A homegrown New Jersey artist, Joe P caught the attention of millions with his relatable lyrics and catchy tunes. Now, he’s back with his new EP French Blonde for a more polished sound.
Notoriously making beats and refining records in his basement, Joe P took this body of work to the studio. With songs he’s genuinely proud of and a sound he’s constantly mastering, he’s quickly emerged as one of music’s hidden talents. His single off the EP, “All Day I Dream About,” is an upbeat pop-rock lovesick anthem with word plays on brands like Adidas.
Having opened for a few acts already, Joe P is taking his talents on the road for his first headline tour ever set to start in April. His strong vocals and personalized promotions have already won fans over, but now we get to see him like never before. You can listen to his EP here:
Recently, Joe P sat down with Popdust to talk about everything from his EP French Blonde and upcoming tour to his favorite things about New Jersey.
Congratulations on your new EP, French Blonde. Your single “All Day I Dream About” is a fun play on brands like Adidas and mentions Gucci as well. What was the inspiration behind the song?
That one, weirdly, was like the weirdest song I ever made because it just had stream-of-conscious type lyrics which I usually don’t do that much. I kind of had these lines all Frankenstein’d together and they still sort of fit well. That one is a lot of my placeholder lyrics that I just kept because I liked how unique this whole brand thing was and it’s one of my only fast songs on the album.
How do you decide which of your songs becomes a single?
For me, I just kind of go off what I like the best and usually, it’s the opposite of that. I usually like my slower songs that are normally 5-6 minutes long, so it just doesn’t make sense as a single. “All Day I Dream About” made sense because it was super upbeat and it had this big chorus which I usually don’t do.
For me, a single is one to push out the overall body of work, like what this EP is. “All Day I Dream About” is a perfect mix of everything on the record regarding the sound, quality, and ideas. Obviously, every song is different, but it felt like a good way to give you a preview of the entire thing.
What was your inspiration for French Blonde?
The inspiration behind it was to make a departure from the way I used to record things. The way I record is usually in my basement or the Atlantic studio in New York City. The first EP I did was very much in my basement and it kind of sounds like it – it still sounds good, but I wanted more “shinier” sounds and proper sounding recording.
The first EP is more demos I pushed a little harder into songs and these are more songs I pushed into good songs and recordings. It felt like a bump-up as far as quality goes across the board in all categories. It’s the first thing I’ve made full-on where I’m happy with everything on it, which usually doesn’t happen.
There’s always something on a record or within songs where I’m like “ah, hate this part,” or “I wish I recorded this differently,” but I actually really like everything on this EP. I want that to be the standard moving forward.
One of your earlier singles “Off My Mind” caught a lot of attention via TikTok. How has the app helped you reach more listeners?
It’s the greatest and worst thing in the world because it’s weird knowing you have this tool out there that can change how many people hear your record. It’s good because it’s so easy to use, but bad because it’s so easy to get lost in. People feel like “I have to post this,” or “I have to post like this,” or “people like this video so I should make another video.”
I try to just treat it like it’s anything else. It’s not going to help you write a better song or anything like that. I kind of view TikTok as a window into the voice memos on my phone or my notes rather than a promotional tool.
I try to treat it as – “here’s me playing my songs, and if you like it, you like it. And if you don’t, you don’t.”
Joe P
Joe P / Atlantic Records
You’ve done fun promos like sending VHS tapes of your videos or sending out handwritten lyrics. What’s been your favorite so far?
It was the best connection that I could make with people listening to my music. At times I was literally going out, printing the posters, and slicing them myself. It was way too much work for what was coming back to it. But again, I love doing that stuff.
Those are the things that are my favorite. I don’t know if least successful is the best word, but things that take more work and usually don’t do as much as a two-second TikTok would do. I like more personal things that go further with an individual person and aren’t going to reach as many as a TikTok video.
A person who gets handwritten lyrics is more likely to come to a show than the person who comes across your TikTok.
You’re looking forward to your first headline tour ever. What are you most excited about?
I’ve always opened, so I’m just excited to not open. It’s insane. When you’re opening, you just have to win people over. It’s easy to do because they can take it or leave it anyway, so you can kind of go out there with nothing to lose. When people have paid to see you, it changes everything because now people are already like, “Hey, you’re good. We like you. Be good.” It’s very different.
What can fans expect from a Joe P show?
I don’t even know, that’s what’s crazy! I think it’ll be similar to what I’ve always done, but between songs, I want to give some backstory – what’s behind the song or project. Usually, you get 30 minutes to just play songs and get out of there. So I’m excited to go into the songs and what the projects stand for. Talk about stuff I never really had the chance to.
I’ve never thought too much about the show, pre-planning. I’m just as eager to find out as the people coming, so it should be interesting.
You mention your hometown, New Jersey, in many of your songs. What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re there?
I really like going to the boardwalk during the winter or any time that’s not summer. There’s something about it that’s really unique to the New Jersey area. I don’t think you can get in LA, or anywhere it’s nice and warm or bright and shiny regardless of the time of year.
In the winter in New Jersey, everything is kind of just dark and there’s like a fog over everything. It sounds terrible and that’s why people hate New Jersey, but I don’t know. I like that part of it with the ocean being right there, it kind of gives you that giant, but tiny feeling all at once.
On your past few bodies of work, you’ve had an “Emily Can’t Sing” track, with presumably a clip of Emily singing your single. Will this become a tradition moving forward?
I want it to be. But, it’s gonna be hard because I need to keep finding ways to trick her into not knowing I’m recording. That’s the hard part. The first one she was sleeping so it was easy. The second one she was genuinely humming and singing this song so I snuck it in.
Now I have to keep praying for those moments when she’s humming because she’s definitely on to me. But I would definitely like to keep that as a tradition.
What are your top two songs on French Blonde if you could pick?
I’m gonna say the song “French Blonde” and “Kids In The Summer.” So the crazy one and the slow one.
What’s next for you? Is another album in the works already?
Well, I’m literally at the studio so I can’t lie about that. Yes, definitely working on a bunch of new stuff. When I’m not doing that, I’m traveling around. I’m doing some touring kicking off April 15th on the East Coast. So there’s a tour in April, and some new music probably very shortly after that. Hopefully some video stuff, but that’s really it.
I’m in crazy creative mode right now trying to record and write songs nonstop. It’s tough because I’m interrupted by flying and balancing. I try to get stuff done in a hotel room. But it’s nice when I come to Atlantic in New York because it’s not a basement or a hotel. Those are nice in their own way, but sometimes I need to come to a nice studio solely for music.
ᐧ
