Musician Joseph Sweet Tells All

Joseph Sweet has just released his first CD, Another Plane. Having heard various tracks prior to the release, I jumped on ordering Another Plane as soon as it was available. Sweet has a deep, resonant voice which at times reminds me a great deal of older David Bowie tunes, but Joseph Sweet's songs are more in the acoustic realm, similar to what you might expect from Neil Young. The blending of these two styles form a unique blend of great music.

While most artists just starting off usually include a cover song on their initial CD, Sweet decided to use only original stuff. I commend him for that. Another Plane is not a CD you pop in when you feel like dancing, but rather is more like a collection of folk ballads you listen too when you feel like relaxing after a hard day.

I was fortunate enough to talk Sweet into telling me what inspired each of his songs on this CD, so I'll pass that on to you. Before handing this over to what Joe said, though, I want to say that I do highly recommend buying Another Plane. And now to the musician himself:

1. Another Plane.
Another plane is about losing someone. It was inspired when Someone close to me died, although it's not about that person. I wrote the music then, and the words came to me a year later.

2. Can't go on.
About feeling like an essential part of you is missing after someone you love is gone, and well like you just can't go on anymore.

3. Without you.
This one wasn't really inspired by an event. I was home alone. My girlfriend Azure was at work late. I missed her, and ended up writing a song which had nothing to do with that, but rather about someone who screwed up a relationship and was trying to make things right, because he couldn't live without her.

4. Lost.
A song I wrote just cuz I had the music written and no words. I made up the words for what I thought fit the music. Because of that, it's one of my least favorite songs, but people seem to like it.

5. Piece or Sanity.
This song, I wrote after actually meeting a man that lived in a run down camper in South Carolina. He'd lost his wife, and just didn't care anymore. I guess it's about just trying to keep going, when everything in your life has gone to hell. Keeping a hope that tomorrow might bring something better if you just hang in there.

6. The Days.
There were a few inspirations for this song. People in my life that are phenomenal musicians, and have given up their dreams to be with their families. And there's nothing wrong with that. You have to decide what's important, and giving up on your dreams for Family is just awesome I think. Family has to be more important.

7. I lie
Not entirely sure where this comes from. I dreamed myself writing this song. I woke up and wrote what I could remember. Took a while to come together, but when it did, this is what I had. I guess it's about being afraid to be yourself 100% out of a paranoia that you'll lose the people closest to you. It doesn't reflect me as much as I am now, but some of what I went through for a good portion of my life. I've learned now just to be myself and to hell with what people think for the most part.