Josh McClorey Interview

Interview with Josh McClorey

On the 31^st of May I went behind closed doors with Josh McClorey previously from The Strypes. The Strypes started in 2010 and quickly found fame as blues rock enthusiasts and were widely admired by big names from Elton John to Slash. After their split in 2018 Josh decided to start his long awaited solo career for himself. Josh is currently doing gigs in Ireland and in England and he was very generous to let me interview him before his first solo gig in Whelan’s and only his second gig alone. We sat down and talked about the struggle of teenage fame, the life and relationship with The Strypes, the split and what we can expect in the future.

Was there a struggle becoming famous from such an early age?

“In retrospect maybe but not at the time” Josh confesses, “We were 13 or 14, I was 14 on The Toy Show. I definitely did not feel it at the time, but as time went on we could start to feel it. It was a very unique position, people often say we were too young but I don’t think so, it ran its course the way it was supposed to run and I think for the four of us it was a great experience to travel the world and do what 90% of kids never get to do. I think we did feel the pressure, to answer your question, but as it progressed towards the end definitely.”

How did the relationship between you all begin?

Josh was extremely open to discussing The Strypes even though the split was still quite recent, only six months later. “We were best mates, like, I knew Evan since I was born and I knew Pete and Ross growing up, we were so young so that’s everything we were doing, playing music together was so special.” The career of The Strypes stretched over 8 years so I was keen to find out how their relationships were affected.

“I think pretty naturally for any four lads who spend seven years in a van together, five people really if you include Niall, our manager, realistically that is not a normal relationship to spend 24 hours with each other. I think we have a very strange relationship, like we were all just at the Rocketman premier, so we all hung out at that, it’s weird at the minute I’m not going to lie it is strange it’s weird to spend ten years with a group of people to then suddenly their not part of your life anymore. We’re all dealing with it differently, it’s a new experience when we meet each other, I think not enough time has passed. I had a great conversation with a group of friends recently. I can’t talk objectively about the Strypes right now because it is too soon, I am also too young to understand what it really was. The difference now since November in how I feel has drastically improved. I think you’re so in the moment about it all the time that you forget to take a bigger picture of it all. So now I’m looking back saying, oh, we done this and we done this, like everything in life the further away you move from it the more rose-tinted it becomes.” It was clear that Josh has a difficult love for The Strypes, the relationship between them all is currently in a strange position. I then was eager to see if we could expect some form of reunion in the distant future or is it something we can never see again.

“Objectively I don’t think I can answer that question, but, I’d like to think that if we were all in the same pub in Cavan, that maybe we could get up and do something casual without stressing about it. I can definitely see that happening.”

I then moved my questioning to the future of Josh McClorey music and his solo work. Josh performed one gig in Cavan before that night in Whelan’s. This was his first ever solo performance so I asked how it felt to perform on his own.

“It was very different man!” Josh laughed, “It was cool though, yeah so basically I got booked for Sea Sessions this year and this gig came about, I was delighted to have two class gigs lined up, then I was thinking it would be great to do a local gig as well. Then the Cavan Arts Festival came around so I decided it would be a good idea to do a gig in front of my friends and family and it went really well. I feel better after doing that one now, I feel slightly more organised.” I couldn’t find his music anywhere online so I was curious to find out what type of material he was going to be playing.

“It’s very different, it isn’t the Strypes. I’m  a big Frank Ocean fan and St.Vincent so I’m taking more inspiration from them rather than being inspired and writing like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. When I was 16 I was introduced to hip-hop and a load of new artists that I had never heard before, most kids listen to current stuff and as they get older they get introduced to the likes of Chuck Berry but mine was completely inverted, I remember clearly when I was 16 someone showed me Jay-Z and being like, oh sick there’s this other world of music that I have never heard before.” This shocked me a bit and also reminded me of what Elton John had said about the Strypes that they have the knowledge of rock and blues in 16 years what took him 65 years to learn. I reminded Josh about this quote and to pass it off like it wasn’t true Josh joked, “Ah I think that’s Elton John talkin’ shit to be honest”.

“There were a lot of things that I couldn’t get from the Strypes and now not only am I writing my own material I am also able to sing, this doesn’t take away from Ross, he was amazing but I really wanted to do this for a very long time.

This project is clearly something Josh wanted to do for a while so I wanted to find out what exactly he was trying to gain out of it.

          “I think it’s for myself, I know that’s such a footballer answer, I’m just glad we got the three points, but I’m just really happy with this music, even if five people here like my music then I’m cool, the fact I can play makes me happy. I’m also doing other stuff now, and without being too Disney Channel I love doing my own thing, telling my own story and write personal songs rather than songs for other people. For the first time in a while I can relax and just chill out.” It was clearly a lifelong dream for Josh which made me curious as to how long he had been working on  this new material.

          “It’s been a while, about a year and a half, we were all anticipating that we might finish the band in a while, so I was with the band for the year while I was writing my own material but I’ve been working on my own material properly for around six months. It’s stuff I can play with my friends that previously, they wouldn’t have played along to, I think that the Strypes stuff my friends couldn’t do that. It’s nicer for me to be more relatable to my friends, the ultimate goal is to just write what I feel and express how I’m feeling and hopefully it rhymes.” I laughed and asked if we can hope to hear any EP’s this year.

          “I think we’re going to take our time, it’s just easier, we don’t want to rush things, I think the plan is to release a few singles over the summer. For now we’re just trying to figure the live set. I’d rather do it right in two months then release stuff that is wrong now.”

It seems like Josh has set himself a bright future and is no doubt sailing through his solo career, I am a big fan of his work past and present and I’m also happy to see him in a good place for himself. Thanks to Josh for the interview and also thanks to Niamh Finnegan who took a few shots for the blog!

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