Josh Joplin Interview              Coffee East January 12th, 2008

MM: Where are you from? I think I have read Atlanta?

JJ: I am from lancaster, pa originally but when i was 13 my parents moved us to the suburbs of DC.

MM: You have worked with Shawn Mullins....what is your favorite song of his? Why?

JJ: I did do work with shawn which was a great experience for me. I guess my favorite song of his is, eggshells. (I hope I'm remembering the title of it correctly)

MM: You are performing solo here...are you a "sit down" or "stand-up" solo guy?

JJ: It rather depends for me, I do both.

MM: Solo shows are carried so much by the character of the performers...what part of your personality comes out most when you are performing? 

JJ: Hmmmm....I have so many more things happening when i am performing... I'm singing and playing
guitar and thinking about what to play next... so it must be my multi tasking side - which I do not seem to possess otherwise.

MM: I have read you and the band had taken considerable time off before recently getting back together. Why did you get back together?

JJ: We are all still really close friends even though we stopped playing music together nearly five years ago - we just thought it would be nice to play a few shows together... I hope we'll do it again soon, it was a lot of fun.

MM: I have also read you are recently married and a father. Congratulations. How has that changed your outlook and priorities? Is music just as important to you?

JJ: Thank you. I am married and a father now. what can I say that hasn't changed about my perspective? Hmm, that's hard? perhaps it's perspective itself that is the greatest gift of fatherhood. Music
does remain important to me, maybe even more so than ever. I am relearning all these old songs I used to know and in a way I'm understanding them for the first time.

MM: Last year, I saw a musician ridicule an audience member, who had paid $40 to see her play, because they requested one of her older hits. How do you feel about that?

JJ: Ouch. Yeah, I was probably the opener for that tour... I don't usually encounter this problem, none of my songs were really hits. I do do my best to play people requests - if I'm pretty sure I'll remember how
to play it... I'll even take a shot when I'm not that sure. I'm not scared.

MM: How often do people confuse you for Josh Ritter or Josh Rouse?

JJ: The village voice thought I was one or the other of them some years ago... I guess I made it out unscathed since they really really hated those guys, but needless to say, there are a lot of josh's in
the music business... my favorite is still josh white.

MM: You have played almost every major late night talk show...what would people find really curious about that experience? How nervous were you before those performances?

JJ:  The most surprising thing I think for me was just how nice all the hosts were... especially Conan O'brien, he is so affable and generous with everyone that's on his show. The bands members on all
the shows are really really nice too.

FILL IN THE BLANK

I think the most talented pop star right now is....robbie williams - but I like amy winehouse too.

Indie rock is....not so indie

When people say I sound like Michael Stipe I think....I do? I do.

The holiday season is over, now I can...I don't have a job, so everyday is a holiday.

I'm glad 2008 is here so I can...vote for Barack Obama.