Interview: Joe Usher, UK emerging artist flirts with vulnerability in new EP

There’s no denying it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out as musician and deliver something unique. In the landscape of modern music, emerging talents continually strive to carve out their unique tonal niche, and amidst this melodic tapestry, UK-based musician Joe Usher emerges as a captivating new voice on the scene. With the release of his debut EP, Vienna, Usher not only showcases his versatile artistry but also solidifies his presence in the realm of neo-soul.

Vienna is nothing but storytelling in it’s finest form, it has a natural arc and build with a euphoric end. With that fearless experimentation comes perhaps the most poignant moment of the EP with the closing track, Holly. Here, our slice bares his soul with haunting vulnerability, his voice echoing against stripped-down instrumentation. It’s pretty rare that you find yourself listening to a 7-minute track and go, “oh, it’s over? That was quick”. You just get lost in the magic and we love it.

We caught up with this absolute slice of life to chat about his new music, brands he’d like to work with and acting!

Read all the feels below:

How you got into music what was that like for you, was there a defining moment?

I’ve always been really interested in music! My oldest brother Matthew is a talented musician who plays piano and when I was younger I used to always sing with him, we would do covers and stuff like that. I also play guitar a bit and just before lockdown I started writing music knowing it was something I wanted to do. Once we moved into lockdown, there wasn’t really anyone around to say whether what I was creating was bad or good, so I thought I may as well release it cos I thought it was alright. Ever since then I’ve just been trying to fine tune my sound. At the moment I have great people around me like my brother who is brutally honest, which you need, as well as Lewis Mcdonald who plays the guitar for me, Bill Capel who plays the drum and Magnus my producer.

Talk to me about your most recent release size 10’s, where did you draw inspiration from? 

We went to Vienna for a week and we were in the studio and Magnus kept playing this beat he wrote. I wrote probably about 5 or 6 different songs to it because it was so open to different melodies. I decided to drop it before the EP because it felt right. In terms of inspiration, I’m not really sure you know. I find the track to be quite hypnotic and I mostly just drew from that.

How does your personality kind of flow through to your music? 

I’m from a really Northern family, my dad’s a grafter, my mums a grafter, so you won’t catch people in my family necessarily being like “I feel like the world is evolving as i’m falling into a pit of…” I don’t really speak like that. So I guess my music is way of expressing things I wouldn’t usually say. It’s kind of that classic thing of music is my therapy.

Can you tell me a little about how you’ve got into acting.

Yeah so I studied at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for 3 years and I’d say that’s more of the day job and music is more of the outlet. It’s so nice to have the balance of both though. Acting allows others to have more control, you can try and be as good as you can but you’ve got the acting director, the casting director and you’re working off someone else’s vision but with music it’s my own vision and I’m in control of what that looks and sounds like. I make music for me and I hope people listen but I’m honestly just here to keep improving and keep experimenting and hopefully people follow along the way.

What’s one thing you wish people knew about you?

Nothing, I think it’s good to keep things to yourself sometimes.

If you could have your music associated with any brand, what would it be?

GOLF le FLEUR for sure, I’d love to work with Tyler The Creator.

What’s one of your unusual flexes? 

I feel like isn’t that unusual but I was a professional footballer in Scotland for 3 years before a pretty big injury and I thought I’d keep doing that but here we are haha.

I’m pretty new to London, can you recommend any good spots to eat?

My favourite place just shut, a BYO Indian on the strand but Dishoom is also really good and the breakfast there is immaculate. Also if you say it’s your birthday you get a free dessert, so definitely say that haha.

Would you rather smell like tuna or continuously always have to walk on your tippie toes?

Haha I think I’d rather smell like tuna. I like to play football and I feel like it would pretty hard to run like that. The tuna could also come into style, you never know.

What’s on the radar for 2024, new music, new projects, tell me what you can?

I’ve just released my EP Vienna with my mates, it’ s super personal, carefully chosen and stripped back. Lewis on the bass, Magnus producing, Bill on the drums and Elle on Cello, she is an absolute wizard. I’m super excited for everyone to hear it.

Keep an eye (and ear) on Joe Usher – his journey has only just begun and we’ll be there every step of the way. Check out Joe’s EP Vienna below or head to our Soul Music Sunday’s playlist to hear more songs like these ones.

Written by Samuel Seedsman.