Interview With Josh LeBreton

Josh LeBreton has been a friend of mine for quite a while, dating back to the days when his band Renea played shows at Cottonport Coffee in West Monroe, La. Josh has released two Ep’s as part of a solo project, and his music has continued to evolve and progress by leaps and bounds with each recording. I wanted to ask him a few questions about his current project, plans for the future, and songwriting style. You can check out Josh’s music here, and here.

Your latest Ep “Mountain” came out in September of 2011, and it sounds fantastic, where did you produce this album and who else played on it?

It was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Little House Productions in Baton Rouge, LA by Alden Chatham and Brian Beyt. My friends Jon-David Mahoney (bass), Jacob Beslin (drums), and Lyle Begnaud (guitar) collaborated/played with me (guitar, vocals, songwriter) on it.

You’ve been involved with bands, and music in general, for a very long time, specifically in bands like Renea, and The Flood Memoirs. What would you say seperates this project from your previous bands?

This project is me maturing as a song writer and musician instead of just being plugged into a group somewhere and strictly filling a limited role. I can be more spread out here as an artist, less confined to one band’s collective direction. I do love the guys I play with and value their input, however. They’re as much of an influence to me as anything else.

Where do you get the inspiration for your lyrics?

Lyrics come from the music. I let the music inspire melody and words that work well with it. It’s usually just a poetic abstract of sorts from my current state of mind. I could be struggling with something, or inspired by something, I just try to observe things around me and let it come out a bit in my writing. I try to stay relevant and clever when I can.

At this point in time, what musician or band would you say has had the most influence on your sound?

Currently I’m a huge Coldplay fan. I’m also heavily into old guitars and amps from the 50′s Fender area, so that has a heavy influence on what I draw from. Anything sonically organic. People who still make music for the right reasons, whatever the hell those rights would be.

As a singer/songwriter, what would you like people to feel when they listen to your music or watch you perform live?

My main goal as a performer/writer is to make people feel anything inspiring. Something that sparks a little anxiety or maybe excitement. Anything that makes people, without sounding pretentious, feel alive for a second, seriously. Too much of our art now is produced and commercialized and that’s fine. I just want to for a second be a real artist trying to be something worth watching, no agenda, flaws and all. I wanna create, I want people to feel the magic and mystique we used to feel from artists a long time ago, and I try to do it because I want it from other people too. “Do unto others..”

What is your ultimate goal for your music career?

Ultimately, I want to be a full time sustainable artist, but I’d also be perfectly fine with being a working musician. I do a little of that now. Whatever the world needs from me, I guess. Currently, I teach music, so that’s also something I enjoy.

What are you plans for the immediate future of this project? Do you plan on touring any time soon?

Believe it or not, I’ve been trying a new avenue of exposure. Instead of playing anywhere and everywhere all the time, I only play sometimes, some places. I’ve also been entering random credible song writing contests and contacting labels. The music industry is completely upside down these days and frankly, so are people’s tastes in music. I’m just learning how to adapt. It’s all I can do. So no, no plans to tour right now. Sure as hell not gonna tour independently like I did for years, way too much trouble. Maybe if we still lived in the 90′s.

If you could tour with any active band/musician, who would it be and why?

I’d go on the road with anyone who was doing better than I was, had a similar demographic, and wanted me with them. I’d be indebted to anyone who would elevate my current status. Don’t care who it is, as long as they’re good people.

If you were on tour and could have anything you want on your rider, what would it be?

On my rider, I’d ask for a time machine. Making it in music today is completely insane and confusing. I’d either go back in time for “obvious” reasons or skip ahead a bit to pass all this nonsense up, after we figure out how we’re gonna keep making music.

If you could have written any song ever, what would it be and why?

The Cotton Port classic, “Shut the Door on my Way Out,” by Renea. Oh wait..

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