"The phrase singer only really displays the very tip of the iceberg with Joshua Burnside.  He’s a multi-instrumentalist who takes the deep-rooted traditions of Irish music and gives them an ingenious spin via modern technology. 1883 chatted to him ahead of his show at the Waiting Room in Stoke Newington on November 22, part of this year’s London Roots Festival which brings a whole new generation of artists re-inventing the roots genre - see also Trampled by Turtles, Sound of the Sirens and John Smith - to the capital’s stages."

Tell us about your first musical memories?  The music you grew up hearing around you, the first music you discovered for yourself and your first experiences with making music etc.  Feel free to include any details that are embarrassing and cringeworthy now!

The first music that really grabbed me was the musical Joseph and his Technicolour Raincoat. I listened to it on repeat when I was 3 years old, the story was as important to me as the music, maybe this is why I’ve always been drawn towards clear narratives in songwriting. After that it would have been whatever my mum and dad listened to, scratched CDs by Paul Simon, Johnny Cash, Fleetwood Mac and so on were always in the car.

And who are your musical heroes now that you’re a fully-fledged artist? 

There’s so many artists and bands that have been my hero for a while - Tom Waits, John Martyn, Paul Brady, Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom, The Band, Talking Heads, I couldn’t choose between any of them if I had to pick favourites.

With such a rich musical tradition on both sides of the border in Ireland, do you have to work hard not to be contained and restricted by that as well as inspired?

Well, for now the border is invisible and let’s hope it stays that way! There is however a bit of a cultural disconnect between the north and south, probably more so in the protestant communities like the one I grew up in. I had to discover traditional Irish music after I had left home for example, whilst others were brought up with it all around them.

Likewise, you obviously love the sound of traditional folk instruments like the accordion and banjo, but you’ve also used modern technology like sampling and distortion in your music making.  Have you encountered any resistance to that with folk and roots audiences, or are they more open to it than the stereotype would suggest?

I haven’t had any problems with that. I have never committed to being any one thing, be it a folk artist, or an experimental artist, an indie artist, a singer songwriter, and my music has always been fairly diverse, maybe to it’s detriment.

Read the interview in full below