Indie people artist John Muirhead opens up concerning the energy of connection in music, the tales behind his most private songs, and the way a punk present at age 12 sparked a lifelong mission to construct neighborhood – on and off the stage.
Stream: “Don’t Thoughts” – John Muirhead
John Muirhead will always remember his first live performance.
He was 12 years previous and travelled from his small hometown outdoors of Toronto to the town to see punk rockers Avenue Canines. He remembers every thing about that evening – the sticky, checkerboard flooring, the fellows with mohawks, and largely importantly, he remembers the way in which the band made him really feel throughout an opportunity assembly.
That second on the Avenue Canines’ present caught with him as a strong reminder that music doesn’t should cease on the fringe of the stage.
“They have been as huge as any rock stars in my eyes,” says the burgeoning indie people artist. “Making a connection has all the time been crucial for me as a result of music has all the time been that for me – listening to data that stick with you eternally and discovering solace in being a part of a musical neighborhood. Once you’re at a live performance and also you go searching, and everyone seems to be screaming the lyrics of a music which means every thing to you – you’re not alone. That’s actually highly effective to me.”
It’s the identical feeling the Canadian singer-songwriter is fastidiously crafting round his personal music. From fingerpicked confessionals like “Little Bit Lonely” to road-trip singalong anthems like his newest single “Don’t Thoughts,” Muirhead strives to write down “big-hearted indie-folk songs for dreamers, wanderers and hopeless romantics.”
That very same spirit of connection doesn’t simply dwell in his songs – it fills the area round him, too. His house is adorned with reminders of the connections he’s made: fan artwork pinned to the partitions subsequent to a guitar, a rising assortment of friendship bracelets, and a glass jar crammed with handwritten notes of encouragement. These aren’t simply souvenirs – they’re snapshots of one thing far more significant.
With a brand new album and headlining tour on the horizon, Atwood Journal caught up with Muirhead the day after his single “Don’t Thoughts” dropped to speak concerning the tales behind the brand new music, the stunning impression of his fan neighborhood, and the way a jar of tiny paper notes can typically imply greater than a packed venue.
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A CONVERSATION WITH JOHN MUIRHEAD
Atwood Journal: Congrats on the brand new single! How are individuals reacting to it?
John Muirhead: It’s been one of the best response I’ve needed to a single! I feel it got here out on the excellent time – it’s very a lot a summer time street journey, indie people anthem. And evidently individuals are actually taking it and working with it. Somebody commented that they’d listened to it about 20 instances on their method house from work.
Is that this a little bit of teaser of what we will count on from the album?
John Muirhead: Yeah, I feel it is a nice teaser for the file. It’s undoubtedly a mixture of lyrically dense people songs which are straight from the guts, but additionally have a bit extra power and pleasure. The verses have a few of that singer-songwriter-in-my-bedroom really feel and the choruses are huge and large, and I feel that’s a superb mixture of what you’re going to listen to.
The file’s popping out in two elements: The primary half is popping out for the autumn tour, and the second half is popping out someday in 2026. It’s all a part of the identical mission with an interwoven story, however I need to put it out in elements to offer the songs the time they deserve.
Are there any fascinating tales about how these songs got here to be?
John Muirhead: There’s a music known as “Nomad” on the file, which is one among my favourite songs I’ve ever made. There’s numerous collaboration on this album, however I used to be very protecting of the imaginative and prescient for this one. The day I wrote it, I awakened someplace in Germany and I used to be taking the practice to Berlin – it was a six-hour practice journey. And simply earlier than I obtained on, I obtained a message that one among my buddies had handed away, and on the identical time, my sister was days from having her first little one. And I felt so removed from house, and so faraway from my life again house. I began to query why I used to be lacking this stuff at house to go play a random present in Berlin. And it was fairly tough. I sat there on that practice and wrote that music in a pocket book, which I don’t usually do. However I wrote it as a poem. It’s the final music on the album and it’s a extremely particular one to me. And each time I play it, I’m teleported again to that point.
Did you give you a solution for your self about why you retain doing what you’re doing? That’s an terrible query, however I’m curious what retains you going after a narrative like that.
John Muirhead: That’s an enormous a part of the music – looking for that reply. And the belief is that is who I’m, that is what I do. That is the sacrifice that comes together with all of the superior issues I get to do like with the ability to tour and promote out reveals and construct this neighborhood. It’s a tough realization to return to, however it additionally implies that the stakes are excessive, and I see no method of fixing who I’m.
Are there any songs you’ve written which are simply too private to launch them?
John Muirhead: For certain. I feel that I’ve been making music for a really very long time – since 2016. I feel lately what I’ve discovered is that the lyrics that make you cringe and are so near your coronary heart and are so true, these are those that often resonate essentially the most with individuals. And that’s what I really like in a music – one thing so weak and from the guts and undeniably true. And that’s an indication to maintain pursuing that path. It’d end in a clumsy cellphone name with an ex, or one thing like that, however it’s price it for the music.
I do know individuals who journey to your reveals and make friendships due to your music. What do you suppose it’s about your songs that evokes that?
John Muirhead: I feel it’s my proximity and my real look after my neighborhood. I do lives on TikTok each Sunday – I hardly ever miss a Sunday. I inform my buddies I don’t make plans on Sunday nights anymore. You see individuals coming in usually, and that’s became individuals driving for hours or flying in to see reveals. My final present, individuals drove up from New York to Pickton, Ontario. It was simply superior. I obtained numerous bracelets. It means quite a bit to me to attach with individuals, particularly after years and years of looking for that.
I think about that there are a bunch of instances when individuals have come as much as you and stated one thing about how your music has impacted them. Are you able to consider one or two that you can share with me?
John Muirhead: Completely. On the deeper facet of issues, I’ve a music known as “Two Pictures” a couple of good friend who handed away, and it was a music about custom and retaining near those you like whereas they’re nonetheless right here. And I’ve had lots of people come as much as me and inform me about their family members who’ve handed. I feel it was at a present in Guelph, Ontario the place somebody advised me that somebody very near them who was fairly younger was battling most cancers and was listening to my music whereas they have been preventing it. They usually ended up making it to one among my reveals, however then they weren’t round for the subsequent one. In these moments, it’s actually laborious to listen to, however it additionally makes me so grateful that my music is a part of somebody’s tales.
On the constructive facet, too, my final present of the yr in 2024 was a gathering of my followers and my neighborhood and so they gave me a jar of positivity – all these notes and sort phrases, and so they all deliberate this in secret and gave it to me. It’s a terrific reminder of what I’m constructing right here.
You usually speak concerning the neighborhood. It appears like connecting with individuals and connecting different individuals is essential to you. Why is that?
John Muirhead: Making a connection has all the time been crucial for me as a result of music has all the time been that for me – listening to data that stick with you eternally and discovering solace in being a part of a musical neighborhood. Once you’re at a live performance and also you go searching, and everyone seems to be screaming the lyrics of a music which means every thing to you, you’re not alone. That’s actually highly effective to me.
Do you keep in mind the primary time you felt that as a spectator and as a performer your self?
John Muirhead: Oh, that’s an excellent query! I feel the primary time as a spectator was my very first live performance – it was a band known as the Avenue Canines, which was a really small punk band from Boston. I used to be 12 years previous. We went to the Cathedral in King West (I’m from a small city outdoors of Toronto), and it was the traditional checkerboard flooring, sticky, scorching venue and guys with mohawks. We truly forgot the tickets, again when Ticketmaster mailed you your tickets. So, we went early and the entire band got here again to the greenroom, and so they let me in, and I keep in mind that entire evening being in awe of them – they have been as huge as any rock stars in my eyes.
As a performer, I’ve a really particular relationship with Ottawa. I keep in mind my first offered out present in Ottawa, promoting out that venue and seeing a lineup and I used to be like, “Whoa, it’s occurring!”
Once you have been that 12-year-old on the Avenue Canines’ live performance, did you already know then that you simply wished to be a musician, or was that the evening you realized that was your dream?
John Muirhead: That wasn’t essentially the second, however I keep in mind that yr, writing a profession plan in Grade 7 and writing “I need to be a musician, I need to be in a band, and I need to go play these reveals throughout.” So, the thought was fairly set in stone, and that simply re-affirmed it for me. Additionally, seeing a live performance in such a small venue at a younger age opened my eyes to the concept you don’t should be a stadium artist. It made the dream really feel extra actual.
You’re about to go on a fairly intensive tour. Is there a metropolis that seems like a full-circle second for you?
John Muirhead: I feel the massive one is on the Toronto present – it’s going to be my greatest headlining present so far. Our final present was so particular – it was top-of-the-line nights of my life. We offered so many tickets, and I obtained to work together with lots of people.
There’s a lot coming within the subsequent yr – music sensible and tour sensible. I’m anticipating numerous development primarily based on how a lot I’ve to share. It’s going to be an thrilling yr!
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Stream: “Don’t Thoughts” – John Muirhead
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