CZ: Do you want to challenge people’s thinking about societal and/or political issues through your songs?
OJR: I think it’s risky business. I think when I was starting out I had no pressure to get on the radio, or say or do anything particularly commercial, so it’s just this open road, and you get to talk about whatever the fuck you want to. I was doing just a pretty typical, Dylan, acoustic-harmonica type of setup, and I would sing protest songs. I was living in New York, so I was really involved with Occupy Wall Street, and I was able to really dig in deep and discuss politics.

It’s terrible and cynical, but when more people start listening to you, the less freedom you have to run your mouth about certain stuff without something telling you: “Hey, you can’t say that.” With social media now, you’re also subject to immediate scrutiny. I would love to write my thoughts on everything in America, about guns, about mental illness, about Bernie Sanders. I would love to go on and on about the state of America and what it means to me to be in the world, but most of my fans on Facebook are 60 year olds living in their small towns. In the ‘60s and ‘70s there was a lot of social commentary in music, and if you were given that responsibility as an artist, you were expected to say something of value. Whereas now, if I were to listen to Billboard radio, like Top 40 commercial radio, it puts me in a dark place because it’s upsetting just how many people aren’t doing anything to make this world better. The number one thing I miss about living in the UK was the youth actually gave a shit, just firing up about stuff.

CZ: You’ve mentioned London and Paris, and you actually recorded your latest record Nashville Demos in a variety of cities, didn’t you?
OJR: I’m very much interested in what’s about to happen. It doesn’t take a genius to know what is happening, but I like to have my finger on the pulse. I just came to a place in New York where I realised, as awesome as it is – and I had a lot of opportunities there -, I felt like that scene, at least musically, was bankrupt. It’s still thriving for fashion and design and all these other sectors, but I felt as an artist it was dried up in a way. I think Paris represents this magical, faraway land to most people, and I intended to stay there and settle in life – which I did for a while – but I went to London and it just totally fascinated me.

I hitchhiked from there to Berlin and met some awesome people, and those songs were just about being a traveller, not having any itinerary. One night I would sleep behind a gas station, the next night I would stay in somebody’s mansion, or somebody’s outrageous flat in some awesome city. So, highs and lows, and when all was said and done, Nashville Demos served as a snapshot of my travels. I love Nashville, it’s a great music scene and people are definitely paying attention to it right now, but there’s just something about Europe that I haven’t really gotten over yet.

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