For The Artisanals’ upcoming album Zia, set for a September 3 release, lead singer Johnny Delaware is conducting some of the pre-release interviews from a Mexican restaurant—not a Taco Bell, but a restaurant in Mexico. During the pandemic, the singer-songwriter has been living in a mountain village near Guatemala where the weather feels like San Francisco—mild and rainy.
Delaware admits that he took a much-needed break during the pandemic. “A lot of times you wake up and you tell yourself, ‘This is who I am, and this is what I have to do every day.’ That’s kind of a fabrication of what you are. I don’t want to be just a songwriter, so I took go I took a pretty long hiatus from writing and instead, I just read a lot and I spent time in nature. I moved to Mexico because I just wanted to start a new life, and then music came back to me naturally. I didn’t have to force it, and now I’m writing a lot of songs again.
Originally from South Dakota, Delaware met the other band members after moving to Charleston. He recorded his first solo album in 2012 and while on the road, he met and formed a bond with Clay Houle, who was living in Atlanta at the time. They ended up putting a band together in 2016 with Eric Mixon and Ian Klin, both from Charleston. Houle plays lead on the electric guitar, with Klin on keyboards and backup vocals, and Mixon on the bass.
They released an EP followed by a self-titled album recorded at the Magic Barn in Iowa with equipment from the Magic Shop studio in New York City. Instead of auctioning the equipment, it was bought together by one man—even compressors and microphones—and shipped in a semi from New York City to Iowa. “He built a big barn and called studio the Magic Barn. David Bowie recorded Black Star, his last album, on that gear. And it was same gear and instruments on Suburbs by Arcade Fire and Smoke Ring for my Halo by Kurt Vile—a lot of great albums. It was our first time getting to record their analog gear, so we got spoiled,” said Delaware.
He described that first album as “very 70s aesthetic with vintage songwriting qualities with modern lyricism. Maybe arena rock meets Gordon Lightfoot. It has some Def Leopard influences, some Neil Young and America references. It’s all over the place, but I would just say it’s songwriting with a lot of clever production,” he said.
The new album, recorded in Athens, Georgia, is influenced by the time Delaware spent in Albuquerque. He says he fell in love with the landscape there. “The desert, the open scenery change the way you write,” he said. It gave me a lot of revelations.” He also explored books about the desert and recognized the theme of resurrection and cycles. “Zia derives from that kind of ethos. It’s more about having a revelation, having to start your live over,” he added.
Zia, he says, is not as produced. “It’s more stripped down. The acoustic guitar is in the forefront of the music. I love good folk songs and stripped down music that’s not over produced, and it was nice to do that for Zia,” Delaware said.
“Fear to Fail,” the opening song on the 9-song EP, has an important message, says Delaware. “I do feel like fear is one of the things that holds us back as human beings with whatever we are trying to accomplish while we’re on this planet. We all have a little bit of fear getting in the way of something, and I think one of the biggest things to do is realize like fear is a healthy too. I don’t want to jump off a cliff and die, right? That’s why fear is a primitive instinct in us, but I also need to be able to distinguish when fear is holding me back.
The simple guitar rhythms of “The Road” with its clean harmonies evoke an escape, whether literal or metaphorical, from boundaries and struggles, “a long way from troubles.” The images of the desert Southwest on the album offer more a promise of a fresh start than austerity.
Delaware says he and Houle often work together on the songs. “I write the lyrics, and then we’ll build a song around a riff, or I’ll start a demo and Clay will chime in, giving ideas for a song. It’s easier for me because I’ve been writing songs since I was sixteen. Then I give everyone a little freedom in the studio when we record. Once you do something long enough, you trust each other,” he said. Talking about the songwriting sessions that are the norm in pop music, he said that if songwriting becomes too much of a democratic process, it’s like having too many cooks in the kitchen.
“It makes you wonder, ‘How many writers were on this song?’ You can tell there’s at least two or three and someone wanted to fit their bridge idea.” Their formula works well for The Artisanals, and Delaware admits he gets a lot out of the songwriting process. “It’s just such a way to be creative and feel good about myself always. Granted, my songs sucked when I first started writing. They were terrible, but it still just it made me high. I’ve been writing new songs this week and making demos, and there’s times I feel like I’m on LSD. There’s such an incredible release of chemicals when you create something special. If you literally get it from the air, it’s like magic: It didn’t exist, then it’s there,” said Delaware.
The Artisanals have released four singles from the Zia so far: “Violet Light,” “Plant the Seed,” “Way Up,” and most recently, “The Road.” For now, plans for a full band tour are on hold because of schedule conflicts among members of the band. Delaware plans to release a solo album in October, and then The Artisanals plan to hit the road in 2022. Until then, fans will have full access to Zia in early September. The pre-order has been sent to the vinyl plants, which are still behind in production, so the band will be posting when they are available to order. Then fans will have time to listen and gear up for appearances back on stage.