Q&A: Joe P Challenges Tradition by Accompanying His Latest EP ‘French Blonde’ With Horror Film ‘If We Run’

Q&AMusic

Nov 9

☆ By Shellsea Lomeli☆

IF THERE IS ONE THING TO KNOW ABOUT MULTI-TALENTED INDIE-ROCK ARTIST — Joe P, it’s that he is not going to create the same thing twice. His sophomore project, French Blonde, is a product of his growing confidence as a writer, producer, and musician, and its execution is impressive to say the least.

Excitingly advanced yet maintaining the unmistakable soul of his earlier work, French Blonde grips you from beginning to end. Lyrically, it is an oddly comforting balance of wit and vulnerability — embodying the relatable sensation of having a lot to say but simultaneously not taking yourself too seriously.

Joe P forgoed traditional music videos for this project and instead collaborated with director Anthony Yebra to create a ’80s–’90s horror-inspired short film with four tracks from French Blonde embedded into the elaborate storyline. The 30-minute motion picture, If We Run, puts a twist on the adored visual album concept, intersecting a thrilling storyline that gives the involved songs a new, eerie feeling.

In Joe P’s words, the way French Blonde intentionally harnesses the live sounds of electric guitars and smashing drums is “an advertisement [to] come to the show.” If you’re intrigued, you can catch the New Jersey native on tour with Spacey Jane this month.

Read below to learn more about what inspired the creation If We Run and how Aretha Franklin’s personal microphone was incorporated into the recording of French Blonde.

LUNA: Can you share a little about how French Blonde differs from your last project, Emily Can’t Sing?

JOE P: So, the first EP, Emily Can’t Sing, was recorded by me — it's very DIY. It was all the ideas I had to my name at that time and I just kind of put them all down. It was the first solo project that I ever did so it was very brand new to me. I was just, like, super excited to be doing anything like that. With French Blonde, I felt a little more comfortable. I think it’s a more accurate representation of who I am as an artist and the direction I'm headed. I just think I feel way more confident about how close it is to the stuff I want to be putting out. Not that I don't like the first EP, but it's just like I'm getting closer to hitting the bull's eye, I think.

LUNA: What were your biggest inspirations (musical influences or experiences) during the creation of this project?

JOE P: During the creation of French Blonde, I was really a fan of Motown and a lot of ’60s-style recordings: The Beach Boys, The Beatles, stuff like that. So a lot of the drums. I was trying to get big group drum sounds. And then as far as the songwriting goes, I've always listened to a lot of Jeff Buckley and Radiohead. Synths always make their way into the songs, for the most part. Then there was a lot of guitar stuff. For “Kids In The Summer,” I kind of committed to just this clean electric guitar sound for the whole song — just a good vocal and the guitar. I don’t think [I] would normally have done that. I would have went acoustic or something for a part like that, but I decided to make it more like a live show, where I’m just holding my electric guitar playing. With this recording, I wanted it to sound like the live show. So this whole EP is much more like an advertisement, like, “Come to the show.”

LUNA: Is there a song or specific lyric that you were most proud to share?

JOE P: Everything in the song “French Blonde” I really like. But I would say “Kids In The Summer.” I like the King Kong line: “You said we were going to rule the world / You were going to eat King Kong, but you just kept beating your chest / So I had to smile and played along.” I like that line.

LUNA: Do you still write/record/produce your music in your New Jersey basement? How has your production process changed throughout the years?

JOE P: Yeah, I do all the vocals in my basement. I probably always will. I think, just because it feels good and authentic; just because I'm in my actual basement. But then for everything else, I love going to Atlantic Records (laughs) and recording there because they have great stuff there. It's fun. I just go in there alone and hit record and run around, playing all the instruments. Production-wise, I don't know. I'm always trying to keep things somewhat like a live show, if that makes sense. I wanted it to feel like you could see this at a live show. I don’t want to get too far away from that. But there's times where I like to obviously take advantage of recording in the studio. You can make 100 tracks, if you want, or one — do whatever you want. But yeah, I like to kind of make everything feel pretty natural and organic and not too manipulated.

LUNA: Rumor has it you used Aretha Franklin’s microphone while recording this project?

JOE P: Yeah, I did (laughs). I used it more for drums and stuff like that. Just because vocals and certain stuff just [don’t] actually translate that well [on it], but it's a great microphone for drums.

LUNA: What encouraged you to forgo traditional music videos and create a short film?

JOE P: I have made a lot of music videos and they're very fun, but you only get three minutes or so to kind of put out and portray something that you have in your head. So I kind of just got sick of that for a little and thought, “Let’s take advantage of the fact that the EP is coming out in October” and you know, horror movies… I think it's a good genre to apply to anything musical. It just kind of worked out. My friend Tony, who directs everything, loves horror movies, and it just kind of put together a world. So we just had fun doing that. Now there's kind of four music videos within a movie, so we still got the music videos for the people that want that. We really just wanted to make a movie like a couple of 7-year-olds — just with a little camera, having fun.

LUNA: Do you ever feel any anxiety or uncertainty when sharing your art with the world? How do you overcome this?

JOE P: I haven't in a while, actually, ever since it's just been a solo project. It feels more like once it's out, there's nothing else I could have done more. But at the same time, I don't want to read comments. I don't want to hear anything about it (laughs). I think I've learned that anything someone would say about it, whether it's good or bad, it can't really do much for me because I've already put it out. It’s like, you just did what you did and it's how it was naturally supposed to happen. I do feel more uncertain after a show if it wasn’t good, I’ll be thinking, “Damn, I should have said this or went crazy,” or whatever. But as far as recording, I know how much time I put into it. At a certain point, you just have to think, “This is all I have inside of me, here you go.” So no, I don’t really have much anxiety about it other than, you know, “Is it good? Do I like it?” That’s really it.

LUNA: Is there a project or artist you’re listening to right now that you can’t get enough of?

JOE P: I love Paramore right now. I love the new song. Paramore is awesome because they can do anything. [Hayley Williams is] able to sing anything she wants and they can play however they want. I feel like that's why it's great. Paramore feels like one of the very few things in rock or alternative or whatever you want to call it that is loose — you don't know what each song is gonna be. I love that. I feel like there's so many bands or artists now where you know their sound and every song is like that. Which is good, but I think I like listening to things like Jeff Buckley or Radiohead, where you don't know what's coming. I feel like it’s just more fun to listen to and more fun to make that music. I don't want to make the same song over and over again.

LUNA: Lastly, what are you most excited for in the upcoming future?
JOE P: For the next songs, actually. After making this EP, I feel a certain confidence. Like I was saying, I feel like I kind of hit my own personal target of wanting to feel like, “Oh, this is the stuff I want to make. This is it, finally.” I didn’t really know what I wanted to make. So I’m excited to make the next recordings and write the next songs because I feel like I’m at a point now where, creatively, I’ve kind of put myself in a world where everything I look at or touch is like, “I know this.” I know this is mine and authentic to myself rather than questioning [it] … or like, “Am I faking this? Is this curated?” You know… All that stuff feels gone. I’m sure it will come back, but for now I feel good about being authentic for the first time, so it’s nice.

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