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 ALASDAIR DUNCAN talks to Sydney singer-songwriter JONATHAN BOULET about the recording of his sublime, self-titled debut.
Nothing seems to ruffle Jonathan Boulet – in fact, the 21 year-old exudes a Dude-like calm beyond his years, maybe even worthy of Jeff Bridges himself. His self-titled debut is a breath of warm summer air, a collection of shambling, colourful acoustic guitar songs, with sweetly-ragged melodies and subtle electronics burbling away underneath, and the record is all the more remarkable given that it was recorded in his parents’ garage, with little more gear than a computer, some old guitars and a motley collection of percussion instruments.
Ones Who Fly, Twos Who Die is a highlight from the album, a blissful track whose chanted chorus sounds like it came about spontaneously while sitting around a campfire with friends. Is this assessment of the song remotely accurate, I wonder? “It was almost like that,” Boulet says, laughing gently, “minus the campfire and the other people. It was just me sitting in the garage. It started out with the rhythm, I was just playing around with a loop pedal, and I started doing that beat and thought, this is pretty cool. So the beat was looping and I found my way to that melody and thought, yeah, this is cool.”
The sweetly laid-back Ten Billion Years was written in a similar way. “I think I was messing around with the tune when I was with my partner at the time – I think we were just having a nap, but I had my acoustic guitar with me, so I decided to try and write something, to be a bit romantic and write something while she was there. That song was what came out.”
Boulet’s story of how he ended up signed to the Modular Recordings label is typical of his laid-back demeanour. “I was working with a small independent label from New York who offered to put out a single for me,” he says. “I wasn’t planning to do anything with the song and the whole idea of saying I was with a New York label sounded pretty cool, so I agreed. I guess one of the Modular guys heard it and got in contact.” Did Modular try to woo him, I wonder? “Well, I went to a meeting in their office, and when we finished talking I was like, ‘got any t-shirts or CDs or anything to give me?’, and they said ‘no, we don’t’. That was the extent of them trying to woo me.”
As for the future, Boulet has no plans to work with an outside producer any time soon. “At the moment, I’m pretty adamant about doing the next one myself,” he says. “I don’t like the idea of someone else’s concepts changing the music. It wouldn’t be as personal.” He plans to return to his parents’ garage for the recording – as long as the space is still available. “They’re trying to move out,” he says, “but in looking for places, they’ve been asking ‘should we be looking for somewhere with an extra room for you to record?’, but I’ve been saying ‘no, no, no, don’t, I have to move out, don’t worry!’”
JONATHAN BOULET plays at the Gold Coast’s Club Elsewhere on Friday Mar 12, then the Fans 1st Birthday Party at the new Club House (old Valley Studios) on Saturday Mar 13, alongside Young Heretics, Megastick Fanfare, Strange Attractors and more. Tickets via www.oztix.com.au. His self-titled debut is out now on Modular/Universal. Go to www.myspace.com/jonathanboulet for more.
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