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Joe Solo has, in his time, been a busker, a barman, a kerb-counter, a warehouse hand, a copywriter and an engineer.  His musical odyssey began in 1987 fronting a bash-em-out band at school, and has seen him play in seven countries either as the lynch-pin of pop-punk upstarts Lithium Joe or hammering out his unique brand of folk, punk and blues in his own right.

On top of releasing ten albums in the last eight years, Joe Solo has written books, and had one written about him; runs a research project on the Hull Pals Battalions in the First World War which he updates daily online; has worked with underprivileged children to help them write their lives in song; recorded two audio books; and still found time to open for the likes of Chris Wood, Otis Gibbs, Robb Johnson, Edgar Broughton, TV Smith, Justin Sullivan, Emily Portman and The Blockheads; whilst his songs have featured on Mike Harding’s Folk and Roots show on BBC Radio 2.

Live, Joe has a growing reputation as both a performer and raconteur, being thought-provoking, comical and punch-the-air political often in the same breath. He is not an artist you forget in a hurry. 

You have played many gigs all over the Yorkshire Coast region and far beyond. Has there been a stand-out gig that you particularly enjoyed in 2013?

I’ve had some cracking nights this year and it’s hard to name a favourite, but I had an absolute blast at The Westgarth in Middlesbrough, and Dewsbury Socialist Club, and The Polite Rooms up in Newcastle was absolutely fantastic. I have great fun everywhere I go.

Joe Solo is a great name for a performer, particularly a musician! Were you born Joe Solo or is it a name you adopted along the way? Where did it all start?

Well, it started back in 2003. I recorded an album of demos for my band Lithium Joe back in 2002, but they lost interest so I released it myself…..Llithium Joe, but solo…..”Joe Solo”.

You have written a children’s book entitled ‘Swell’. Can you tell us the story of how that came about?

My eldest son was massively into dinosaurs when he was younger, and one night kept telling me about how they thought one dinosaur was the biggest until they found another even bigger, and then another even bigger than that. I started chuckling and asked him, “Wouldn’t you have thought they’d have found the biggest ones first?” ‘SWELL’ is my theory on why that might be. It’s written in verse and should make you smile. Kevin Pearson, a cartoonist from Scunthorpe, illustrated it and we’re really happy with the finished book, it looks brill. Profits are going to The Blue Door, which is a centre for victims of domestic violence and abuse.  It is out now and available via my website: www.joesolo.co.uk for £5 plus p&p – look for the ‘SWELL’ icon down the left hand side. That will take you to Bandcamp, where you can buy the book and listen to the audio version. I’ll be doing readings in any bookshop that will have me for the rest of the year. 

You are involved in a research project, on the ‘Hull Pals Battalions’, which partly involves social media posts remembering the fallen WW1 British soldiers. Could you tell us a bit about how this all started and what it is all about?

I released an album of fictional stories set in the First World War called ‘Music From Potter’s Field’ back in 2009, and it set me thinking. I’d listened in silence to the radio as the British Army left Basra and they read a list of the dead. It seemed to go on for hours and yet it was only 179 names. I started to think about the Hull Pals and how many of those chaps died out in the trenches. When I started researching it, there turned out to be just short of 2000 men. I thought, “If I remember one every day, how long will it take to remember them all?” The answer was five and a half years. So I started work. It’s been two years, and allowing for nights off for gigs, I’ve researched and posted on 625 of them so far. If anyone wants to follow the posts then you can search ‘Hull Pals Memorial Posts’ on Facebook and join the group.

I have to state though, this is not an act of flag-waving glory worship. I believe the war, like all wars, was ultimately slaughter on an industrial scale caused by a failure in diplomacy – WE died for THEM. What interests me is that the dead are just numbers until you show how they were real people, with real families and hopes and dreams like the rest of us. That way, you see what a waste of human potential a war is.

You have recorded 10 albums, you have written a children’s book, 2 audio books, had a book written about you, you are involved in working with underprivileged children putting their stories into song, the Hull Pals project and much more. Massively inspirational stuff – how do you fit in a full time job and writing / performing your own music?

I’m pretty good at multi-tasking. My head switches from one job to another with relative ease and I set to whatever strikes me as being the idea ready to pour out at any one time. My job involves a lot of driving, and that’s all ‘head time’ so I can compose words and melodies behind the wheel. I’m very disciplined with my time. I rehearse for an hour every night, research a soldier, and rattle off all the music admin after I’ve got the kids to bed and before I even think about the telly. I suppose when other people sit down for the night I’m just starting, I’m terrible at relaxing, I just can’t do it. There’s always a job needs doing.

Where can we find out more about your upcoming gigs and various projects, plus listen to / buy your music?

If you want to know about all my various projects then www.joesolo.co.uk is the place. There are links on there to everything I’m involved with. If you just want music and audio books then joesolomusic.bandcamp.com will take you there….you can stream almost everything I’ve done for the last 20 years on there with no obligation to buy anything, though of course it would be jolly nice if you did.

I’m massively busy with gigs between now and the end of the year….anywhere from Cambridge to Newcastle, Wakefield to Widnes….and I’ll be reading ‘SWELL’ also. The new year starts with the launch of “NO PASARAN!” which is a CD of songs following three volunteers for the International Brigade through the Spanish Civil War, and there’ll be another book or two also.

Busy, busy, busy. The only way to be.

Joe Solo Gigs on Facebook