Conversations With Unexpected Book Nerds: Joshua Speers

If you love to read books, chances are you love to talk about them too. But have you ever wondered about whether your favourite celebrities or public figures love to read as well? If you might share a favourite book or preferred genre with them? Well, I sure have! So, I’m on a mission to find book lovers (book nerds, if you will!) in unexpected places. In this interview series, I’ll be talking with people you recognise but don’t necessarily associate with books — musicians, actors and actresses, athletes, and more. We will be discussing all of their current projects you want to hear about, of course, but we will also be digging into their unique reading and writing lives!

In this interview, I chat with singer/songwriter Joshua Speers, who has released two amazing EPs this year with Warner Records: Human Now and Summerland. The son of two English teachers, he studied poetry in college and is extremely well-read. Listen below to hear us discuss Joshua’s EPs and musical influences, some favourite books from his childhood as well as now, and much, much more!

1:01 – Joshua discusses his background & how he became a musician
3:59 – How the pandemic has impacted the release of his music in 2020
8:15 – Music & other avenues of fulfilment/inspiration in life
10:48 – Joshua discusses writing his two EPs, Human Now and Summerland
13:42 – How he believes songwriting & therapy are different
17:45 – Joshua shares some of his musical influences
26:36 – Shelf-Isolation, a book club he co-facilitates on Instagram
36:16 – The influence of his parents & grandmothers being English teachers
39:15 – Joshua shares some of his favourite books
46:40 – Looking forward to a new album in 2020

You can listen through Spotify below or on any platform where podcasts are available!

Books/authors mentioned:

“For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio” by W.H. Auden
King James Bible
Toni Morrison
George Saunders
Petty: The Biography by Warren Zanes
Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny by Nile Rodgers
Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
Me by Elton John
The Beautiful Ones by: Prince
1971 – Never a Dull Moment: Rock’s Golden Year by David Hepworth
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein
Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars 1955-1994 by David Hepworth
Let Love Rule by Lenny Kravitz
Acid for the Children by Flea
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Stuart Little by E.B. White
My Side of the Mountain Trilogy by:Jean Craighead George
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by John Krakauer
And Not to Yield by James Ramsey Ullman
John Updike
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
Salvage the Bones and Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Homegoing and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
How to Write One Song: Loving the Things We Create and How They Love Us Back by Jeff Tweedy