Berry Hagman brings his album launch to The Ship Isis on 23 April with a new title, a first headline show of the year, and a record that sounds like it arrived out of a very particular stretch of life.
For anyone coming across him for the first time, Berry’s own description is probably the best one: “if a young Bob Dylan tried to sing a Frank Turner song when he’s only ever heard it once in the background of a busy pub.” It is funny, but it gets the point across fast. There is folk in what he does, definitely, but there is also something rougher in it, something a bit more worn in and lived with.
That mix comes from a pretty wide set of influences too. Berry says he grew up listening to Blink-182 and Linkin Park, before later becoming obsessed with Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and older blues artists. When he started writing properly, those two sides merged, and he says that has more or less stayed at the centre of his sound ever since.
The launch itself sounds important to him for more than one reason. It will be his first headline show of the year, and from the way he talks about it, he knows exactly what he wants the room to feel like. Warm. Not too rowdy. The sort of night where people can settle in, hear the songs properly, and enjoy good music with a few nice beers. That feels fitting for what he does. His music is not built around polish or distance. It is much closer than that.
What gives the night even more weight is the album at the centre of it. What had been titled Old Fashioned Millennial is now being released as This Day Keeps Getting Worse, a change Berry made right at the last minute. He says the original title was meant as an homage to the first EP he released 15 years ago, Old Fashioned Youth, with some of those older songs reimagined and remixed for this record. But by the time the recordings were finished, he no longer felt the title fit. The newer one, he says, felt much more apt, especially given the burnout he was feeling while finishing the album.
That probably says quite a lot about the record before you even hear it. Berry says the album “starts off from being the artist I felt I was and it ends being the artist I feel I’m becoming,” which is a strong way of explaining why this release feels important. It is not just another batch of songs being put out. It sounds like something that marks a shift.
And the themes running through it back that up. He says the album begins with a song about indecisiveness, moves into burnout, lack of sleep and nihilism, then ends on a song about wanting to move on. More than anything, he hopes people will hear “the constant fight I have with self confidence and identity” and maybe find something of themselves in that as well.
Character matters just as much in the writing. Berry says that side of it is “very important,” because “every song is a story and every story needs a good character.” Sometimes that character is not him directly, but the songs still come from his own feelings and experiences. That is probably part of why they feel personal without sounding boxed in.
The live side follows the same line. Berry says the rough, handmade quality of what he does is inevitable because he has always liked doing things himself and has a bad habit of never asking people for help. That DIY streak runs through the whole project, from the way the songs sound to the way he approaches the music in the first place.
There is a good fit on the bill too. Slow For a Poet joins him on the night, and Berry is full of praise for him, calling him “an amazing songwriter” and saying he is glad he agreed to come down from Scotland. He adds that their styles are similar, that the energy should match the theme of the night, and that they may even end up doing a couple of songs together.
One thing Berry is also keen to make clearer is the difference between this project and the pub cover work some people already know him for. Because he also performs professionally around pubs as James Berry, he says some people still know him more for that than for his Berry Hagman original folk songs. He hopes the album helps people understand more clearly what he is trying to do with the original material, and that gives the Ship Isis date another layer as well. It is a launch, but it also feels like a statement of intent.
And there is more coming after it. Berry says this year will bring collaborations with Conor Michael and Failed To Ignite, while an artist in the USA is currently in Nashville recording one of his songs for their debut album. There are more songs to follow after the album too, and more shows on the way.
For Berry Hagman, The Ship Isis on 23 April does not just feel like a launch night. It feels like the point where this version of the project gets put in front of people properly.
Berry Hagman’s album launch takes place at The Ship Isis, Sunderland, on Thursday 23 April. Doors are at 7pm, tickets are £7 plus fees, and support comes from Slow For a Poet. Get tickets here
Read the full Q&A with Berry Hagman here