If you've been a frequent browser of Swedish BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay (purely for royalty-free material, we're sure) during its fluctuating existence, then the name George Barnett might just ring a bell. Back on 12th March, the face of the talented English singer/songwriter/everythinger adorned the website's homepage, accompanied with a segment of rather interesting text that read something like this:

Cutting and well-constructed words from the young English lad who recorded his album when he was (quite fittingly) just 17. Anybody who’s heard George Barnett’s music is undoubtedly aware of the musical and artistic value it holds and the praise it consequently merits. Don’t believe us? Go and grab the album. After all, it’s free – what is there to lose?



We managed to catch up with George Barnett for his first interview about the album, the Pirate Bay and everything else in between.

George Barnett: Hello!

George Barnett: I'm well thanks. I've taken the dog out for a walk and I'm having some toast. Peanut butter in case you're wondering...

AltSounds: Peanut butter? Not the best, but I’ll let you off! So, let’s start by talking about the release of your album 17 Days- obviously you've been in the spotlight recently since the album hit the Internet. Interestingly, you released it for free for anyone to enjoy, a rarity nowadays - was the album intended as a message about the state of the music industry today?

George Barnett: No, not really. The songs themselves were actually released track by track from June until December last year in intervals of 17 Days. That's where the name comes from - the fact that I chose to make it available as an entire album for free was kind of last minute. I didn't really want people to get so taken with the industry move that it just devalued the music, which is how it could've been. I see the creative side of music as completely separate to the promotion and that stuff. As far as the music goes, those songs are a snapshot of my life aged 17 in 2011 and that's what I really wanted to get across.

George Barnett: It certainly made me think more about each song as a whole. I had ideas like I always do, buzzing around, but I'd hold them back until a lyric fitted further down the line. The way it worked is, I'd release a new song (with a 17 second teaser video), then spend the next 17 days writing and recording the next one. It was a lot of work for not a huge amount of people interested (especially the teaser videos), but I'm a bit obsessive about that stuff. When it got to Christmas time, I realized I could take the best songs from the last half-year and put them together as an album, and when I was deciding the order for that album I re-mixed the tracks and created some extra passages and pieces to help them all flow into each other better. I don't know why I did it all the way I did. But the one-song-every-17-days idea became an obsession, and it made sense as I had so many genres and styles desperate to get out of me: I could release a song and then completely start afresh on something new, something inspired by however I was feeling that next few weeks.

George Barnett: I suppose I always feel most comfortable on drums, but that doesn't mean I start on them every time. The songs on the album vary quite a lot in their methods... The song 'Thoughts' was done all in one take apart from the glockenspiel. The title track '17 Days' was very simple to record too. ‘Apocolade’ has the most going on sonically, church organs clashing with strings and pianos, 20 tracks of guitars, 3 bass tracks, handclaps and layers and layers of countless backing vocals. It got crazy. I play every instrument on the album apart from a few special guests, most of which were added later between November-February, after I had released the originals at 17 day intervals. I don't know why I do this. Writing, arranging, performing, producing... I have to finish it. I don't trust anyone else with it to be honest. They don't know how it needs to be done like I do. I am probably a control freak. But hey, I make horses not camels.

George Barnett: All in my bedroom. The piano was recorded in a church though, I just packed up my microphone and laptop and played on their Steinway. It was amazing. But the lyrics in 'Apocolade' are really central to that immense, huge feel too. Like how "Most young kings get their head cut off" relates to Basquiat and the way he felt. "Crushed into these feet" was something else he had scrawled on a wall. "Sweet Joanna" is a reference to The Joanna, a ship that went down in 1682 just off South Africa, and people still find its treasure today. "Simoni’s Sybil" refers to a sketch by Michelangelo called Libyan Sybil.

Plus the 'Apocolade' chords are G minor and C major, the same opening chords of the Debussy violin sonata. That's where the "Debussy's Rock" line comes from. As for “The Ninth Wave,” it's a painting by Ivan Aivazovsky, from which I named my live band. As you can see, there are artistic references old and new everywhere in that song, to compliment the renaissance feel. Greek gods are also mentioned.... Ahh, it's getting heavy !

George Barnett: Cheers! Sometimes it's more personal, it really depends on how I feel.

George Barnett: No plans for an actual tour, but that is something I would love to happen in the not-too-distant future. I'm playing The Clapham Grand in London on 13^th July. But me and my live band are also playing some festivals over the summer - Hesfes, Fieldview and Barn On The Farm on 7^thJuly.

George Barnett: I thought long and hard and decided the only way to do these songs justice is to play with a band. When I perform live I'm George Barnett and The Ninth Wave. We are a 5 piece, with Chris Clarke (Drums), Rob House (Bass), Alex Taylor (Guitar), Finn Francis (Guitar), and me on keys, guitar, percussion, vocals and anything else I can grab. It's just so good to take these songs and play them with other musicians, because despite the control stuff recording-wise, nothing beats playing live with other players.They're also my best friends and they totally get what I'm doing. I wouldn't want to play with anyone else, because they are the greatest band in the world.

George Barnett: They were running a promotion thing where you basically just sent them a sample of what you do, and if they liked it they'd get in touch. They liked it and they got in touch. It was as simple as that. People keep asking me if I paid for it... Definitely not. I don't have enough money to buy a car - how do people think I got on one of the biggest websites on the internet? But yeah, the response has been great, with so many people saying they would have never heard of me were it not for The Pirate Bay. I have a lot to thank those guys for. They set me up and allowed my music to reach those people, and for that I'm grateful.

George Barnett: It just made sense to me that if people downloaded the album for free, they would listen to it and maybe buy it if they liked it. A lot of them did. But also it made sense that if people had no money to buy it; it shouldn't mean they were just cut off. People do care, and a bit of humanity goes a long way which is something I think the music industry has been lacking since its beginning. But as I said I want it always to be about the music, not the way it reaches your ears.

Why should stars live in mansions and have everything they had in the 70's? No one else gets that. I want to make music my career - and that is possible with live shows, synch licensing, merch, and being smart. Being smart does not mean signing to a major label for 5 albums to receive a 12% royalty rate. Being smart would not necessarily mean cutting out a label completely either, but learning to stand up for your work and have a bit more self-belief. As for the ageing music industry of the last 50 years - piracy has gone too far now, they can't beat it. They'll have to workwith it or die.

George Barnett: Thanks!

George Barnett: Ah, the wheel got stuck the other day so I can only listen to artists beginning with K. So… Kings Of Leon, Kanye West, Kool & The Gang and Kraftwerk. But I probably would be listening to Kanye anyway. His last album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was a work of genius. Probably my favourite album ever – every minute is gold, it just feels so complete and epic. Elsewhere I'm loving Some Nights by Fun, Metals by Feist, El Camino by The Black Keys, Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay and Plastic Beach by Gorillaz. They're not all super new, but they each hold special places in my heart.

George Barnett: I couldn't say. Things change so quickly that what I say would be different in a week...

George Barnett: I know, wish he’d do some more! I got his autobiography audiobook, love it.

George Barnett: Speak to you another time!

George Barnett: Cool – bye!