Q&A: joshua epithet Blows Us Away With Explosive Single “You Genuinely Concern Me”
REIGNING FROM THE VIBRANT YET CLOUDY CITY OF MANCHESTER — joshua epithet introduces his brand new single, “You Genuinely Concern Me.” Written and produced by epithet himself, the song showcases who he is as an artist and the type of music he hopes to create. His love and appreciation for Britpop and his making it his own is what fuels epithet to produce new tunes that feel nostalgic but fresh to the ears. epithet’s drive and constant need to improve by challenging himself only amps up his sound, a sentiment which is evident in “You Genuinely Concern Me.” Although the track echoes a pinch of his previous work — like when he starts rapping around the third verse — listeners can sense that his sound is more specific and refined. In his lyrics you hear the frustration and angst of being around a stubborn, ignorant individual, and with a sharp tongue epithet explores all the things you want to say so they’d shut up and be put in their place. Along with visuals that scream of the early 2000s with segments filled with fisheye lens or grainy film and funky wardrobe choices, epithet demonstrates his emotions effortlessly. Blunt, unfiltered, and very in your face, his visuals are impactful yet cool to watch and vibe with.
epithet is excited about the track, stating he's “aggressively confident” in his new song. He's been waiting to create something like “You Genuinely Concern Me,” and now that it's out in the world he is proud of his baby.
With an authenticity that has an animated, energetic aura of truth, “You Genuinely Concern Me” does not put up with people who place themselves on a pedestal. The track gives off the same feeling as needing to listen to Black Flag when you’re pissed off — after listening to people talk straight crap for an hour, “You Genuinely Concern Me” will cleanse you, bringing you back to reality in a heartbeat. If epithet can do all that in three minutes, he's sure to have an awesome future in the music industry.
Read below to learn more about epithet as an artist, his love for the city he grew up in, and his adoration with America and Childish Gambino. Be sure to check out his latest single, “You Genuinely Concern Me” and stay tuned for the upcoming album later this year.
LUNA: First off, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. Can you tell us about your new single, “You Genuinely Concern Me”?
EPITHET: Basically, it's kind of like … when you're thinking about an argument you had … three months ago in the shower, and you're like, “Ah, I should have said this, and I should have been like this,” and you're dwelling on it. All this … like a bad expression of what you should have done and what you should do. It's like you can't hold the words in any longer, you know? So say you're listening to someone talking absolute shit — they’re just kind of like going on with themselves — and you get this feeling like, “Now I have to intervene.” The song is just a straight monologue of being like, “Actually, you need to use your brain a bit more.” Basically that's kind of what it is.
LUNA: How did this song come about? Where did you look for influences, if there were any?
EPITHET: I guess I don't look for straight influences, if that makes sense. I kind of just want to like certain aspects of artists and try to mash them together, you know? So I kind of like for every album or song to have a very specific look and experience and stuff like that. So … I'll be in, you know, the suit for this song, then I'll be like, “I just lost my job.” And then [I’ll] just kind of ramble. Like, “I just lost my job, went to the pub, drank like 20 drinks,” and I'm just kind of sobbing, just saying all these words that I could have told my boss … That was the image behind [the song].
But music wise, I make all my music free samples. I start off with the melody, like how I feel Tyler, the Creator would write it. And then [I] go off thinking maybe I could also do the verses, maybe like [how] an early Blur song would go, because I want a new age of Britpop, but it doesn't have to sound like original Britpop. I just kind of want a new fit, because I feel like there's so many cool things like English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh acts coming through, and I feel like that we’re going to get to that point where it's going to be a new wave of all these artists and with such a unique sound. I'll rap over this guitar, but I'll sing like a cute little chorus and stuff like that. I kind of have a plan beforehand, but it's really like, “Oh, I'll put these drums here, and this is what comes to mind.” And then … I’ll have an idea for the song, but the actual structure is kind of … as you go.
LUNA: How would you describe your sound sonically? You kind of talked about it a little bit, but if you want to go more in depth, how would you describe it to someone who's never heard your music before?
EPITHET: That's a really good question. Yeah, it's kind of like American and English music fusion. I kind of see it as it’s very American sounding, production-wise. And then I feel like the lyrics and what I'm actually saying [in] the songs are very quintessentially British. It’s kind of like … the early Morrissey lyrics where he would say these words you’ve never heard before — he sounds like he's gone through a thesaurus for every single word he says, making it fancier. My music is getting rid of that but keeping the sentimentality and then making it more American in the way of, “Yo, I'm gonna get straight to the book.” That's why I love Americans — they get straight to the point, where we [the British] tend to drag on as long as possible, so I'm kinda like, “Nah, I need to deliver the punch now — deliver the blow.”
LUNA: You have several singles out. What makes “You Genuinely Concern Me” special from the rest?
EPITHET: This is the first song where I’ve been aggressively confident. I knew as the song was going on [that] this is a good song. And I know exactly what I’m gonna do for the video; I know exactly what I do for this. And I know that six-year-old Josh could hear this on the radio or on MTV when they used to put the videos up, and the videos would be in the gym and shit like that, and when I finished this song it was almost like, “Wow, this is one of those songs.” I was like, “This is crazy,” because I think, with the last three songs I released, I felt that way too, but in a different way. I was like, “Oh, ‘Eight Years Old’ is really cool for a YouTube song.” You know? And “They Shoot Our Horses” is very beautiful — it reminds me of SoundCloud in the early days. So this one was like, “Wow, this sounds like some early 2000s,” when I was growing up — kind of stuff with the suit and, “Ah I'm gonna wear makeup for this.” It’s kind of my magnum opus — I call the full album my magnum opus, but [with] this one I was like, “Wow, this is the song I've been kind of waiting to make my whole life,” if that makes sense.
LUNA: Where do you normally look for inspiration if you’re ever in a creative rut? Do you have any hobbies that you reach for whenever you want to get out of it?
EPITHET: I'm never in a creative rut, if that makes sense, because I come from a family of immigrants. It’s kind of like, if I'm not working, I feel really lazy. So maybe like, melody wise, I can’t come up with one right now, but then I’ll just go and make another beat, because I feel like I don't need to be creative. That’s kind of English to me. [It’s] like when you're writing an essay: like, “Okay, I’ll put this here, and then I’ll add the drums here.” That’s how I see it — where I can never let myself slip.
But I guess TV and film are very inspirational to me. I’ll want to make the soundtrack to how this moment made me feel, you know? I was in America — my girlfriend’s American — and we were in the south where her family lives [and there were] no TVs in the house. I felt drained, but it was different. I like seeing televised content — I need content all the time! So that was the only time where I felt I was like, “Hmm, I don't really know what to do with myself.”
LUNA: With an album already under your belt, are you anticipating a new album anytime soon? Would you switch up your sound or just level up from the previous album?
EPITHET: Yeah, it’ll be out later this year! I’ve had this done for a very long time — it’s just kind of [about] finding the perfect time … because I think it’s one of those cool albums where you can listen to it wherever. And it’s so different [from] the first one in that it’s so much better. Because I made my first album when I was 16, and that was like eight salt vibe songs … where it was kind of like, “Oh, I made this, now I'm just gonna rap on it,” and it was very much more rap-based, but there [were] two actual good songs. So that I saw it as kind of [showing] my potential. I think it's cute — I don’t think it's good. But I feel like every artist should kind of change with every album. I don’t like people who make the same music every single time — I feel like every album needs to look a different way and have a different feel.
LUNA: Who are some artists that you’ve recently been loving these days? Who would you enjoy touring with?
EPITHET: I’ve always loved Childish Gambino — I’ve literally, like … I’m in love with that man, constantly he’s my favorite. Never ever, ever, ever … no one will ever top him in my eyes. He will always be in the top spot, but recently — in the past year — I’ve been kind of listening to a lot of more guitar-based music. This guy called Ben Kweller, who was an indie artist from the early 2000s in America — it’s like songs you’d hear in a Disney film, and there's something so cool about that. But I'm not really limited to genre but more so [focused on] how someone expresses their art and the music videos and what their songs are about. I can’t really just be into someone’s music — I need to be into them as a person.
LUNA: Right!
EPITHET: So that’s how I kind of like to try and incorporate. But the touring question is so interesting! Maybe Tyler, The Creator — that would be cool. Yeah, I'm trying to think of someone maybe more specific, give it to sec… I feel like I have the answer, like, right there. Oh, I’ll go with Kevin Abstract. Yeah, that'd be cool — I feel like that’s a bit of me.
LUNA: You're from Manchester, right? Lots of amazing artists, musicians, and bands are based there. How does that play a role in your music?
EPITHET: Growing up in a city is very interesting because you’re exposed to a lot of stuff that some kids don’t really see until they go to college and stuff like that. I feel like you mature faster, especially in Manchester where it has this reputation in England for being one of the worst places to live. I don't think that’s true. I think it’s one of the best cities in the world. I don't want to live here forever, but I think it’s cool.
Ian Curtis is like a big inspiration. I know he’s from Macclesfield, but it's still that very Manchester sound, so stuff like that is really important to me. Manchester is a really gray place — it’s never sunny, so I feel like it breeds complainers, and this song is basically me complaining for three minutes straight. If anything, this is my most Mancunian song! We complain about how we only have the sun for like two weeks of the year and then when we get it, we’re like, “Now it’s too hot. I don't want it.” We’re never satisfied, and I feel like that's what kind of drives me for everything because I will never be satisfied. I could be eight Grammys in, but, nah, now I need to get to 10. You know? So that's how I kind of see it.
LUNA: Okay, last question! You kind of already answered it, but if you want to keep talking about it, are there any upcoming projects that you'd like to share with us?
EPITHET: The upcoming album coming out this year, and of course my new single, “You Genuinely Concern Me”! Very cool album this year — it’s so fresh, so unique. I've never heard an album like this. I’m kind of like, “Wow, this is sonically kind of new,” and … the pacing of it is really cool. So I'm proud. It’s the proudest thing I’ve ever done in my life. It’s like it’s my baby. It’s kind of like when Drake hid his baby for, like, four years —that's how I feel. I’m very protective of it, you know? Because one person could say, “Oh, I don't like this now.” I'll cry. Right?
LUNA: Yeah, it'll hurt more.
EPITHET: Yeah, exactly. Exactly!
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