BY MARK DARE from the Country Over Easy Radio Show

I have regularly featured Aussie Country music on my ‘Country Over Easy Radio Show’ for the simple reason; there are some outstanding talents ‘Down Under’. I recently found Josh Setterfield for the first time and was immediately liking what I was hearing. Listening to his livestreams also opened my eyes to how driven this young artist is. Absolutely nothing will ever get in the way of him pursuing his music dream. I contacted Josh’s manager, Dayna, and arranged an interview with them at Buckle and Boots Country Music Festival, along with his drummer Ian who had flown over too.

N.B: This interview was conducted just before his full band set which totally rocked the main stage. Josh was a consummate performer, moving around the stage like he was born to do this and the set was vigorously lapped up by the Sunday evening crowd that had assembled. One thing was for certain, he was not letting anybody get away with not knowing who he was! 

Here’s what we had to say:

1 – MD: Many thanks Josh for taking some time out to have a chat, welcome to the UK.  Congratulations on becoming an International artists for the first time…how does it feel?

JS: Thank you! Yes, first time out of Aus, first time in the UK and looking forward to sharing my music with all of you. 

Actually It was fun when I got here and one of the first people I bumped into after landing greeted me with “Hi, how are you?”. I thought it was strange thing to ask, like I said ‘yes mate I’m fine’ but secretly thought ‘do I not look fine?’

MD: Ah the differences in the languages!

JS: Yeah, a simple ‘G’Day’ would’ve been fine, haha!

2- MD: I’m looking forward to listening later, and I have an idea of what’s coming. You have been making music for longer than your Country story implies: Tell me about your journey.

JS: Yes I was originally in a punk rock/emo band called ‘Call the Shots’, travelling all over Aus and getting my name and my music known. Sadly the band fell apart after a few years, and I was left wondering what was next. Music was all I’ve ever wanted to do, so I turned to my first love, country music…and so the journey continues.

3- MD: Yes, something I’d picked up on. There is absolutely nothing that is going to stop you making fantastic music. Let me ask you about the realities of trying to get to gigs within Australia, there are some huge travelling distances involved.

JS: Yes, I think the record is getting from Queensland to Adelaide, a total of 32 hours on the road, swapping drivers in an almost continual journey.

MD: Wow, that is a huge distance! So your breakthrough came with your single Right About Now?

JS: Well, I think all my tracks have helped me breakthrough to be honest but the streams for it are the largest to date for sure.

4 – MD: Yes, well over 2 million and counting. Now can I ask you about your latest release, Life Ain’t So Bad. You’ve said it’s your favourite release to date. Can you give me some insight into why you love it so much?

JS: Yes, it was written when things weren’t going so well for me. I was driving on a highway on my own, as the sun was setting and with my favourite music blasting away and I thought ‘life ain’t so bad’.  It was a perfect moment of peace for me and a couple of days later I was on a jetski on the water and the same feeling of peace came over me. Just after that I caught up remotely on Instagram with a Canadian songwriter Craig Brooks who I’d never met…and my life hasn’t been the same since, and I’ve continued working with Craig. 

MD: Great Story, and a message to keep on keeping on for sure.

5 – What’s next for you Josh?

I have a few more dates here in the UK, then back over to Aus for the Gympie Muster…then out to Canada for the first time, and maybe a trip to the US too.

6 – MD: You’re becoming a well travelled artist, which is justly deserved in my opinion. I enjoyed the songwriters session yesterday, thought you came across really well in the middle of two seasoned US songwriters, and am looking forward to your full band set this evening.

JS: Cheers! Yes, hopefully it will go down well with the crowd. Thanks for talking to me.

MD: It’s been my absolute pleasure and I look forward to more visits in the future.