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Barns Courtney talks ‘404,’ tour, digital age and Billie Eilish (Includes interview)

“This record was terrifying for me,” he said about 404. “I didn’t have all the depression and anxiety of the first album to rely on for the creativity.”

“For the first month that I started working on this album, I came up with nothing,” he said. “I went to my long-time collaborator’s parent’s house and we worked together like we did when we were teenagers in his old childhood bedroom. That was where we wrote the whole record. We just sat down and tried to have fun like we used to back in the day without being analytical on how the first record sounded like.”

Courtney listed “99” and “The Kids Are Alright” as his favorite songs from the new CD. “’99’ is the nerdy part of myself, where I love video games. A part of myself is very childlike and lives in the past. It felt good and real. The emotions are bittersweet and nostalgic,” he said.

For the closing track, “Cannonball,” Courtney shared that he improvised all of the lyrics. “The recording that you hear on ‘Cannonball’ is me literally writing the song. I’ve never done that before. I did this really late at night and turned the microphone on.”

On September 9, Courtney performed at the historic Webster Hall in New York City. “I wanted to make sure the show was exciting and dynamic. I removed a lot of the songs that I had in there to make the set more punchy so that it would feel exciting and always moving,” he said.

He listed Billie Eilish as his dream female collaboration choice. “I think Billie Eilish is incredible. She is such a talent and she is really defining the next age of pop music. I would love to do a track with that lady,” he said. “I would also love to get Greta Thunberg up on stage at my shows. I love her climate change freedom fighting. I have so much respect for Greta. She is so brave.”

Regarding his songwriting inspirations, he said, “The first album was a product of failure, depression, and drive to succeed. They were all fight songs.”

On being an artist in this digital age, he said, “In a way, it’s incredibly exciting because I have the ability to create songs in my bedroom and on the road. On the other hand, it can be stressful because it changes the parameters of the game. Now, it is expected for me to have an album by the time I’m finished with the tour. It is definitely difficult. I’ve done well with my streaming but I haven’t made a lot of money from it, although I am very grateful that I get to do music for a living.”

He shared that he used to do one-hour intense cardio workouts every morning. “It is really important to me. I love to perform on stage and to leave everything I’ve got out there for the audience. I hate being out of breath. Ever since I’ve been doing this headlining tour, it has been difficult, especially since I’ve been on a tour bus,” he said.

On the title of the current chapter of his life, Courtney said, “New Beginnings.”

Courtney defined the word success as “happiness and growth.” “As long as you’re present in the time that you are in and you are enjoying yourself and you are moving, then that’s a success,” he said.

For his fans, Courtney said, “Thank you for supporting me this far. I know the record is very different from the first one. The first album was a genuine snapshot of my life when I was very depressed. I couldn’t write those songs again, and if I tried they wouldn’t be genuine.”

404 by Barns Courtney is available on Apple Music and on Spotify.

Read More: His album 404 earned a favorable review from Digital Journal.

Markos Papadatos
Written By

Markos Papadatos is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for Music News. Papadatos is a Greek-American journalist and educator that has authored over 21,000 original articles over the past 18 years. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, entertainment, lifestyle, magic, and sports. He is a 16-time "Best of Long Island" winner, where for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, and 2022), he was honored as the "Best Long Island Personality" in Arts & Entertainment, an honor that has gone to Billy Joel six times.

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