Are you a big fan of ‘Blade Runner’?”
Josef: “I do like ‘Blade Runner’.”
Julian: “One of my favourites.”
Josef: “It’s incredible to look at.”
Julian: “It still is. I saw it last year. They rereleased it in Belgian cinemas as a one-week engagement. It didn’t age one bit, and that’s because they didn’t use computers at the time. It’s all miniatures, and they age better than some questionable CGI.”
Josef: “It’s done so well. It’s a visually stunning film. ‘Shoot & Run’ started off as a super country song.”
Julian: “Some traces are still apparent.”
Josef: “In the vocal, yeah. But then I completely stripped away all the production. It had to sound like ‘Blade Runner’.”
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Julian: “Vangelis.”
Josef: “But even just the look. Future Tokyo cities.”
Julian: “Isn’t it weird? In three years time, ‘Blade Runner’ will be the now. The setting is 2019.”
Josef: “Oh, shiiiit.”
Julian: “Last month, Roy Batty (the fictional character played by Rutger Hauer, ed.) was born. If you freeze-frame the movie, it says ‘Incept Date: 8 JAN., 2016’.”
Josef: “Wow, you’re a true ‘Blade Runner’ fan.”
Julian: “I have to admit, it’s something I read on the internet. I wasn’t counting down the days. ‘8 January’ only rings a bell as the birthday of Elvis Presley and David Bowie.”
Josef: “Oh really? Two capricorns?”
Julian: “Indeed. And Roy Batty, the fictional villain in ‘Blade Runner’. He’s around today.”
Josef: “Weird.”
Julian: “Just like ‘Back to the Future’, which is now completely in the past. Those movies take place in the past.”
Josef: “It’s bizarre. And a little bit depressing. The world looks nothing like that. We haven’t really changed that much.”
Julian: “No self-lacing shoes, no flying cars …”
Josef: “Where’s my hoverboard? I want my hoverboard!”
Julian: “‘Back to the Future’ is my favourite movie of all time.”
Josef: “We watched ‘Back to the Future’ on the tour bus last year. I hadn’t seen it for about 10 years.”
Julian: “Did you still like it?”
Josef: “Hm, yeah, I’m sorry, it’s not my favourite movie of all time. I don’t have favourites. It depends on what mood I’m in. ‘Blade Runner’ is definitely top-10 for me. ‘American Beauty’, as well. I remember … how old was I when that came out?”
Julian: “11. It’s a 1999 movie.”
Josef: “You’re very quick with numbers, aren’t you? You’re like a computer brain. I’ve noticed it already like three times.”
Julian: “Maybe I’m a replicant.”
Josef: “Blade Runner! I don’t think I saw ‘American Beauty’ in cinemas, so I was a little older. The score for that film was one of the most influential pieces of music I had ever listened to. Thomas Newman. And not just the score, but the whole soundtrack taught me so much. It’s got ‘Bali Ha’i’ on it. That, and the ‘Romeo + Juliet’ soundtrack are my two top soundtrack albums ever.”
Julian: “One of the more recent soundtracks I find myself listening to, over and over again, is ‘Tron Legacy’ by Daft Punk.”
Josef: “Yeah, it’s very good.”
Julian: “Snubbed by the Academy. Not even a nomination!?”
Josef: “Yeah, but that’s not the way the Academy works.”
Julian: “This is my first interview with an Australian musician, even with an Australian per se. I know some people from Australia, but I’ve never …”
Josef: “Never met one! (laughs)”
Julian: “Never interviewed one. Yesterday, I told some friends: ‘I’m going to interview Josef Salvat’ …”
Josef: “And they were like: ‘Who’s that?’ …”
Julian: “They wanted to ask some stereotypical questions.”
Josef: “Go for it!”
Julian: “Does a boomerang really come back?”
Josef: “If you throw it right, yeah. If you don’t throw it right, no.”
Julian: “How many times were you nearly killed because of random animals?”
Josef: “Nearly killed is an overstatement, but I’ve had some very close encounters with snakes.”
Julian: “‘Close encounters with snakes’, that’s a good song title.”
Josef: “‘Close encounters of the snake kind’, yes. I was mowing the lawn, and I stopped the mower to move a hose. As I moved the hose, a fucking massive brown snake went over my foot. At first, I thought it was the hose, and then I realised it was a different colour moving thing. It was a giant, fat snake racing over my foot. That was bad.
Then there was a black snake when I was feeding the chooks (hens, chickens, ed.) where my parents live. A snake started uncurling and raising up.
Then there was this one time outside the kitchen when a brown snake really properly attacked me and mum. Three snake encounters that were kind of close. I’ve been on Bondi Beach when the shark alarm went off. Which happens quite a lot. Nobody gets eaten. On the west coast, it’s quite bad. You can’t go in the water, because there are so many sharks. Other than that, I’m pretty unscathed. I knew a kid in school that got bitten by a redback spider. But he survived. We all survive, we’re fine. It’s not that bad.”
Julian: “Do you eat barbecue every day?”
Josef: “But even just the look. Future Tokyo cities.”
Julian: “Isn’t it weird? In three years time, ‘Blade Runner’ will be the now. The setting is 2019.”
Josef: “Oh, shiiiit.”
Julian: “Last month, Roy Batty (the fictional character played by Rutger Hauer, ed.) was born. If you freeze-frame the movie, it says ‘Incept Date: 8 JAN., 2016’.”
Josef: “Wow, you’re a true ‘Blade Runner’ fan.”
Julian: “I have to admit, it’s something I read on the internet. I wasn’t counting down the days. ‘8 January’ only rings a bell as the birthday of Elvis Presley and David Bowie.”
Josef: “Oh really? Two capricorns?”
Julian: “Indeed. And Roy Batty, the fictional villain in ‘Blade Runner’. He’s around today.”
Josef: “Weird.”
Julian: “Just like ‘Back to the Future’, which is now completely in the past. Those movies take place in the past.”
Josef: “It’s bizarre. And a little bit depressing. The world looks nothing like that. We haven’t really changed that much.”
Julian: “No self-lacing shoes, no flying cars …”
Josef: “Where’s my hoverboard? I want my hoverboard!”
Julian: “‘Back to the Future’ is my favourite movie of all time.”
Josef: “We watched ‘Back to the Future’ on the tour bus last year. I hadn’t seen it for about 10 years.”
Julian: “Did you still like it?”
Josef: “Hm, yeah, I’m sorry, it’s not my favourite movie of all time. I don’t have favourites. It depends on what mood I’m in. ‘Blade Runner’ is definitely top-10 for me. ‘American Beauty’, as well. I remember … how old was I when that came out?”
Julian: “11. It’s a 1999 movie.”
Josef: “You’re very quick with numbers, aren’t you? You’re like a computer brain. I’ve noticed it already like three times.”
Julian: “Maybe I’m a replicant.”
Josef: “Blade Runner! I don’t think I saw ‘American Beauty’ in cinemas, so I was a little older. The score for that film was one of the most influential pieces of music I had ever listened to. Thomas Newman. And not just the score, but the whole soundtrack taught me so much. It’s got ‘Bali Ha’i’ on it. That, and the ‘Romeo + Juliet’ soundtrack are my two top soundtrack albums ever.”
Julian: “One of the more recent soundtracks I find myself listening to, over and over again, is ‘Tron Legacy’ by Daft Punk.”
Josef: “Yeah, it’s very good.”
Julian: “Snubbed by the Academy. Not even a nomination!?”
Josef: “Yeah, but that’s not the way the Academy works.”
Julian: “This is my first interview with an Australian musician, even with an Australian per se. I know some people from Australia, but I’ve never …”
Josef: “Never met one! (laughs)”
Julian: “Never interviewed one. Yesterday, I told some friends: ‘I’m going to interview Josef Salvat’ …”
Josef: “And they were like: ‘Who’s that?’ …”
Julian: “They wanted to ask some stereotypical questions.”
Josef: “Go for it!”
Julian: “Does a boomerang really come back?”
Josef: “If you throw it right, yeah. If you don’t throw it right, no.”
Julian: “How many times were you nearly killed because of random animals?”
Josef: “Nearly killed is an overstatement, but I’ve had some very close encounters with snakes.”
Julian: “‘Close encounters with snakes’, that’s a good song title.”
Josef: “‘Close encounters of the snake kind’, yes. I was mowing the lawn, and I stopped the mower to move a hose. As I moved the hose, a fucking massive brown snake went over my foot. At first, I thought it was the hose, and then I realised it was a different colour moving thing. It was a giant, fat snake racing over my foot. That was bad.
Then there was a black snake when I was feeding the chooks (hens, chickens, ed.) where my parents live. A snake started uncurling and raising up.
Then there was this one time outside the kitchen when a brown snake really properly attacked me and mum. Three snake encounters that were kind of close. I’ve been on Bondi Beach when the shark alarm went off. Which happens quite a lot. Nobody gets eaten. On the west coast, it’s quite bad. You can’t go in the water, because there are so many sharks. Other than that, I’m pretty unscathed. I knew a kid in school that got bitten by a redback spider. But he survived. We all survive, we’re fine. It’s not that bad.”
Julian: “Do you eat barbecue every day?”
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Josef: “No, only in summer. I do eat vegemite every day.”
Julian: “Vegemite? The word I learnt from Men At Work.” Josef: “Oh yeah? Amazing! Is that your introduction to vegemite?” Julian: “Yeah. It was.” Josef: “Have you ever tasted it?” Julian: “No.” Josef: “If you ever have the honour and luck of tasting vegemite …” Julian: “You really like it?” Josef: “Oh my god, it’s my favourite. It’s so good.” Julian: “In a non-ironic way?” Josef: “I’m not being sarcastic.” |
Julian: “Because there’s a friend of mine that’s doing her PhD in Sydney. She said: ‘I once tasted vegemite and I almost puked for three days straight’.”
Josef: “Because they don’t know how to do it.”
Julian: “Enlighten me.”
Josef: “Americans and Europeans put it on their bread like peanut butter and jam. First, you put lots of butter on your slice. If it melts before you put the vegemite on, it will be too intense. You have to quickly be ready with the vegemite. This makes it sound a lot more complicated than it is.”
Julian: “No no no, tell me, I’ll pass on the information.”
Josef: “You get the toast really hot, you put the butter on it, before the butter has completely melted you put a little bit, a tiny amount of vegemite. You blend it in with the butter and it creates a light brown kind of paste on it, and then you eat it. If you just spread on lots of vegemite, yeah, you’ll vomit. You’d vomit as if you had swallowed a mouthful of salt. Whereas when you put a little bit of salt on your food, it’s incredibly delicious.”
Julian: “Now I’m really curious for vegemite.”
Josef: “It’s good. You just have to know: it’s not peanut butter, it’s not jam, it’s a delicacy. It’s a rarity. It’s for sophisticated consumption.”
Julian: “To my untrained ears or eyes, it did seem like peanut butter. It comes in the same kind of jar or bowl, which invites the spreading out. That’s even what Men At Work sings in the song: ‘He gave me a vegemite sandwich’ …”
Josef: “Yes, yes, a vegemite sandwich, but it’s always mixed in with the butter.”
Julian: “I’ll try and make it my mission to spread the word about the spread.”
Josef: “It’s important.”
Julian: “By the way, one of my favourite movies is ‘The Rescuers Down Under’.”
Josef: “‘The Rescuers Down Under’!!”
Julian: “I love it.”
Josef: “Amaaazing.”
Julian: “I knew it by heart when I was 8.”
Josef: “I was quite obsessed with ‘The Rescuers Down Under’. Have you seen ‘FernGully’?”
Julian: “Yes. Is that Australian?”
Josef: “It’s Australian.”
Julian: “I thought it was more like a vague non-descript forest.”
Josef: “They have American accents, but it’s a true Australian story.”
Julian: “I loved the movie ‘FernGully’, I still have the VHS. I should see it again. It’s been at least twenty years.”
Josef: “It’s not as impressive when you see it as an adult.”
Julian: “But it does star Tim Curry as the villain. How can you go wrong?”
Josef: “There you go, there you go. Do you have a photographic memory?”
Julian: “Not really, no.”
Josef: “You just remember a lot of facts.”
Julian: “Especially useless facts.”
Josef: “Useless facts, that’s your thing.”
Julian: “Trivia.”
Josef: “Awesome.”
Julian: “Doesn’t get you far ahead in life, though.”
Josef: “Well, it depends on what you doing.”
Josef: “Because they don’t know how to do it.”
Julian: “Enlighten me.”
Josef: “Americans and Europeans put it on their bread like peanut butter and jam. First, you put lots of butter on your slice. If it melts before you put the vegemite on, it will be too intense. You have to quickly be ready with the vegemite. This makes it sound a lot more complicated than it is.”
Julian: “No no no, tell me, I’ll pass on the information.”
Josef: “You get the toast really hot, you put the butter on it, before the butter has completely melted you put a little bit, a tiny amount of vegemite. You blend it in with the butter and it creates a light brown kind of paste on it, and then you eat it. If you just spread on lots of vegemite, yeah, you’ll vomit. You’d vomit as if you had swallowed a mouthful of salt. Whereas when you put a little bit of salt on your food, it’s incredibly delicious.”
Julian: “Now I’m really curious for vegemite.”
Josef: “It’s good. You just have to know: it’s not peanut butter, it’s not jam, it’s a delicacy. It’s a rarity. It’s for sophisticated consumption.”
Julian: “To my untrained ears or eyes, it did seem like peanut butter. It comes in the same kind of jar or bowl, which invites the spreading out. That’s even what Men At Work sings in the song: ‘He gave me a vegemite sandwich’ …”
Josef: “Yes, yes, a vegemite sandwich, but it’s always mixed in with the butter.”
Julian: “I’ll try and make it my mission to spread the word about the spread.”
Josef: “It’s important.”
Julian: “By the way, one of my favourite movies is ‘The Rescuers Down Under’.”
Josef: “‘The Rescuers Down Under’!!”
Julian: “I love it.”
Josef: “Amaaazing.”
Julian: “I knew it by heart when I was 8.”
Josef: “I was quite obsessed with ‘The Rescuers Down Under’. Have you seen ‘FernGully’?”
Julian: “Yes. Is that Australian?”
Josef: “It’s Australian.”
Julian: “I thought it was more like a vague non-descript forest.”
Josef: “They have American accents, but it’s a true Australian story.”
Julian: “I loved the movie ‘FernGully’, I still have the VHS. I should see it again. It’s been at least twenty years.”
Josef: “It’s not as impressive when you see it as an adult.”
Julian: “But it does star Tim Curry as the villain. How can you go wrong?”
Josef: “There you go, there you go. Do you have a photographic memory?”
Julian: “Not really, no.”
Josef: “You just remember a lot of facts.”
Julian: “Especially useless facts.”
Josef: “Useless facts, that’s your thing.”
Julian: “Trivia.”
Josef: “Awesome.”
Julian: “Doesn’t get you far ahead in life, though.”
Josef: “Well, it depends on what you doing.”
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Julian: “You don’t impress the girls by saying: ‘Hey, you know the villain in ‘FernGully’?’ …”
Josef: “‘Tim Curry’. Well, it will impress a girl.” Julian: “Maybe a girl who likes ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’.” Josef: “Exactly. It’s a favourite of my friends.” Julian: “Great movie, I discovered it not too long ago.” Josef: “Oh really?” Julian: “You’ve lived in Paris, right?” Josef: “When I was fifteen.” Julian: “I saw a live midnight screening of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ in Paris, with the shadow cast.” Josef: “Amazing.” Julian: “A French shadow cast makes it even weirder.” Josef: “What do you mean by ‘French shadow cast’?” Julian: “They’ll have people acting out parts of the films, and most audience members will even shout back at the screen. Call and answer parts of the screenplay.” Josef: “Haha!” Julian: “They have these rituals.” Josef: “I’ve never been to one of those.” |
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Julian: “They do it in New York as well, that’s where the phenomenon started. Even to this day, the film still plays in theatres. Isn’t that incredible? The movie is 41 years old. The longest box office run in history.”
Josef: “Because it comes from a time where people could consume media in a way that …”
Julian: “Because they had to go to the theatre. There was no VHS or DVD in 1975.”
Josef: “People consumed over and over and over again and always found something new.”
Julian: “Final question. Well, it’s not even a question. It’s funny you’re called ‘Josef’, because I had the idea to call my first-born son ‘Joseph’ …”
Josef: “You should.”
Julian: “But with a ‘ph’. Because it’s the middle name of two of my biggest heroes, Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson.”
Josef: “Is Bruce Springsteen’s middle name Joseph? He’s also one of my biggest heroes.”
Julian: “I love him. He’s my favourite musician.”
Josef: “My name is actually ‘Josep’, with a ‘p’. But the nurse thought: ‘Oh, the parents must be really high because they just had a child. They missed the ‘h’.’ So on my birth certificate it’s ‘Josep’ in pen, and an ‘h’ added on by the nurse in a different colour pen. We quickly remedied that. Because I’m named after my grandfather. ‘Josep Salvat’, on my dad’s side. We lopped of the middle of ‘p’, and turned it into an ‘f’ …”
Julian: “So ‘Josef’ is the correct spelling?”
Josef: “Nowadays.”
Julian: “So actually, truthfully, for the law, you’re called ‘Joseph’.”
Josef: “Yeah.”
Julian: “That’s nice, you’re in good company. Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Josef Salvat.”
Josef: “There we go.”
Julian: “Thank you for the time.”
Josef: “Pleasure.”
Julian: “Looking forward to seeing you live on stage.”
Josef: “Because it comes from a time where people could consume media in a way that …”
Julian: “Because they had to go to the theatre. There was no VHS or DVD in 1975.”
Josef: “People consumed over and over and over again and always found something new.”
Julian: “Final question. Well, it’s not even a question. It’s funny you’re called ‘Josef’, because I had the idea to call my first-born son ‘Joseph’ …”
Josef: “You should.”
Julian: “But with a ‘ph’. Because it’s the middle name of two of my biggest heroes, Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson.”
Josef: “Is Bruce Springsteen’s middle name Joseph? He’s also one of my biggest heroes.”
Julian: “I love him. He’s my favourite musician.”
Josef: “My name is actually ‘Josep’, with a ‘p’. But the nurse thought: ‘Oh, the parents must be really high because they just had a child. They missed the ‘h’.’ So on my birth certificate it’s ‘Josep’ in pen, and an ‘h’ added on by the nurse in a different colour pen. We quickly remedied that. Because I’m named after my grandfather. ‘Josep Salvat’, on my dad’s side. We lopped of the middle of ‘p’, and turned it into an ‘f’ …”
Julian: “So ‘Josef’ is the correct spelling?”
Josef: “Nowadays.”
Julian: “So actually, truthfully, for the law, you’re called ‘Joseph’.”
Josef: “Yeah.”
Julian: “That’s nice, you’re in good company. Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Josef Salvat.”
Josef: “There we go.”
Julian: “Thank you for the time.”
Josef: “Pleasure.”
Julian: “Looking forward to seeing you live on stage.”
Julian De Backer / photo's thanks to Sony Music