Behind the Music: Interview with Sons of Town Hall

‘It can be a lot easier to write honestly about the big stuff when you’re writing via a character.’ 

Ahead of their performance at Isbourne Arts on Tuesday 11th November, I chatted with Sons of Town Hall, a transatlantic duo that blends folk music influences with Victoriana style to deliver captivating storytelling from the characters they take on the personas of. Trust me, this is not your average duo.

Hi guys, thanks for chatting with Listen to Discover. Firstly who is involved in Sons of Town Hall?
Thank you for chatting. Sons of Town Hall is just the two of us: George Ulysses Brown, played by Ben Parker – celebrated British singer, songwriter, and producer – and Josiah Chester Jones, played by David Berkeley – beloved American singer, songwriter, and author.

How did the band name come about?
We live on opposite sides of the Atlantic, and the band began with us trading song ideas back and forth across the ocean via the internet. We thought it would be fitting to name our act after a vessel that had made the ocean crossing (other than the Titanic). A few pages into a Google search, we stumbled upon the story of a junk raft called Son of Town Hall, built in the early 1990s by a nomadic octogenarian named Poppa Neutrino. There was a book about his wild life, which we both read immediately. His boundless sense of wonder and adventure completely captured our imagination and inspired us to adapt some of his life story as the basis for the world we would create.

What would you cite as your musical/non-musical influences?
We share similar loves for so many things, which it turns out is really important in forming any duo (be it a band or a marriage). Certainly in the musical world, Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Young, John Martyn, Nick Drake, The Grateful Dead, and Tom Waits are among the biggest influences. But the non-musical influences perhaps have been more fundamental in inspiring this project: Moby Dick, the Lonesome Dove tetralogy, Homer and much of Greek mythology, Monty Python, Steinbeck, and the aforementioned Poppa Neutrino, to name a few.

‘There’s something very powerful about holding a record after a show – it lets you take a piece of our world home.’

What led to you creating aliases for yourselves and what is the relationship between them and your own personalities?
Initially we didn’t have aliases.  But as soon as we named each other, our distinct identities really took shape and the whole project elevated to a new level. We created this mythic universe first, and the more we fleshed it out, the more it became clear that we had to become these alter-egos to navigate through that world. Of course, these personas needed names.

When creating a track, do you write lyrics from the headspace of David & Ben or Josiah & George and if the latter, how do you get into character?
It’s a bit of both really.  Oddly, it can be a lot easier to write honestly about the big stuff when you’re writing ‘through’ a character.  Almost like the character itself adds a protective layer, so that the themes and truths we explore avoid sounding preachy or too self-consumed. George & Josiah aren’t that different from Ben & David.  Certain aspects are exaggerated or dressed up a bit, but there’s still a real honesty there. 

Which of your tracks to date have taken on the biggest development from inception to release?
Both Antarctica and The Lion’s Paw on the new album have really grown from their original acoustic stripped back form. These songs are more anthemic than some of the work on our debut album. Once we the basic tracks were recorded (which we always do around a single microphone, playing our guitars and singing at the same time), we could hear a much bigger musical palette being involved, with orchestral strings and brass and even woodwind to help support the widescreen themes of the songs themselves. 

There is a heavy Victorian slant in your costumes and animated videos, but your music is centred in folk genre. When did you decide on this direction?
The Victorian look and feel really grew out of the name. When we first saw Sons of Town Hall, we immediately pictured Gangs of New York-style costumes – it just seemed to fit. The Victorian era was such an extraordinary time for exploration and invention that it felt natural to root our world in that age of bold adventure. 

And linked with this, how do approach blending the styles together?
It seems more natural than it might look on paper to connect the folk music genre with a Victorian aesthetic.  Our story tracks our adventures around the world, many of which take place roaming the frontier of America. And the folk/cowboy/campfire/hobo culture on that side of the pond, which ultimately spurs the likes of Woody Guthrie, seemed like how these two troubadours would sing. 

In contrast, the artwork for your most recent album ‘Of Ghosts and Gods’ carries a more mystical edge. What led to this decision?
There’s always been a kind of appeal to the gods running through our music, but it’s more explicit on this album. When you picture two men out there in the big world, exposed to the elements as much as we are, there’s naturally a deeper connection to the higher powers – a need to call on forces greater than ourselves. Our show has also always been about connection – between the two of us, but also with the audience – and we feel there’s something spiritual in that as well.

Title themed track ‘Gods’ is absolutely stunning. What does this, and other tracks on the album, say about where ‘Son’s of Town Hall’s music is at right now?
Thank you. We’re committed to keeping the instrumentation period-appropriate, but the scale and scope of the themes of our songs and show warrant orchestration and production that can elevate the power of the emotion and lyric. Every bit of beauty and darkness in the song in its simplest form must be supported in full but the instrumentation and production you add to it. Our dream would be to have an orchestra with us when we play live shows so we can really take the audience sonically on an emotive journey. Until then, though, we have to bottle that on our records only.

I understand CD and Vinyl of the album are already available, but the full digital release will come next year. In your opinion, how important are physical releases to the success of new music in the streaming age?
For us, the album is still a true art form, so the physical product means a great deal. We put a lot of care into every detail – the liner notes, the artwork, the sequence of the songs. Even though the world is moving toward singles and shorter digital formats, we’re determined to stay rooted in the physical realm and believe that people still have 45 minutes of attention spans at least. There’s something very powerful about holding a record or CD after a show – it lets you take a piece of our world home with you, along with the memories.

‘Influences such Moby Dick and Greek mythology have been fundamental in inspiring this musical project’

Which performance to date stays in your memory and why?
We have been fortunate to play in many special spots–from old English castles to mission churches in the desert of the American Southwest. But we played a few shows at the Dusseldorf Festival in Germany on a boat which set off down the Rhine River as the show began and motored back up whilst we played the second set.  That was pretty wonderful to be telling tales of travel and adventure whilst actually moving down a river with our audience.

And finally, what would your advice be to anyone starting out as a singer-songwriter?
Figure out what you do best – what feels most original, honest, and uniquely yours. This might sound strange coming from two men who perform in costume under assumed names, but our biggest piece of advice is to be as true to yourself as possible. The songs that express the most of who you are will always be the ones that connect most deeply with your audience.

Photography Credit: Sjoske Buursink
Thanks Sons of Town Hall for chatting with Listen to Discover