From Weekend Gaming Sessions to Genre-Bending Debut: How nickname jos Turned Spare Time and Friendship into the Raw, Unfiltered Sound of Buckshot

nickname jos brings his audience into a whirlwind of shoegaze, ambient piano, lo-fi pop, and dusty 80s synth textures with his record debut, Buckshot. The album is emotionally raw, sonically unpredictable, and entirely self-produced — often in transit, mixed on AirPods via a mobile hotspot in the back of a tour van.

“It’s grainy,” he laughs. “But it gets the message across.” 

While mostly self-written, Buckshot was also shaped by the close creative friendship with Liam Cauley, who co-wrote more than half the record. The two met through Nashville’s DIY scene and bonded over music and gaming, eventually collaborating on Cauley’s Archie Summers project before digging into Buckshot. 

“This was the first time I had co-written intentionally with someone, regardless of the album, we ended up hanging out every Saturday and gaming and just by hanging out we came to work on music. If you do enough of that, you end up getting a record. It kind of came out of nowhere, I didn’t really think I was gonna make a record but we started compiling different songs. I always thought making a record was a scary and daunting thing. It was also this secret outline we were building during in-between touring that only few knew about. I wanted to make a record to motivate myself that shows I care about what I make. Previously, I had mostly been playing drums in other projects, which made it easy for me to compartmentalize an extension of myself versus whenever I am fronting a band, I am a bit out of my comfort zone. Especially playing my second instrument, guitar. Buckshot is a chunk of me for you, rather than me helping create someone else’s vision,” nickname jos shares.

With the support of Nashville-based indie label Acrophase, nickname jos is now stepping into his own spotlight. A record release show is set for September 5 in Nashville, with shows in New York and Los Angeles in the works. Zooming in from his Nashville apartment, we sat down with nickname jos for an in-depth Q&A to learn more about the behind the scenes of Buckshot. 

Describe the theme of Buckshot.

I feel like it has an overarching theme of “acceptance of what has happened in your life” the album opens with feelings of confusion and spiraling then later comes out of that and evokes more confident and optimistic feelings and then goes back to more confusion, anxiety, and panic regarding things that have happened in your life. I feel like it’s really about that, processing and trying to understand difficult moments and then acting on them. The last song, “Buckshot,” is the culmination of the record for me. A section of the song talks about how nuanced it is to go through something painful and then the B section of the song is the complete opposite, with new findings and new associations. The hook in “Buckshot” moves from “I am learning to hear” to “I am ready to hear.” 

How does this album differ from your last EP, Halcyon? 

Halcyon was really one of the first things I had ever worked on and I was still learning how to produce and write, it was really formative. It differs from this record because Buckshot is really thought out and the story is a little bit better. Halcyon is really a collection of songs. Even though Buckshot has different genres it still flows as a cohesive piece, experimental pop.

If YWH Nailgun’s 45 Pounds sonic thread are rototom drums, what is Buckshot’s sonic thread?

Hmm, I used a lot of this effect unit called the Alesis Quadraverb; it’s like an effects processor. It’s all over “Armor,” “Shoulders,” and “Won’t Start Leaving.” 

What does your kit setup look like and your pedals? 

I used the same small drums across the record— a Tama snare that’s like 13 inches. “Armor” is like a pop-hit and “Gunning” is more singer/songwriter. Same kit, same setup but “Armor” has louder surroundings. I used the Canyon, delayed pedal a bunch as well. Not overthinking the recording and pushing to get something down regardless of how it sounded. 

Let’s talk about the singles, “3” and “Bite.”

“3” is just loud and attention seeking, I put it out to introduce the heavier tones to the record. “Bite” is so catchy to me! Before those two— “Shoulders” and “Armor” came out earlier this year and I thought they were memorable and more accessible on the record. 

You’ve had some pretty awesome collabs prior to this solo debut! What was it like working with Samia? 

I met her in 2021 while on tour with Annie Deruso, we became friends because of that. She has always done her records with Jake Luppen and Caleb Wright but she hit me up because she wanted to do a double-single cover project, a Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Porches cover. She is great because she is like “a yes woman” I just recently filled in on some of her shows playing drums which was super sick!

Words: Kassi Reyna

Photography: Mackenzie Ryan