I’ve been following Joe P for nearly three years and have had the pleasure of seeing Joe perform multiple times as he’s grown as a musician. This spring, Joe hit the road for his debut headlining tour after supporting other artists Spacey Jane, Joywave and Middle Kids over the last two years. After his most recent performance in Baltimore for the WTMD First Thursday event, I had the chance to talk to the rising singer-songwriter about his headlining tour, his connections with fans, and his experiences as a DIY artist.

So I know you’ve been pretty busy the past couple of months with just finishing up your first headlining tour! How was that?

It was great! I didn’t know what to expect and I was super nervous about it. And kind of like, embarrassed is a weird word. But I did feel this embarrassment of people showing up to see me play music. Like, even though that’s literally the whole point of why I do this. To get people to go to the shows. But as soon as the show started, it was so much fun. It was just like a big party and it was the greatest thing ever. So I can’t wait to do that again. 

How did you feel about the tour coming to an end?

It was crazy! I mean, I didn’t want it to end because you kind of just get in a groove. The first three shows you’re still in a mode of figuring out everything and feeling it out. But by like show four and five, you’re just like so dialed in that you start going into autopilot. And you’re now like full on there for the show. Like you’re not trying to play the right parts, you’re not worried about the lyrics being wrong or anything because you’re just dialed in. So you actually start to have fun in this new way, which just gets more and more enhanced as the shows go on. So it’s like by the end, you’re at your peak of like, I could do anything and then you’re done. 

It is kind of crazy to think about it all ending! Do you happen to have a favorite moment or any unique experiences from the tour?

The best moment was the very first show, actually in Washington DC. It was the fourth song we were playing “Color TV”. There was a girl in the audience with a sign that said, “I skipped the prom for this.” And I was like, Holy shit, that’s crazy. And then I turned around looking at my drummer. And then when I turned back around all of a sudden I looked and she’s on stage holding the sign and facing the crowd, standing in front of a microphone. And I’m like, Oh, shit, this is new. Like, I don’t know what to do in this scenario. So I was like okay, I guess this is what we’re doing. She was really sick, though! So we played and the song started and we just started going. Me and her just went back and forth singing into the microphone and it was just like this great, organic, moment that literally, you could never plan. and the whole crowd was in on it just watching this crazy moment of just so much fun. Nothing I’ve ever done has topped that as far as having a cool moment at a show.

It’s actually crazy that you mentioned that. I was at that DC show and that was just such an amazing thing to witness! What was the energy like with these crowds compared to when you were opening?

Well, that was the thing that I was nervous about. When you’re opening, no one expects anything from you. People get there a little early and you’re there to hopefully be good and then if you are, it’s great! But there’s this feeling of going into it where no one expects anything from me. So I can go all the way and go as hard as I can to try to win these people over. And with headlining, you’re still trying to win people over I learned but going into it it’s not the same thing because there’s already expectations, people paid to see you. And it’s not the same as the underdog punching up feeling. So I needed to find a way to go past what these people expected. So that it’s the same concept of trying to win them over on another level that they didn’t even know was there. So I was terrified, because I was like, Oh, if they’re already into it, I just have to fulfill the agreement of being good, because they think I’m good. But I quickly learned that’s not how you do it. You go into it with that same opening mentality of “I need to make these people like more stoked than they already are.”

I can definitely see that pressure. Recently you also played in Mexico! How was that?

It was great! The show itself and everything was amazing. The traveling was a nightmare. It was scary in the sense of like my manager was back here in America, texting me about the flight getting canceled, how we need to do this and that. And it was literally just us. We didn’t go with any type of tour manager. So it was literally just me, Tony and Santo, the people who play on stage were also in charge of all of this travel stuff. Figuring this out with no service and just chaos. So it was just weird and got a little crazy leading to it. But you look back at it almost immediately. And you’re like, Oh no, like that was the most stressful thing ever. But now I’m laughing about it because it was part of the journey and everything. If it went perfectly smoothly, we wouldn’t be talking about it! So yeah, it was crazy. It was just a volcano that erupted and we were stuck at Mexico City Airport for 40 hours and then got to the festival a day late. They still let us play and everything. It was crazy, but it definitely wasn’t boring!

That’s good it all worked out! When on tour did you happen to have any challenges or obstacles like that? Any hiccups?

No, I don’t think so. I think with the way I do things there’s a lot of work that goes into the show or into each aspect of what’s happening and what you’re hearing and seeing that I think a lot of artists either just don’t do it, or if you do see that they have someone who does that for them. And just like in Mexico, how it was just us traveling alone. We got a tour manager for the tour and that was the first time ever having a tour manager, which was so great. It was like the most luxurious thing to me, even though most people have a tour manager, like a crew and all this stuff. And I was just so happy to have one person there that was willing to be like, “hey, I can go grab your guitar while you go do this thing.” Like that was such a huge help. So there’s just a lot of things like setting up the lights and making sure soundcheck is working and everything like that. Like if something breaks, I’m the only one who knows how to run over and fix it because I built the thing. There’s more to it than just showing up and playing. So there were hiccups every day in that sense, where no one would ever know. You would just go to the show and see me walk out being the cool guy and play and then leave. But really right before the doors opened I was probably huddled under a thing of cables trying to see which one was broken. And then at the last second made it so that the whole show worked. That was a crazy level of stress. 

So I remember back when concerts weren’t necessarily happening and everything, you did a lot of live streams on social media in your basement. A lot of people kind of congregated and almost created this mini concert experience virtually! How did playing live compare to the intimate basement livestreams?

It was cool because the intimate basement thing during COVID was the only thing I could do to scratch that itch of playing a show or doing any type of performing. I thought it wasn’t going to work. Like I was like, this is gonna seem like not a show. What am I doing? Like I’m in my basement. And then as soon as I hit go live, people started popping up, I had the feeling of oh, I don’t want to mess up, you know, which is what the feeling of a show is. So that is pretty cool. 
There’s nothing like a real live concert. You cannot replicate that in any way over the phone or anything like that. But there was something kind of cool about the livestream thing where with the chat going, it was almost like a meet and greet with a show simultaneously is how I would describe it. Everyone’s just hanging out. And like I’m just playing songs at the same time so it was less show-like, a little more of we’re all just hanging out and I think it brought people in closer. There was a discord and everything like that. So there was this crew assembling that I don’t think you can do at a show. At a concert it’s great because they come to watch you play and then maybe see you after the show. There is a separation to it. Then on live streams we’re sitting there and I’m eating cereal in between songs. And then I have people telling me at shows, “Hey, I found you on the live stream.” And it’s cool because they started at the more intimate level and then went to a concert, which was really cool! I gotta get back to doing those.

It really was this experience of everyone all hanging out together. It’s definitely more intimate and less formal! On the topic of your fans, what kind of impact do you hope that your music has with the people who enjoy listening to you and the people who follow you?

It’s weird, because for me, music has always been a thing where when I hear it, I just think about like, oh, I want to do that. Or if I see a concert, I’m thinking about how I want to do that. So envious of people who just listen to music, or go to concerts and have nothing to do with music. That’s so cool. Because you’re fully into it and just experiencing it, you’re not thinking and not doing anything. It’s just music. And that’s so great. The only way for me to get to that is by writing. When I write a song, that initial spark is what hits me in the way that I feel like a listener because I come up with something that feels like I didn’t even come up with. It just comes out of the subconscious. I have that quick moment of oh, this is such a cool feeling and almost like an out of body type experience. And then immediately I’m thinking about it and trying to make it good or whatever. But for other people’s listening, I hope they get that feeling that I get when I get that spark. When I write a song, I’m just trying to translate that feeling I get in my basement at three in the morning when I’m delusional and stumble into something on an acoustic guitar and singing a lyric, whatever that feeling is where I’m like, wow, I love this. I hope someone else, when they hear the song, has that feeling. And when I’m recording it I’m trying not to lose that feeling basically. I’m also just stoked when people do the thing that they feel like they were meant to do, which I don’t know if you’d get that from listening to my music, but the live stream thing or going to a concert and just getting that whole idea of what I’m about. I just love it when people are inspired to go off and do something that they’ve always wanted to do for themselves as far as pursuing something that’s a little out of the norm. So that’s kind of all I want. I just want people to kind of go for something. 

Absolutely! I know on tour you played an unreleased song, I think most people are calling it “Happy Birthday Baby”, and you’ve definitely shared some teaser videos of songs that exist, but aren’t out yet. So can you talk about any new projects you’re working on? 

There’s so much new music. And it’s just because I was on tour and in Mexico, and because I’m doing everything myself and recording it, if I’m not home it’s a slower process. But now that I’m home, it’s great so we’re getting things done now finally and sent in now so it’s going to probably be another four song EP coming really really soon and some singles and stuff before that. But an EP for sure and then a full-length so right now I’m just in crazy recording and writing mode, which is the best. So lots of stuff is coming! 

That’s so great to hear! You know, there’s a big respect there that you do it yourself. Yes, it may take longer but you know the quality and the care that goes into it, it’s worth the wait when it does come out because you’ve put so much time into it. 

Yeah, exactly. When you do it yourself, you have to be good at not getting too caught in your own feedback loop of thinking something’s bad or thinking something’s good. You don’t have someone there to kind of tell you this is good let’s move on. You really have to make sure you’re taking your time and allowing yourself to take on different versions of yourself so that you create that collaborative type experience. I don’t want to just do stuff really quickly and get it out because most people have like a producer and a team that’s like listening to their stuff. If you don’t have that, I know from experience, that it’s pretty easy to just turn over every stone to make sure you didn’t miss anything. So I’m just kind of careful about that.

Check out these photos from his latest performance at WTMD First Thursday in Baltimore and be sure to listen to his latest EP, French Blond here.

All photos copyright and courtesy of Ariel Mitchell.