Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Barrett of local pop-rock band Ourselves + Others.
Jonathan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Ourselves + Others saw its humble beginnings in 2016 when Stephen (drums) and I (lead singer, keys) took to the Kingwood High School stage to put on the most high energy show we could for that year’s talent show. My favorite thing about this story is that Stephen and I had only met each other a few weeks before! I had been playing a song on the piano in the choir room at school that Stephen recognized as he was moving some equipment for a school band concert. Despite not having spoken a word to each other prior to this moment, he dropped his stuff and asked if he could play the drum kit the choir had set up. The next thing I knew, we had played through multiple songs together and I didn’t even know his name! Turns out we were both looking for someone to cover some songs for the talent show, so we wasted no time in starting rehearsals. I had already had the idea to call a band “Ourselves + Others’ and he thought that sounded great, so we went with it.
Months later, we were invited to play our first show at a real music venue in Dallas for a Hurricane Harvey benefit concert and brought our friend Mateo (guitar) along to help out with setting our equipment up. The three of us became such a solid group of friends that we inevitably added him to the roster, turning the band into the trio we are today. We were feeling a drive none of us had ever felt before. A drive to do whatever it took to use our talents and abilities and voices to bring people together and give people hope. We took that drive to a small studio in Austin where we recorded our debut EP, “Rudiment”. Spending five days together in a studio with no windows really forced us to be vulnerable, and that shows the most in our song ‘Fernweh’. We wrote and recorded that song from scratch in 36 hours after having a long heart-to-heart where we shared with each other just how much we were each sacrificing in order to do this. Mateo and I had decided not to attend college in order to pursue music, and Stephen had recently dropped out of UT for the same reason; but as scary as it was, we all knew it was worth it. That’s what the song is about. “Rudiment” was released July 6 of 2018.
Since then, we have released a single called ‘Porch Light’ and garnered a local fanbase of people who take our message of hope and community to heart. It’s really them who make O+O shows such a wonderful place to be. We’ve taken our music around Texas at places like White Oak Music Hall and Satellite Bar in Houston and the Prophet Bar in Dallas, and just recently completed our first tour where we had the pleasure of playing at the Great South Bay Music Festival in Long Island, New York.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being totally independent artists, every step of this journey has been a learning experience full of new obstacles for us to figure out how to overcome. When we first started, we didn’t know the first thing about booking shows, recording music, or setting up a live show (let alone marketing or business stuff). Our show relies pretty heavily on technology so there’s always the classic situation where something just decides not to work for no reason. Sometimes it can be hard to get along with each other when you have to balance being friends and business partners, but those challenges have only served to make our relationships stronger. And don’t even get me started on money…look, managing money as a 20 years old is hard enough. Now throw budgeting for a small business with little to no guidance in the mix, and we’re about as prepared as a five years old in a college economics course. But through it all, we always end up either succeeding together or failing together, always doing what we can to learn how to be better in the future.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
At our core we are bound to one mission: use our voices, abilities, and whatever tools we have at our disposal to foster unity and togetherness wherever we can, and encourage people to do the same. Ironically, one thing everyone can agree on is how divisive we are as a society, and there’s nowhere we’ve felt a stronger sense of oneness than at concerts. With that in mind, we are determined to make music that inspires people and put on an innovative show that pushes the fourth wall behind the crowd. At an Ourselves + Others concert, the show is put on by everyone in the room. Whether it’s holding a band member up on a pool float or coming up on stage to help teach the crowd a chant, we’ve established ourselves as a band who acknowledges the vital role that fans play in creating an unforgettable and uplifting concert experience.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
First of all we have to give a shout out to our creative/visual arts director, Tyler Johnson. He works very hard to create a visual and aesthetic identity to our band. Mateo and I wouldn’t have found our passion for music so easily without mentoring from our choir teacher, Jason Watt, and Stephen owes his drumming chops to his instructor, Sean Younge. We also have undying support from our families and friends, who have provided us with anything from rehearsal spaces to vehicles for transporting equipment.
Lastly, of course, we would just be sad kids making noise alone in a room without all of the fans who refuse to miss a show or let a lyric go by without singing along. I know bands say this all the time, but it really is those people who define Ourselves + Others. There are so so many times where we get caught up in all of the logistics surrounding this business that we lose ourselves in discouragement, but when we look out into the crowd and see familiar and unfamiliar faces treating each other with love and echoing our passion, we’re loudly reminded of why it’s all worth it.
Contact Info:
- Website: ourselvesandothers.com
- Email: ourselvesothers@gmail.com
- Instagram: @ourselvesothers
- Facebook: @ourselvesotherstx
- Twitter: @ourselvesothers
Image Credit:
Elisa Hobgood, Carrine Hen, Bridget Craig, Tyler Johnson
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