WORDS BY IRVIN RIVERA

On the day of the release of his EP “Hold It Together”, we got the opportunity to sit down and chat with singer and songwriter JP Saxe to chat about his songs, upcoming shows, and his love for Boba and growing up with a creative family.

Saxe is a chill dude whose R&B influenced pop music creates an atmosphere of calmness. He creates relatable, calming music that cuts deep into your soul. The universal appeal of his songs can take any listener to whoever place relaxes them the most- their favorite coffee shop, a beachfront house, cottage tucked in the woods, side of a cliff overlooking the sea, a vintage bookshop, or a cozy late afternoon in front of a fireplace.

His love of poetry is reflective of his works. His music is poetic. There’s just an innate smooth swag quality to his music that the listeners can’t deny.

With the success of “If The World Was Ending” (a song he co-wrote and sang with Julia Michaels), his new EP, and headlining shows this year, JP Saxe is on the rise and definitely an artist to watch this year.

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Let’s talk about your EP release. How excited are you about it?

It’s the first time I’ve put up more than two songs at once. It has 6 songs at once. It’s a weird feeling spending two years working on music. Cause by the time it comes out it’s reminding myself that these songs that have been such a part of my life for so long are just now about to be heard by people for the first time and they (the songs) get to have a new life because of it. At the end of the day, what we really want as artists is to feel more connected to ourselves and to the people around us because they feel something about our music and ourselves.

Which one is the most memorable one in terms of song creation?

It’s hard to pick the most memorable one. There’s certainly something special about “If The World Was Ending.”  All of the other five are songs that I wrote are for the most part by myself or with Ryan Marrone or “Hold it Together” with Ben Rice. Those songs are me getting closer to myself and really trying to understanding my own emotional experience whereas If The World Was Ending is that plus Julia’s (Julia Michaels) experience and getting close to hers as well as mine which makes that one a little bit more different and special.

Speaking of If The World Was Ending, in a previous interview with you and Julia about the song, you spoke about the backstory around it talking about an actual earthquake? Is that really the backstory of the song?

Yeah we wrote that song two weeks after the earthquake in Los Angeles last summer. We’re talking about where we were during the earthquake, what we’re thinking about. Verse 1 is my experience and verse 2 is hers.

And you put it all together and you got a song.

Exactly.

Just imagining what it would change about who and how we communicate with if there wasn’t the consequence of the following day.    

And you have a show this Tuesday in LA?

Yeah. It’s the Third Headline show. I did one in Toronto. I did one in New York and they were pretty wild. People seem to know the words now which is really fun because I get to be up there not just singing by myself. I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 6 years and this is my first big headline show so I am excited to see what that feels like.

Congratulations.

Thank you!

So how was it moving from Toronto to LA? Would you say Los Angeles have influenced your music a lot

It’s the only place I’ve ever been as an adult. Toronto, I love. But all my memories of Toronto were me being a teenager which was a different version of life. And most of the feelings and experiences I’m singing about are all my experiences in Los Angeles, actually all of them. I probably wouldn’t have written a post-apocalyptic love song if I live in a peaceful place like Toronto.

How was it growing up in a creative family?

My grandparents were both musicians. My grandfather was a classical cellist. It was equal parts incredibly inspiring and intimidating. And I think it would be more debilitating and intimidating if I have gotten into classical music. But I went into pop music which is an entirely different language. I got to pull from my grandfather’s philosophy of what it meant to be an artist and not necessarily the actual nuances of being a classical cellist. If I was a classical cellist it would be frightening. He’s one of the greatest ever and I was just trying to tell the truths about my relationships.

Would you say that’s a reason why you chose pop music over classical music?

It was never like a direct choice. I never really got very into being a classical musician. It never super inspired me. Songwriting was both an opportunity for me to both express myself musically and with words and I’m such a huge fan of poetry. Most of my favorite writers are poets. And in many ways, I am more inspired by poets than other songwriters.

A lot of your music is very poetic.

Thanks.

If you’re not making music, what else keeps you busy.

I am overly competitive with boardgames. I will fuck anybody else with Bananagrams. I am a boba aficionado.

Is there a favorite boba place that you love?

TPumps, in Pasadena is my favorite boba place. That’s my favorite in the LA area.

If you were a book, what book would you be and why?

A journal. Cause it’s empty and we’re all still figuring it out.

2020 TOUR DATES

FEB 22 SAT Melkweg Amsterdam, Netherlands

FEB 24 MON SWG3 Poetry club Glasgow, United Kingdom

FEB 25 TUE O2 Ritz Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom

FEB 26 WED Olympia Theatre Dublin, Ireland

FEB 28 FRI O2 Institute Birmingham, United Kingdom

FEB 29 SAT Anson Rooms Bristol, United Kingdom

MAR 2 MON O2 Empire Shepherds Bush London, United Kingdom

MAR 3 TUE O2 Empire Shepherds Bush London, United Kingdom

MAR 19 THU Banger's Sausage House & Beer Garden Austin, TX, United States

MAY 10 SUN Parkteatret Scene Oslo, Norway

MAY 11 MON Obaren Stockholm, Sweden

MAY 15 FRI Tuinzaal (Paradiso Noord) Amsterdam, Netherlands

MAY 16 SAT The Great Escape Brighton, United Kingdom

MAY 18 MON The Camden Assembly London, United Kingdom

MAY 19 TUE Academy 2 Dublin 1, Ireland

MAY 24 SUN Le Ministère Montréal, QC, Canada

MAY 28 THU Rickshaw Stop San Francisco, CA, United States

MAY 30 SAT Fortune Sound Club Vancouver, BC, Canada

MAY 31 SUN Barboza Seattle, WA, United States

JUN 3 WED Constellation Room Santa Ana, CA, United States

JUN 4 THU Troubadour (Doug Weston's Troubadour Tavern) Los Angeles, CA, United States

JUN 18 THU Bowery Ballroom New York, NY, United States

JUN 19 FRI Songbyrd Music House Washington, DC, United States

JUN 20 SAT Sonia Live Music Venue Cambridge, MA, United States

JUN 24 WED Schubas Chicago, IL, United States