INTERVIEW : 2007-04-19 Arthur, Astronauts ready to land in Baltimore (By Jordan Bartel)

It was 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and Joseph Arthur was not in the best mood.

"Our bus has broken down twice so far," Arthur said. "We were trapped all night on the side of the road in Albany. Pretty much a nightmare."

Singer-songwriter Arthur is on the road on a 30-city North American tour promoting "Let's Just Be," his just-released sixth album and the first with his band The Lonely Astronauts.

The band will play at Sonar in Baltimore on Saturday, if, of course, they make it.

"I think we're good," said Arthur, a bit groggy from lack of sleep. "We're in an SUV now and pulling a U-Haul."

"Let's Just Be" comes less than seven months after the release of "Nuclear Daydream," Arthur's most critically acclaimed album of his 10-year recording career.

In recent years, Arthur has gotten a lot of exposure, mostly through his steady output of albums but also through his song "In the Sun," which was featured on numerous popular television shows and recorded by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Chris Martin of Coldplay for a Hurricane Katrina relief program.

Arthur, trudging along the road on the way to a gig in Philadelphia, talked to the Times about the new experience of touring with his band, getting discovered by Peter Gabriel and recording with Ugandan orphans.


Q: At the risk of being very unprofessional, I have to start by telling you that one of my friend's favorite songs is "In the Sun."

A: Oh, that's really cool.

Q: Did you see that song as kind of a breakthrough for you?

A: Well, when I was writing it there was something about it that was really special. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say that about my own work.

Q: You can say it, I think. Do you ever get tired of being called 'prolific'?

A: No, not really. That means something like I write a lot right?

Q: Right.

A: Then no. It's what I do.

Q: "Let's Just Be" is your sixth album and the first you recorded with your band. How does its recording compare to previous experiences?

A: Well, we recorded it on a 16-track tape, live in the studio. It's very much a live record, not as many overdubs. No reverb.

Q: Why did you decide to go that way?

A: We went on tour and we wanted something that reflected that relationship we developed on the road. It seemed like the best way to record.

Q: Do you see this album as a departure musically for you?

A: Well, I suppose so in that it's more of a band album. In that way it's a departure, but not a departure from my basic philosophy of music or anything. Nah, I wouldn't say it's a 180 or anything.

Q: You've said that working on the album with the band led to a very different way of writing and performing for you. How so?

A: It's more about being with people that are really creative. That opens a whole different way of writing for you, or sharing ideas. We got together sort of random and playing together just feels together organically.

Q: 2006's "Nuclear Daydream" was widely praised. Did that put any pressure on you for this album?

A: No. I think that way when it's too late [laughs]. I just do whatever my instincts have told me to do so far. I don't believe in second guessing too much. When I do, it's basically too late.

Q: You're also an artist. Could you just play music or just create art or do you need them both?

A: I'm not sure how to answer that. So far I need them both. I just utilize them at different times.

Q: And you're opening a gallery in Brooklyn, right?

A: Yeah, that's going pretty well. I think I'm just a bit overwhelmed at the moment. But it's coming along well and I'm making all the class on it. I think I was looking forward to kicking off the tour and getting into that groove.

Q: You grew up in Akron, Ohio. Is there a music scene there?

A: Well, I guess so. I haven't lived there in a while, but I was there from when I was 0 to 18. It's where I started playing music. I kind of got into a blues rock satiation, playing five nights a week in a club with a blues rock band that was a bit adult. But we were that freakishly young band compared to everyone else.

Q: And then you moved to New York?

A: Atlanta. Four days after high school I moved down there. I was doing odd jobs like busing tables, working in a guitar shop, cooking, making music but not really professionally. Then I started focusing more on original music.

Q: How does one get discovered by Peter Gabriel?

A: It was basically a fate and as random as it sounds. I gave a demo tape to a friend who gave it to a friend who gave it to a friend who had a friend who knew Peter Gabriel. I didn't even know he had a record label. Kind of crazy. I was working in the guitar shop and a co-worker told me, 'A famous English rock star is going to call you.' I was, like, who? Elton John? T-Rex?

Q: And what was that initial conversation with him like.

A: Answering machine message first and then I finally talked to him. I don't know. When life takes you into a direction you don't expect, you kind of become this detached witness to it and just do the next right thing.

Q: I noticed a bunch of pictures you took in Uganda on your MySpace page. What's the story behind them?

After Michael Stipe covered "In the Sun" for Katrina relief I met a whole new group of people who were passionate about doing something about extreme poverty among Africans. I wrote a song about it, "A River Blue." So I went over to Northern Uganda and sang it with the orphans of the LRA [Lord's Resistance Army] massacre.

Q: What was recording with them like?

A: It was amazing, actually. The best thing I've ever done with my life. I aim to do more stuff along that line, work with that group of people, using art as a means of them dealing with trauma.

Q: What did they think of your playing?

A: I think it was more me witnessing them and appreciating them.


(from Carroll County Times)