Video Interview & Album Streams: Mathew Bethancourt of Josiah on Catalog Reissues, New Album, Desertfest & More
Posted in Bootleg Theater, Features on April 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Mathew Bethancourt is an interesting cat. The last interview that appeared here with him was in 2009, but we’ve been in touch longer and spoken certainly more often than that, even in just, “hey, here’s a record from this band I’m in” fashion. You’d be surprised how often that conversation happens.
Nonetheless, as we hit and pass the 20-year mark since Josiah‘s first, self-titled LP arrived, we find the reunited UK heavy rock trio in the midst of catalog reissues through Heavy Psych Sounds, about to play Desertfest London 2022 this coming weekend — headlining at The Black Heart, no less; that’s where the cool kids go — and having just this week announced the July 15 release of their new album, We Lay on Cold Stone. Their debut EP, 2001’s Out of the First Rays was already reissued last year.
It’s an arguably overdue — though actually the timing feels pretty spot-on — celebration of who Josiah were at the turn of the century and an opportunity to better understand who they are now. I could sit for a long time and talk with Bethancourt about music, his own and that of others. He is not only knowledgeable, but thoughtful, and well aware of both the classic heavy guitar that influenced him and the scope of the UK heavy underground he now reenters with Josiah. Part of that familiarity, no doubt, stems from the fact that while Josiah was put to bed more than a decade ago, Bethancourt has continued on in Cherry Choke and more recently his weirdo-solo outlet Mathew’s Hidden Museum, which should have its own album announcement sometime in the
coming months, allegedly.
That follows time spent in and out of acts like The Kings of Frog Island and Dexter Jones’ Circus Orchestra (the latter brief) as well, so yeah, dude’s been around. As you can hear on the players below, the material from Josiah‘s aughts-era run is stone-cold classic heavy rock and roll, energetic, drawing from garage rock, psychedelia, Hendrix and your lovin’ mama, it’s a discography worthy of revisiting in the age of social media mobilization, records that deserve more than to be lost to time and the memories of aging heads who read about them on stonerrock.com or bought them from Elektrohasch (the first two were on Molten initially) when they came out.
And that’s the thing here, right? It’s about getting the music out again for a generation who wasn’t around when they first came out to hear. Can’t argue with the mission anymore than the songs, and with four reissues and 20 years to cover, there was no shortage of ground to cover in chatting to Bethancourt, who’s joined in Josiah‘s current incarnation by Jack Dickinson (also of Stubb) on bass and Dan Lockton on drums. The video on his side is a little out of synch, and I’m sorry for that. It’s some Zoom/YouTube thing that I have tried to rectify and been unable, but even if you listen to the conversation and do something else — it’s not like you really need to watch me gesticulate in wildly New Jerseyan fashion with my hands — it’s a good one, and I hope you enjoy.
But if you also want to skip it and go to the album streams, I get that too. You can always go back.
Dig:
Josiah, Interview with Mathew Bethancourt, April 15, 2022
Reissues of Josiah’s Josiah (2002), Into the Outside (2004), No Time (2007) and Procession (2009) are streaming below. The first two came out last Friday, the second two are out this Friday on Heavy Psych Sounds. Josiah’s new album, We Lay on Cold Stone, is out July 15 on Blues Funeral Recordings. More info at the links under the players below.
Josiah, Josiah (2002)
Josiah, No Time (2007)
Josiah, Procession (2009)
Josiah, Live at Stoned From the Underground 2006
Heavy Psych Sounds on Facebook
Heavy Psych Sounds on Instagram
Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp
Blues Funeral Recordings on Bandcamp
