A Chat with Arrays (17.05.22)
The brainchild of alternative rock singer-songwriter JP Carroll, Arrays has a powerful, dynamic and infectious sound. We speak with Carroll about his new single ‘Forget Fast’, winning a million dollars and future plans.
OSR: Cliche, but sometimes a good opener. Why did you decide to begin making music?
Arrays: An oldie but a goodie! To be honest, I don’t think it was a choice. It started with Nirvana and the Offspring, and a yearning to be able to play guitar like them – or just be in a band! Singing was a distant dream. Everyone told me to stop whenever I would open my mouth! It took me until the age of 17 to sum up the courage to really try to play the guitar. And what I discovered was a wellspring of motivation and creativity that I didn’t know existed, and the complete incapacity to give up or stop. I actually tried to stop at one point, in a particularly low ebb in life, and it made things even worse! ?
If I had a choice, I’d choose a nice safe career, maybe banking or finance.
OSR: We interviewed you a couple of years ago about Light Years, do you think your music has evolved since then?
Arrays: I hope so! I’ve certainly dug deep to improve my mixing and production quality, and I think inherent in that process is the desire to write better songs. I went one step lower with my guitar tuning for this record, too. Filth! Absolute filth.
OSR: What do you hope people take from your music?
Arrays: I hope they find something to connect with, and then get that ineffable feeling of ecstasy, joy, sadness – the emotional hit that music lovers can get only from music. If I can give that feeling to listeners then I’ve done my job. I’ve done more than my job!
OSR: What can you tell us about your new single ‘Forget Fast’?
Arrays: It’s a bit hectic. One of the radio stations I shared it with told me ‘”it’s noisy!” ?. But, they still played it, so I can only take it as being noisy in the best way. I’m not impervious to cliches either, so here goes: if you want to know, you’ll have to take a listen for yourself!
OSR: Did you experience any challenges when recording the single?
Arrays: I experienced all of the challenges when recording the single by way of one big, ugly pandemic! Things are certainly starting to look up now, but that was a richly challenging, dark time in life. I actually felt foolish preparing to release music at such a time. The outcome relates back to my answer to question 1 – I didn’t really have a choice.
OSR: You also recorded a video for ‘Forget Fast’, did you have any challenges making it?
Arrays: The main challenge with making an Arrays video is learning all the parts and then performing them with conviction. Music videos with bands are so much easier than when you ARE the whole band. I had a lot of fun pulling the video together, I actually directed and edited the vid and it was shot by my friend Scott Nicolson of Lunch Club.
OSR: If you won a million dollars, what would you spend it on?
Arrays: I would probably buy a forever home, upgrade my studio, and maybe leave 40k to record and release another record. If I had another 60K I’d buy a Ford Mustang – my dream car!
OSR: Describe yourself in one sentence.
Arrays: Deliriously ambitious, hilariously delicious.
OSR: What is one thing you wish you knew more about?
Arrays: How to talk to people.
OSR: Do you have future plans for Arrays?
Arrays: You bet your ass I do! My next album PATIENCE WAY will be out this year, as well as more singles, videos, etc. And I’m one third the way through writing the next album. You haven’t seen the last of me! *shakes hand like super villain… then stops*
Many thanks to JP Carroll for speaking with us. For more from Arrays check out his official website, Facebook and Spotify.
