New Release – Pueblo (album) by Berkley
Berkley is the musical moniker of Andrew Jones, who composes laid back pop grooves driven by shaky electric guitar tones and chiming keyboards. Born and raised in Pueblo, Colorado (USA), now residing in Portland, Oregon – after a lengthy stay in Denton, Texas where he engineered and produced records for emerging artists – Jones took to the American songbook and pop mainstays early in his youth. After touring in his own punk and metal bands through his teens and into his early 20s, Jones found himself among a team of writers developing early ideas for Michael Jackson’s comeback album. Following Jackson’s death, Jones reevaluated his path in music and stopped writing and performing for three years, eventually wrangling the breadth of his influences in his songwriting while establishing himself as a notable recording engineer. In Berkley, Jones found a palatable recipe for his wide range of influences and a renewed outlook on writing and performing.
His album ‘Pueblo’ releases 1st September on Big Secret Records. Pre-order the LP here or pre-save the song on Spotify.
Is the album autobiographical?
“Almost. It’s all inspired by memories and experiences growing up in my hometown of Pueblo, Colorado, but not every detail is true. Sometimes it felt more representative of the mood to set a different scene or share a more interesting detail that didn’t happen, and that includes expanding my memory bank to some fiction. Since I’m speaking really broadly most of the time throughout the album, that doesn’t alter my expression in a way that makes what’s left untrue, like the impact of some events or the feeling I get when I remember what really did take place.”
How would you describe the album?
“I didn’t approach these songs with this in mind, but Bandcamp described it as in the vein of Laurel Canyon songwriting. I can hear it now. There are a lot of modern touches with sound design and electronic textures to bring memories to the present, but beneath all of that is pretty straight-ahead music that I guess could be described as confessional or intimate since I’m telling my story for the most part.”
What are you hoping to achieve with this release?
“I set out to let go of a lot of the negative experiences I’ve carried with me since youth by writing about them and releasing them into the void of streaming. I can feel that weight already lightening as I play more shows and get the album pre-orders ready to ship. Hearing the reaction to the early singles also brought a lot of peace because people understood where I was coming from but also took some pride in being from Pueblo. That’s my less selfish goal with putting this out there—to get people more comfortable with saying, “I’m from Pueblo”, with no qualifiers, no apologies. We’re made to know when folks are from Los Angeles or New York City all the time. People can hear that someone is from Pueblo, that’s fine.”
