It’s not easy being in a band. The “it’s Ike being married to three or four other people” often rings true.
However, for most bands the friction, disagreements, variance in musical tastes is the fuel of the musical fire. The bit where the magic happens.
To be honest for most it has to be this way. The singer needs a guitarist, the bass player needs a drummer but there are a handful of talented multi instrumental musicians who have the ability to strip everything back to just themselves and their imagination.
JP Carroll is one such talent. He is also a master of the killer riff.
JP is Arrays. Music, production, promotion. His process is one where any creative friction must come from within. The discipline and drive it must take to single handedly create and perform a song like Dead Seas is a rare talent.
Anyone familiar with JP's previous band AIA will find Dead Seas familiar territory. It is a slice of hard rocking introspection with excellent songwriting. Lyrically it gives an insight into the internal conflict that is driving his.
Going solo seems to have given JP a little more freedom to be a little more creative. There is more depth, more soul in this song than some of his previous releases. The groove is instant and seeps in as the words float by almost just out of reach. The chorus questions and makes you think. It’s more than just words, more than just a groove, Dead Sea is asking, reaching, questioning. It’s dark and light.
In a world where self-belief is often frowned upon JP is standing up, he is asking questions, he is shining a light on himself stripped bare of any support. It works, take a listen.
Introducing Arrays, the creative sandbox of Auckland Musician/Producer JP Carroll.
For JP, music is an ache to soothe, and an itch to scratch. JP’s drive to create a breadth and depth of oeuvre has led him to become a student of recording and production techniques, as well as general industry knowledge, to allow his work to reach as many willing ears as possible.
JP’s production skills have earned him top 40 NZ Rock chart placements, as well as being anointed as ‘one to watch’ by the NZ Official Music Charts. The ultimate goal for JP is to be able to live sustainably from creating music, and Arrays serves as one such avenue to pursue this outcome.