Al Joshua
AL JOSHUA from THE LOST REVUE
1. Who are you?
I’m Al Joshua. I’m the singer songwriter in The Lost Revue.
2. No, really, who are you?
Ok I’m Al Joshua but I was born under a different name. I changed it a few years ago. I come from that dip-shit sailor town of death Portsmouth,
but I’ve shuffled that off now, like the way you shuffle off your mortal coil. I came to London five or six years ago and since then I’ve been a
student, a medical guinea pig, a labourer, a market researcher, a cleaner, a resident of mice infested north London holes, lovely old lady’s homes
with biscuits on the side, and a barely floating derelict ferry on the Thames that was home to as many flies as in George’s cold eyes. My
current occupation is singer songwriter in The Lost Revue, which pays a big fat monthly cheque of nada, but I could give a
rat’s ass – it’s all I care about.
3. What are you up to at the moment?
Band wise I’m excited cause I’m busy booking gigs all over the country to promote our single ‘Devil hit a hi-hat riding’ coming out on the 11th
October. This makes me happy because playing gigs is what I really love to do. I’m still just finding my feet in the studio and I still feel a
little uncomfortable, but the boy sure do love to do gigs.
Personal like, what am I up to? I’m testing my loved ones’ nerves and resilience. Quitting everything except the band has left me a little
short on the dirty cashola which means I spend a lot of time flitting between the couches and cold kitchen windows of friends and family as I
have no place to live of my own sir. But mostly what I’m up to is chasing good times and fun and avoiding responsibility. I listen to a lot of
music and I read a lot of books. I also quit smoking recently if that’s of any interest.
4. What three rules would make up your manifesto?
Well you don’t need a manifesto to know which way the wind blow. But anyway…
– If it ain’t broke, break it
– If it don’t smoke, shake it
– If it won’t croak, cake it
5. If you were the dictator of a modern industrial country, what would
you abolish? What laws would you implement?
Manipulating people with fear would be abolished. Stupefying people with dumb ass TV would be abolished. Smug rich powerful people who steal from
the poor and use moralising, judgemental gobbledegook language from out of
the dark night of their scrawny little souls would probably find themselves
out of work. In fact shit kickers of all types would go up against the wall.
You might even find yourself occasionally judged by something other than
your economic worth.
I would establish laws promoting the sale of hotdogs and other so-called ‘street’ foods because they taste great. We all know it, so why lie about
it. I would also establish a Nude Attractive People Day, on which attractive people would voluntarily go nude so as to pay normal people
back for cutting them all the slack we do because of their beauty.
6. What are your lyrics about?
Traces of faces in meat packing places.
7. What is your opinion on the contemporary music scene? What do you
like/dislike?
I like music that kind of stutters and slurs and shuffles. Mysterious music. Like in that old folk song, Barbara Allen, “…from her heart grew a
red, red rose, and from his heart, a briar…” They tangle over their
graves. Well they can tango over my grave any time. Music, voices and words of any time that create strange spaces. Heartbreak hotel. Who’s
got the crack. The current music scene is like any other probably – mixed. Some of them magic and pumping on their imaginations like it’s a
heart to be started, others cynical and boring, showing of their emperor’s new clothes. I see more of the latter but some of the others too.
8. What distinguishes you from your peers?
Well I think that what distinguishes The Lost Revue from our peers is that we’re probably the only band in London endorsed by God Almighty himself.
I’m not being arrogant. He told me.
9. Where do you see yourself in five years time?
I’ve put all my eggs in one basket so I don’t even wanna think about five months time really. Too much to lose to get scared thinking about it.
Still writing songs and singing them. Whether or not that will be a pitiful sight or a glorious one I do not know.
10. Any regrets?
Regret’s like a third wheel. Who needs it? It’s like Laurel & Hardy, oh yeah and their pal Regret. Stan should knock him upside the head, Ollie should kick him in the ass, and then the tramp should come along and drown the son of a bitch. Yeah I got regrets, but I’m holding my breath till
they go away.