Pianist, actor, director, writer, composer… Josh Day, 20 years old, is all of the above. This young English man, on top of being a journalism student at Cardiff University’s JOMEC, choose a path where he could trade his pen for an instrument and some jazzy moves easily. It is a hobby – or should I say “was”?
When joining Act One – Cardiff University’s Drama Society – Josh realised that this “hobby” had the potential to reach a new level.
“ Why did you decide to start a jazz band?
I’ve always wanted to get out there and play, make something of my hobby, and now I’ve found someone as talented at Laura I can make that a reality.
What music do you like?
I do like a lot of jazz music, but generally things with a strong harmonic base (vague I know…). I tend away from the ‘mainstream’ because I think I’ve inherited my dad’s incessant narrow-mindedness.
What do you like to listen to when you’re sad, happy, stressed, studying, working?
I don’t really use music as an emotional release, I just enjoy deconstructing songs with each play through, pinpoint each part and following it through the track. Sometimes, I use Einaudi to wind down/ send me off to sleep, however. Also Samuel Barber’s ‘Adagio for Strings’ is a winner for me.
Who is your favourite musician? Band?
I’m not really a favourites person, but right now I’m loving ‘Them Crooked Vultures’, a superband consisting of Jean-Paul Jones, Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and Alain Johannes. In addition I bloody love Tim Minchin and Jamie Cullum, as contemporary representatives of the Jazz genre.
What is the best gig you’ve been to?
Reading Festival 2010: Lost Prophets. They blew the roof off the NME stage. During the gig I found out they were Welsh too, which was the icing on the cake.
What inspires you?
Watching others perform and thinking, why aren’t I up there? Often, during someone else’s performance I will be thinking about what we will do when we play.
Who is your favourite jazz icon?
People like Fats Waller, George Shearing and Dave Brubeck are the greats for me, however sometimes they are a little bit abstract for my liking. That’s where people like Tim Minchin come in, providing a complex performance but combing it with a tongue-in-cheek approach, which is what I want to do.
What was your best music festival experience?
The aforementioned Reading Festival 2010, although I’d love to go now I’ve grown up a bit more and I know much more about the scene (unfortunately funds will disallow such a visit for a while).
For those who are new to jazz, who would you recommend to listen to?
Frank Sinatra is always a good starting point, since he’s covered and been covered by just about everyone, however I will never profess to know too much about the topic. Google is amazing.
Where do you see your music career take you?
I don’t think I wanted to take this too far, more of a sideline pocket-money venture. However, the more I play the more confidence I’m getting with myself, and Laura is just fab, so if any recording companies want to snap us up then I won’t stop them!
What was your favourite gig that you played?
The last one we played at Salisbury Road’s ‘Café 37’ was our first proper booking, so that was certainly the most exciting. I love a good audience, and we certainly got that.
What is your favourite cover that you’ve played so far?
I like ‘Dance Wiv Me’, it’s one of the first covers I’ve legitimately written without stealing someone else’s ideas (as in a cover of a cover), so it’s like my baby.
Who would you like to cover next? Why?
I’m getting a taste for rap songs at the moment (just because it jars beautifully with our white middle-class backgrounds), and I’m working on a mash up of Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ and Beethoven’s ‘Fur Elise’. Sounds crazy I know, but you’ve got to be original to make it in this game!”
In other words, you could say that Josh Day will surprise you with his musical choices. If you’re intrigued, then it probably means you should carry on following the evolution of Jazz on the Covers.
On another note, and as mentioned before, Josh’s repertoire is not only limited to singing and ‘jazzing’: Mr. Day is currently directing an adaptation of Departure Lounge, a musical telling the tale of four proper lads on tour, stuck in the departure lounge of Malaga airport trying to piece together the week of a holiday they will never forget.
More updates coming soon: stay tuned!
by Ségolène
Jazz on the Covers 
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