Review Fix Exclusive: Joshua Fletcher Talks ‘Ready, Aim’

Review Fix chats with Nashville-based singer/songwriter Joshua Fletcher, who discusses his new album, “Ready, Aim,” which is set for a May 26 release on In Music We Trust Records. The ten-track album focuses on love, a topic very close to the singer. He even gets some help from one of his favorite musicians, The Damnwells’ Alex Dezen, creating an album that Fletcher admits sounds much better than anything he could have imagined.

Review Fix: What do you think makes you different from other musicians?

Fletcher: I don’t know that there’s a whole lot that makes me “different” than other musicians.  We’re all out here basically attempting the same goal, which I’d say is to create something meaningful and then figure out a way to get that something meaningful into the lives of those which would find the most meaning in it. Our processes are probably all slightly different, but for the most part we all want to find a way to articulate the songs in our heads.

Review Fix: What do you think you need to develop further to attain the type of success you feel you deserve?

Fletcher: It’s not for me to determine how much success I deserve, but if I want to continue to build something positive out of this whole experience (and I do), then I think I need to further develop everything. I want to always get better, more introspective, more thought-provoking lyrics.  I want to strive to be more honest, have better melodies, and probably shred way more killer guitar solos. I want to connect better, and perform better, be a better friend, husband, etc.  I want to believe that if I prioritize those things, then success in whatever form it takes will come.

Review Fix: What musicians do you think you’ve learned the most from?

Fletcher: Directly, I’ve definitely learned the most from Alex Dezen. He’s been my spirit guide through this thing for the last several years, and has been directly informing my songwriting style since long before we ever became friends.  I’ve learned a lot of great lessons from some great musical friends. Tyler Lyle and Louis DeFabrizio  (Gasoline Heart) both taught me in different ways what a song could mean to the writer as well as the listener.  Louis has been my rock-n-roll North Star for almost 15 years, and again was informing my writing decisions long before we met.  Tyler’s been a great friend since we met close to 10 years ago, and I’ve gotten to watch him transform himself into a powerhouse of songs.  Having this level of talent around you will always rub off on you, and I hope the effect it’s had on me has been positive.  I think it has.

Review Fix: What was the creative process for the album like?

Fletcher: This one was long and drawn out.  The songs for this record were written over a period of several years, and some of them have gone through four or five different life cycles to end up where they did on this album. They’re always growing and changing, but as far as the creation of this record, I can’t really describe the creative process.  It took me through a few different stages of life and ended up with me sitting in a room with one of my musical heroes working out what their final recorded form would look like. I will say that probably 80% of the creation of these songs had a lot to do with me awake at 4 am trying to sing quietly enough that I didn’t wake up my roommates. The other 20% was mostly my friends and I playing way too loudly in the basement of our house in Atlanta. It was also 80% coffee, and 20% beer.  Those percentages sometimes fluctuated.

Review Fix: What did you learn from this album?

Fletcher: I learned so much from this album.  I’m really continuing to learn from it every day.  The main thing I learned from making it is how to let go.  I had a really hard time giving up creative control over anything before working with Alex. He taught me with much resistance that I don’t always know best. That wasn’t an easy lesson to learn, but it was absolutely necessary, and hopefully speaks to the second question above.  Being able to see when someone else knows better than you is never a bad thing. I’d like to now take a moment to apologize to my parents for not learning this lesson until my mid-twenties.

Review Fix: How was “Skylines” written? Is there a story behind it?

Fletcher: That song was actually written in about fifteen minutes on someone else’s guitar. I was staying with a friend in Nashville on one of my first trips here to write songs, and during a little down time I picked up her guitar and started playing around with the chords that would eventually make up the bulk of the song. I had been toying around with the chorus lyric (“I still see you through the holes in the skyline, I still breathe through the holes in your smile”) for a little while, and for whatever reason I got to be a part of one of those “let the song write itself” moments.

Originally there was a different second verse, but thanks to some helpful criticism from Natalie (the friend who’s guitar I was using), it got cut and the current second verse was added pretty much immediately.  She jokes with me that she deserves 50% royalties and a co-write credit because without her guitar and honesty, it probably wouldn’t have happened. I didn’t give her a credit, but hopefully this interview shout out is enough. I’ve got bills to pay, after all.

Review Fix: What makes “Ready, Aim” a special album?

Fletcher: This record was made with love, through and through.  Almost no one that worked on it was paid to do so, but everyone involved gave it 110%. It’s a really special thing to see something I worked so hard on get treated so respectfully by so many people.  I put a lot of myself into this album, and that’s always a scary thing.  I’d like to think that this album is special because of how much care went into making it.  From the writing to the recording to the releasing.  I really hope people can hear that when they listen to it.

Review Fix: How do you want it to affect people?

Fletcher: I want it to affect people in the way that they need to be affected by it. I know firsthand how much a song or a collection of songs can mean to people at certain points in their lives. I really want this record to be the kind of thing that grows with the listener.  It would be amazing if it became someone’s favorite album or had someone’s favorite song on it, or was one of those things that you could point to at a season in your life, and always be able to revisit it with fond memories.  That may be a pipe dream, but it’s what I want.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Fletcher: I’ll be out on the road a good bit in the coming months, so it’ll be mostly that. I’m also writing a good bit, and have written a good bit, so hopefully as soon as this all dies down I’ll be ready to start the whole process over. A new collection of songs is already beginning to take shape that will hopefully be the best logical progression from this current set. So, l’m going to play a little bit of everywhere, meet some folks I haven’t met before, make some new musical connections, and then I’m going to do it all over again.