Introducing… Rich Mayor

Rich Mayor: “I’d always wanted to record an album, but for whatever reason it had never materialised.”

Leaving his twenties behind, inspired this talented Portsmouth songwriter to record a debut album and focus on the next chapter

Name: Rich Mayor

Age: 31

Location: Portsmouth, UK

Style: A singer-songwriter with a punk soul

Look out for: His debut album Decade, out now

Turning 30 was the necessary inspiration to fuel the fire of Portsmouth-based musician Rich Mayor. “There was all this stuff flying around on social media about the things you should have done in your twenties,” says Rich. “I hadn’t done any of them and I’d also always wanted to record an album, but for whatever reason it had never materialised.”

As well as providing the impetus, this bucket-list (of sorts) also provided a theme for his resulting debut, Decade. “I wanted it to be cohesive throughout,” he says. “I started scribbling down ideas and decided to do it about the last 10 years; things that were good, things that were bad, things that I wish had happened and things that I wish hadn’t. I structured it in a way that went through time.”

You can hear some of his influences, from Johnny Cash and Willie Mason to NOFX and Lagwagon, on the album’s merging of storytelling songcraft and raucous spirit. “Decade is also a reflection on the music that I listened to over that time,” he says. “There are folky ones in there and more punky upbeat ones. I went through a phase full of country and pedal steel, and that Americana sound.”

“WRITE ANOTHER ALBUM AND TRY TO SEE HOW FAR THIS WILL GO”

Having played in bands such as All The Shapes, Sunday Club and Captain Trips, the local scene rallied to help with the recording. “I roped in loads of friends who are good at various elements. I wanted it to be a collective and something that I’ll look back on and go ‘that was pretty cool that I managed to share everyone’s talents.’ I’m definitely one of those people who’ll try to do it myself and that comes from punk music.”

With the album now released, does that signal an end to Mayor’s ambition? “There were three things that I wanted to achieve: to record an album, release an album and do a launch show. It was nice to write that list a long time ago and now I’ve ticked those things off. The next ones will be: arrange the tour, write another album and try to see how far this will go.”

If the quality and spirit displayed on Decade is anything to go by, there’s no limit on quite how far that could be.

To find out more about Rich Mayor, check out his Facebook page: facebook.com/richmayormusic

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