Josh (born 1983) grew up in a musical family, his father playing guitar and harmonica and his brother drums and bass. Music on the stereo was always a big feature at home and Josh was introduced from an early age to the likes of The Waterboys, Van Morrison, Madness, Johann Strauss, Planxty and The Style Council. At six-weeks-old the only way to get him to sleep was to play John Martyn’s “Sweet Little Mystery”.
At around the age of thirteen Josh began learning the guitar and was soon writing songs, some of which can probably be found on dusty old cassettes. He played in bands at school and was the school big band guitarist. He was soon drafted into his friends’ band Roads with whom he began to cut his teeth as a songwriter and performer. The band gigged around the South-West in pubs, clubs and fields and recorded a studio album, Breaking In. In 2002 Josh enrolled at Dartington College of Arts in Devon where he experimented in minimalist composition and live electronics, while continuing to hone and develop his songwriting playing in a duo with fellow songwriter Amy Walker.
Josh’s debut EP Wake was released unofficially in 2006. It was recorded at home and at friends’ houses with Ella Turk-Richards (backing vocals), Anna Scott (cello), Chris Shobrook (piano), Nemo Jones (electric guitar) and Emile Bennett (recording). Characterised by fingerstyle acoustic guitar, candid lyrics and layered production, the four-song EP encapsulates Josh’s sound. In 2007, after moving from Devon to London and with a repertoire of new songs, Josh became a regular fixture at acoustic venues around town, including The Cobden Club, The Bedford, Monkey Chews, The Troubadour and Ginglik. He supported Icelandic band Amiina on their UK tour in 2007, at venues including Bush Hall London, Speigeltent Belfast, TBMC Dublin, King Tuts Glasgow and Carling Academy Manchester.
In autumn of the same year, Josh booked a day at Livingston Studios (Bjork, Buena Vista Social Club, John Martyn) with engineer Sonny (Portico Quartet, Tony Allen, Orchestra Baobab) to record his new songs. Fourteen songs went to tape that day, nine of which now make up the eponymous debut album. The time between the recordings of Autumn 2007 and the release of 2009 was fraught with re-recordings, new arrangements and overdubs. In the end, however, much of the new recordings were discarded in favour of the original solo recordings, which had a rawness and fluidity that stood them apart. Added to Geffin’s solo guitar and voice are piano, cello, percussion, female vocals and electric guitar.
Geffin’s influences include legendary singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake, contemporaries like Joanna Newsom, King Creosote and Bon Iver, and English folk musicians such as Chris Wood and Martin Carthy. Josh Geffin usually plays the guitar with his fingers, or more precisely the nails on his fingers. His songs are often love songs, though that’s not to say all are sung by a lover – some are about a friend, a place or a relative. He is inspired by the Dorset countryside he grew up in and the people and places of that time. He tries to make sense of the city and occasionally finds beauty there too.
