In Conversation With #119 - Josie Proto
Rising singer-songwriter Josie Proto gifts us with a big box of wit and surprises with sophomore EP ‘Oh What A Godawful Stupid Idea’ - she took a moment to talk to us about the release.
Hey Josie, how are you? So your EP is out now, how does it feel to have it out in the world?
I’m so glad it’s finally out! I actually began recording this EP before the first was even released. I’m doing good, lockdown three is definitely getting to me more than the others but I am very excited for summer and releasing more music!
So it’s called ‘Oh What A Godawful Stupid Idea’ - that is quite a mouthful. What is the meaning behind it?
It comes from a lyric in the track ‘Terrible Idea’. It refers to the idea of going back to a boy and not knowing if it would turn out good, it’s basically a reflection of pretty much all the decisions I make! It’s a phrase that infiltrated my vocabulary a few years ago and stuck and then ended up in a song. I felt like it kind of summed up the feeling of knowing something is going to go south, but finding the humility in your own failings. Is sounds best pronounced like you’re in a production of Oliver.
Where was the EP recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from that process?
Puddles, Terrible Idea, I Bet You Fall Apart, and Champagne Fizzles were all recorded at Tileyard in London. Kids TV was actually built over zoom! We actually started work on these songs, not long after recording the first EP. They had all been lying in wait, ready to get pieced together as soon as we had released the first, but we couldn’t wait and started recording almost straight after the first EP. Kids Tv was a whole new experience. I recorded the vocals from my boyfriends living room over summer and that was it! It was amazing to see how Ben and I were able to work on something completely remotely.
When we recorded at Tileyard, we worked on the songs for 3/4 days consecutively. I remember on the last day we tackled Champagne Fizzles. I knew when we started recording that I wanted Champagne Fizzles to be as raw and intimate as we could get and so I recorded it from start to finish live. But we had worked very long days and by the time it came to recording, both Paul, my producer and I were in hysterics and couldn’t get through one recording without laughing at ourselves.
I’m sure Paul has a folder of audio takes of me and my potty mouth and the consequences of trying to record a very serious slow song when you have the giggles.
How does it differ from your earlier releases?
I think this EP takes a step towards me finding my sound! I love that I have released songs that I wrote when I was really young because I feel as though my listeners get to come on this awesome journey with me. With this EP out, I have songs written when I was sixteen released and songs written when I was nineteen, which, I think, demonstrates a massive growth. I think I can also hear the confidence in this EP, it feels like I’m finding footing and building a small foundation.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
Like a lot of my writing, the EP stems from my shower thoughts. It’s full of my genuine feelings and opinions. In fact, a lot of the EP is quite contradictory which I find is very typical of me and my messy brain!
Do you have a favorite lyric on the EP? If so, which one and why?
I think my favourite is ‘let’s all be children, because all the adults seem to be bored’. I was struggling to some up what I wanted the chorus of Puddles to be about in that line. I had written down ‘lets all be children because…’ but didn’t have an answer. I wrote that song in the morning before going to record the others and I got on the train and saw all these commuters in their boring coloured suits with their boring phones and their boring newspapers and thought, the reason I don’t want to be an adult is because it looks so boring! The lyric felt like it came straight from my personality and that’s why I think it’s my favourite.