INTERVIEW : 2025-10-03 ‘Not your typical troubadour.’ How Joseph Arthur’s new music reflects his journey (by Stephen Humphries)

Joseph Arthur ignores the adage, “Never meet your heroes.” The songwriter has not only befriended many of his favorite artists, he’s also created music with many of them.

When a much younger Mr. Arthur moved to Atlanta, R.E.M.’s “Reckoning” album took up permanent residence in his car. Years later, when he emerged as a successful songwriter, R.E.M. became aware of him. Bassist Mike Mills joined his backing band for a tour. Singer Michael Stipe covered his song “In the Sun.” And guitarist Peter Buck teamed up with Mr. Arthur for a side project. The duo’s second album, “Arthur Buck 2,” debuts Oct. 3

Mr. Arthur says that, while it was all happening, it came to feel normal “weirdly quickly.” In retrospect, he thought, “‘Wow, I can’t believe that happened.’” “I don’t really put anyone on a pedestal now, but at the same time, I’m in awe of people’s talent,” says Mr. Arthur, whom the Monitor interviewed twice via Zoom.

When it comes to songwriting, he believes that the ego, if unchecked, can dam up the wellspring of creativity. To hear him tell it, Mr. Arthur has undertaken a difficult journey – including struggles with addiction – to come at songwriting as a spiritual practice. Now it’s about getting out of the way and channeling divine inspiration. That’s how he wrote sheets of lyrics for the bed of melodies that Mr. Buck sent him.

The result is what Mr. Arthur calls a “fun rock ‘n’ roll record,” a contrast to the serious solo material that set him apart from the beginning.

“He was continuing that sort of a tradition of being the songwriter who really knew how to write a well-crafted, solid, memorable song,” says David Browne, a senior writer at Rolling Stone. “I can totally see why people like Stipe and [Coldplay’s] Chris Martin and others would respect him for his songwriting, because he still seems like one of the last people who was trying to do that.” Mr. Arthur’s career got its start thanks to another of his heroes. Unbeknownst to him, someone passed along his demos to Peter Gabriel. The famous singer immediately wanted to sign Mr. Arthur to his record label. He called and left a voicemail; a disbelieving Mr. Arthur initially thought it was a prank. The neophyte musician, then working at an Atlanta guitar store, traveled to New York to play an “audition” gig. No one told him that Mr. Gabriel was bringing Lou Reed to the show. “I went into the bathroom at the Fez and I got on my knees and prayed. I was so terrified,” says Mr. Arthur. “Then I went out to dinner with him and Lou afterwards. ... It was a fairy-tale story.”

The artist’s 1997 debut, titled “Big City Secrets,” featured repeat knit stitch patterns of acoustic guitar. It bore the influence of Nirvana. Incorporating elements of grunge and hip-hop beats, he forged lyrically gritty folk music that was more urban than pastoral. His solo performances, which utilized pioneering sampling technology, were a sensation. “He would play something on the guitar and loop it and create this whole soundscape around him,” says Mr. Browne. “I remember at one point he [lay] down on the stage on his back and he had a glass of water and he just started spitting the water up out of his mouth. Maybe he was looping that sound, too, because by the end I thought, ‘Okay, this guy is not your typical troubadour.’

Mr. Browne, then writing for Entertainment Weekly, crowned Mr. Arthur’s followup, “Come to Where I’m From,” the best album of 2000. The next three records were similarly acclaimed. But Mr. Arthur’s artistic wheels became wobblier. Sometimes they even fell off. A reviewer for Pitchfork was aghainst at the “precipitous drop in quality” between the artist’s earlier work and his 2007 album, “Let’s Just Be.” “Art seems to be revelatory in nature. It’s coming from someplace higher than the ego,” says Mr. Arthur. “If you make art from the ego’s operating system, it’s very limited. ... There’s a lot of effort in it. It’s not as fun. It’s not as punk rock. It’s not as groovy. It’s not as genius.” 

The rock star had been struggling with addictions. He was trying to stay afloat inside a deep well of insecurity. Years later, he got sucked into a YouTube culture that celebrated narcissistic personality disorder. He bought into the idea of cutting off contact with people whom you believe to be toxic. In his case, it was family members. “I was letting anger and judgment be sort of my engine,” says the songwriter. “I thought I was right, and I wasn’t looking at the log that was in my own eye. I was looking at splinters that were in everybody else’s eyes.” What saved him, and helped him repair his relationship with his parents, was discovering the Ho’oponopono mantra: “I love you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.” He renewed a spiritual connection that dates back to when he began praying to God as a child. His parents weren’t religious, so the young boy persuaded his grandmother to take him to church. Prayer has once again become central to his life and songwriting discipline. It starts with waking early to meditate. When he’s not looking after his young daughter, whom he co-parents with his former girlfriend, he often sets out on a predawn hike of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. The goal of that daily routine which is contingent upon resisting the tempting distractions of his phone – is to connect with God. Each person’s consciousness is a spiritual battlefield, he says. His fight is to quell the internal conversations of the ego, which offers an illusory sense of identity. 

“There’s sort of a unification with God or God’s love; you can actually start resonating with that frequency,” says the Christian, who is wary about coming across as preachy. “You realize that what Jesus said about the kingdom of heaven being within is really true. And to explore that kingdom becomes really the main thrust of your life.” 

Current goal: Light and love 

As a result of getting “decimated by the ego,” Mr. Arthur has a fresh outlook of gratitude and humility. During a recent show in London, he invited his original benefactor, Mr. Gabriel, onto the stage. Before they sang together, the veteran singer declared that Mr. Arthur is “one of the greatest songwriters of our time.” The stage’s purple lighting hid his protégé’s blushes. After a pause, Mr. Arthur turned to Mr. Gabriel and said, “Thank you so much. Right back at you.” Mr. Arthur says he feels like a different person to the one who wrote his earlier albums, even the lauded “Come Back World” in 2019. He’s proud of “Arthur Buck 2” and the way it showcases Mr. Buck’s singular guitar hooks and arrangements. And he’s fired up about his 15th solo album, due for release next year. “I’m concerned with offering my light and my love, helping other people find their light and their love,” says the musician. “That’s my real motive these days.”

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