After wowing us here at Backseat Mafia with his debut single ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Mind’, we sat down to find out a little bit more about rising star Joshua Scarratt.
Give us a potted history of yourself
I have been writing music since my teens, playing in various bands whilst in my hometown Taunton, Somerset, and then a couple in London up until my mid-twenties. But this journey / part of my career all began in October 2023. after a I had a realisation whilst in therapy that for me in order for me to be creative again, I needed to get sober. The beginning marks the end and the end marks the beginning.
This single will be a part of an EP which contains two songs I wrote the lyrics for in my early twenties. When I revisited them, they felt like they held more weight now than they did before. I found answers in them this time. I played Glastonbury Festival when I was 18, but that’s for another time.
Who inspired you to start making music
I can remember sitting on the arm of my Mum’s chair in the living room at my Nan and Grandad’s house when I was 10. There was something on the TV which prompted me to express a desire to learn the guitar. I don’t remember what that was exactly, but I was in my nu-metal phase then and loved Slipknot. I was obsessed with Googling Mick Thomson – he really liked cats – and I even got his signature BC Rich guitar. But it was The Strokes who inspired me the most. I remember being in Sainsbury’s asking my Mum to buy me “First Impressions of Earth” aged 15 on CD before I had a job. In college, my band at the time did a whole cover set of theirs.
In 2005, I got a hold of all the Arctic Monkeys demos on Limewire. That was where my world and obsession with music really took hold and felt authentic to me. After school all I would do is go skateboarding outside my house or play my guitar for hours on end, playing the Strokes or Arctic Monkeys in my parents’ dining room, pretending I was them. It was Pure escapism, a full flight from reality. Music felt so right and safe to me – performance always has.
And the one or maybe two records that inspired you artistically
The last 5 years have been rather informative to the music I have made. I feel more grounded in my tastes and as a human in general. (A big shoutout and love to Stephen and Natalie at World of Echo who have helped me here). But it would be misleading if I suggested that a cassette from the purge.xxx label or one of many Discreet music releases I love has sonically shaped my music. To be honest, it’s the Arctic Monkeys ‘Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino’. There’s space on that record that their previous LPs didn’t quite capture. It’s so rich and otherworldly. There was also a real shift in Alex’s vocal range. I’d like to note the vocal teacher Heather Maîr Thomas who gave me a newfound confidence in my voice last year. I hope to sing snippets of Italian opera more with you one day.
If you’re trying to explain whom you sound like to someone who’s never heard you, what do you say
You’ve somehow managed to find yourself in a 1970s Mercedes SL and in the cassette deck is Roxy Music’s ‘For Your Pleasure’, you look in the glove compartment and there are some Bowie tapes and also a copy of Arctic Monkey’s ‘The Car’. This is where I find myself cringing, but also acknowledging this vision feels true to me, probably because I love driving while listening to music (both my own and others, to be honest).
Tell us about your debut single
My debut single, “Can’t Get You Out of My Mind” is somewhat blurry in its incarnation. I had just started my first attempt at sobriety which allowed me time, space and creativity to flourish. It was a completely new track, not something I’d worked on before, so me and Nick Hinman (Fast Money Music) demoed it at his studio in Dalston and I remember I had the lyrics written in my phone.
I was going through a period where whenever I’d walk down this road between my flat and Nick’s studio, I’d be hit with some lyrics and inspiration. Thank you, God. We then took the demo to Joe Lyon’s recording studio in Shadwell, where I got a full band behind me to record it and some other tracks (thanks to Gam on cello, who performs with TAHLIAAH, Fat Dog and Fat White Family, and Callum Brown the drummer of Ulrika Spacek).
Joe had these beautiful old Selmer amps, which were crucial in capturing the mood of the song and overall record to come next year. The song is about unchecked thinking and fantasy and where that can take me.
Where can we get hold of it
It’s available to listen to on your preferential streaming service of choice (Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Amazon, etc).
Tell us how you write
This track has very much been a collaborative process. Where as with previous efforts, I can look back now and see where I was going wrong. I was always trying to direct the traffic, but the outcome would never be what I wanted. I write all the lyrics, and put melodies and vocal ideas into voice notes on my phone. They often strike me when I’m on a Lime bike cycling around London or walking. There are two songs from a recording session I had written and performed before, but me and Nick stripped them back and recorded each song with just vocals and piano and we built them up from there. Having Gam come into the final recording sessions to add cello was a game changer and sealed the deal.
Over the last few months Nick and I have already been demoing EP 2. He’s really helped me feel comfortable writing and performing again.
Tell us about your live show What would be your dream gig
On the 18th of November at Amazing Grace,I will be performing with most of the collaborators who helped record my music. After this I’ll wait until 2025 to figure it out more. I want to make the shows feel more like an event than a gig and do them when they feel right. I’d love to perform at the ICA in a similar capacity to These New Puritans’ last show there.
What can we expect from you in the near future
Spoiler alert, there will be more music. I will be releasing my next single in January, and one in March and the EP next May. It’s been an amazing process, especially the visual side working with the talented Matt de Jong. I looked at over 30,000 photos in the Magnum archive, but it was Matt who found this amazing photograph from Salih Basheer which we’ve licensed to use on the cover of the EP. I’m excited for people to see that.
Tell us your favourite records that are you rocking your headphones/tour bus/stereo
Currently, I am obsessed with Father John Misty’s single “Screamland”. I’ve also been listening to Fontaines DC’s record, ‘Romance’ a lot. When “Starburster” came out earlier this year, it was when I was travelling from Canonbury to Shadwell on the Overground a lot to record this EP, I had that track on loop for most of those journeys.
I tend to have BBC Radio 3 on a lot in the evenings when I’m at home, or grab a jazz record from my collection. Julian Casablancas recently described having jazz on at home similar to the comfort of a warm fire. I really relate to that. Lastly, I’ve been getting into the pianist Hélène Grimaud.
Check out his debut single, below:
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