Despite indie pop songwriter Elijah Johnston’s move to Atlanta almost two years ago, his time spent in Athens left an influential mark on the musician, and this is evident in his soon-to-be-released album Stupid Soul. Courtesy of Strolling Bones Records, the 12-track record was produced by Tommy Trautwein at The Zoo in Athens and will be available June 20.
Johnston’s music has a penchant for Athens-style jangle while blending elements of alternative rock, pop harmonies and classic storytelling that span different eras. Rather than narrowing in on any one topic, Stupid Soul tells situational stories about life and how we manage to get by—sharing the camaraderie of existence rather than offering up solutions. Although anyone might relate, Athenians will especially find common ground with the songs about football season in a college town and fledging bands finding their sound.
“I think that living there for a long time and kind of getting my start there musically… there’s certain things about the music I liked when I was a kid that will never go away, and I think there’s certain things about the situations that I was in when I was starting to actually release and record and perform music in Athens that are kind of foundational to what I do,” says Johnston.
Living in Atlanta has sped up the pace of life for Johnston, and he says that it takes him less time to make choices in every aspect of his life, but especially music. He says he’s found it a little harder to relax, and recording Stupid Soul last summer in Athens provided a moment to slow down. It was around the first anniversary of his moving to Atlanta, so Johnston was able to reconnect and spend time with people from Athens he hadn’t seen while also just focusing on the music.
Although the album is released under Johnston’s name and maintains his vision, he describes the process as “the best of both worlds” between a solo work and band collaboration. Joined by Gideon Johnston, Drew Beskin, Aidan Hill and Trautwein, Johnston says having songwriter- and producer-minded people in the room whom he fully trusts and respects really helped carve out this album. He says it’s easy to work with people who you feel have your best interest in mind.
“My default tendencies are towards being a little bit of a control freak. So when I find people that I trust, it’s so rewarding to let them help me and let them kind of shape the process,” says Johnston.
On Stupid Soul Johnston trades his usual deep-diving songwriting for more approachable surface level listening. Not to say that it doesn’t convey any big or complicated ideas, but it does so with an emphasis on catchy hooks and melodies. Overall it’s simplified without losing Johnston’s strong artistic identity.
“I feel like the last time we made an album, the joke I always make is that it felt like it should have come with a syllabus attached of a reading list. This record, I feel excited that I could show it to people who have never heard my music… and they could still find something appealing in it,” says Johnston. “We had a couple mantras in the studio. We kept saying don’t play a guitar solo that you can’t hum. Don’t play anything on a keyboard that you couldn’t play on a guitar. Just simple ways of streamlining the working flow to make things a little bit more cohesive.”
Made during the Athens summertime, it’s only fitting that the album release show will be taking place during AthFest as part of the Club Crawl. Also on the bill are bands Hallpass and Well Kept, which feature collaborators of Johnston’s album. Johnston says that this release show feels like the culmination of their efforts, but it’s also like a family reunion with the opportunity to just be together with everyone again.
“It feels like a full circle moment of everything that we’ve been working towards for seven or so years at this point of us all playing together in different combinations. It really feels like a milestone rather than just sort of another thing that we’ve done,” says Johnston.
WHO: Elijah Johnston, Hallpass, Well Kept, Echo Base DJs
WHEN: Friday, June 20, 9 p.m. (doors)
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
HOW MUCH: Club Crawl pass ($30–$40)
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