José González - Biography
Jose Gonzalez is a singer/songwriter of Argentinian descent but born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden. His style is often compared to Pink Moon-era Nick Drake due to its repetitive and intricate fingerpicking and subdued smooth vocals.
Gonzalez originally came from the hardcore and punk scene playing with bands such as Back Against the Wall, Renascense and Only If You Call Me Jonathan between the mid-90s and early 2000s. In 2003 he recorded his debut album Veneer (2003 Mute), which garnered him his first Drake comparison. He undeniably had a similar percussive guitar style which quickly commanded the attention of the music industry. Aside from valid comparisons to Drake's guitar style, his vocal style too seemed to mirror many aspects of the Drake school of thought with his almost inaudible and introverted phrasing. Other than some sparse trumpet this first record is essentially a solo acoustic record.
Another technique employed by Gonzalez has been to include many popular covers such as Joy Division's "Love Will tear Us Apart," Kylie Minogue's "Hand on Your Heart," Massive Attack's "Teardrop," Low's "Last Snowstorm of the year," Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy" and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" and "The Ghost of Tom Joad." During the making of these early recordings Gonzalez was attending The University of Gothenburg studying for his PhD in Biochemistry, which would eventually be put on hold due to his burgeoning musical career.
Two years after its initial release, Veneer was re-released in the USA to critical acclaim. He had already been enjoying much success in Europe and had received platinum album status but this re-release brought him newfound fame. He has since made many television appearances including Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Last Call with Carson Daly and BBC's Later...with Jools Holland. His music has also been featured on the television shows The OC and Scrubs.
His second album, In Our Nature (2007 Mute) has solidified his stature as one of the more successful acoustic indie songwriters of today. This album featured even more heavily rhythmic guitar playing than before and even started to incorporate some delay on top of otherwise repetitive and drone-like guitar motifs. He has now toured extensively throughout the USA and Europe.
Gonzalez has stated that he is heavily influenced by Cuban protest songwriter Silvio Rodriguez and also finds indie songstress, Cat Power, to be an inspiration. He is a curious case as he is of Argentinian descent, grew up in Sweden and sings in English. Gonzalez is known to be painfully shy both onstage and during interviews. Though Gonzalez has only had two official releases, he has an extensive slew of smaller releases in the form of singles, remixes and EPs.
