PREMIERE: JON MARSDEN CHANNELS RETRO SOUL ON HIS NEW TRACK ‘MIRROR’
It’s not often that one comes across an artist as uniquely multifaceted as Brisbane-based singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Jon Marsden.
Fusing introspective lyrical song writing with eclectic rhythm and groove to deliver a deep and engaging performance, Jon is Brisbane’s best hat trick artist.
His latest single ‘Mirror’ perfectly encapsulates himself and his artistry as he sets the tone for all of the new music to come. The track is one of a wide catalogue of demos Jon produced during the 2020 pandemic, where he created a demo song almost every day of the year. (WOAH).
’Mirror’ was completely self-recorded and produced in Brisbane, at the artist's small home studio, plus to impress you further, Jon tracked all of the instruments on the track, including electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboard, drums, and flute.
And guess what folks! We’ve got the funk electro-soul track here for you to listen to right now before its official release tomorrow the 24th of September - PLUS an exclusive interview Jon Marsden all about the track…
Give it a listen!
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Hi Jon, how are you!
JON: I’m doing very well! I’ve been quite busy working on getting this song out, but it’s very exciting to finally be getting back into it after what seems like such a long time.
Now today we are lucky enough to bring our audience a premiere of your new single ‘Mirror’ being released tomorrow… talk to us a bit about the song! What does it mean to you?
JON:Yes! And thank you for premiering the track. The thing with ‘Mirror’ is that it can be taken in a few different ways, and most of the time I like to leave it up to the listener to decide how the song resonates with them and that meaning may differ from person to person and time to time. So, I’ll tell you what it means to me at the moment and what it meant when I wrote it. We can get so caught up in how we are perceived by others that we start trying to make ourselves palatable to people that we shouldn’t really be concerned with. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t care about other people’s opinion or views, but we shouldn’t change ourselves in an attempt to satisfy someone else. Whereas at the time that I was writing the song I was dealing with feelings of imposter syndrome. I was recording and producing music for other artists and often found myself doubting my abilities and feeling like a fraud. So in that regard ‘Mirror’ could be considered as a kind of positive reinforcement like, “hey, look at your reflection, you’re still that same person that is capable of everything you’ve done and so much more”.
Tell us about the songs writing and recording process?
JON: This song (among others) was written around April 2020 as the reality of the pandemic started to set in. I basically locked myself away in my little studio and told myself to write music for no other reason than my own enjoyment and with no intention of sharing any of the songs I wrote. It was great. It was extremely freeing to have no pressure of release dates or wondering how a song would translate to an audience. I was writing selfishly for the joy of writing.
JON: As far as the recording process went, writing and production often go hand in hand for me. Usually when I set out to write a new song, I’ll have something that somewhat resembles a demo after about a day and then I’ll spend the next few months mixing and refining a final version and then forgetting that the song exists as I get distracted by whatever else I’m currently working on. Interestingly, I found that the time between finishing the song and releasing has given me perspective as to whether the song holds up. Going back through the catalogue I wrote throughout 2020 there’s a lot of trash in there, but I found songs and ideas that I don’t even remember writing and saying “ok that kinda slaps” and ‘Mirror’ was one of those songs. I suppose that allowing a song such a long time to exist before putting any thought into releasing helped me remove myself from the creative side and hear it as if for the first time as an objective listener.
What influenced the track?
JON: I remember at the time I was listening to a lot of early 70’s soul and RnB. Marvin Gaye’s album ‘What’s Going On’ was a huge inspiration on not just ‘Mirror’ but a lot of the music I was writing at the time. Artists like Donny Hathaway, Shuggie Otis and even D’Angelo were constantly on repeat throughout 2020. I’m sure I’ve subconsciously stolen or borrowed many elements from those artists.
What do you want listeners to take away from this release?
JON: I’d love for the listener to spend some time exploring the song for themselves whether it’s musically or lyrically. I hope that people can draw their own conclusions as to how this song may resonate with them.
What can fans expect from Jon Marsden for the rest of the year? Could we be seeing more new music!?
JON: I’d really love to follow up ‘Mirror’ with a new track ASAP. I have a pile of new music just waiting to be shared and couldn’t be more excited. We’ve also got plans for the band and I to get back on stage performing before the end of the year!