If I told you Gavin Osborn was a singer-songwriter I’d forgive you chucking this paper straight in the bin as that moniker has come to stand for the kind of earnest warblers in need of a good punch. Fortunately Osborn is a musician who provides a bit of light with the shade and his off beat tunes have found favour with fans of comedy and music alike.
His second album, Meeting Your Heroes, produced by Darren Hayman, has just been released on Kingston’s very own Banquet Records label and it was it was in meeting the former Hefner frontman, and a number of his other musical heroes, that gave Osborn inspiration for the new record.
“I met Darren at Latitude last year and I’ve been a massive Hefner fan for years,” he explains. “There were a bunch of other people I met along the way, including Jarvis Cocker and Malcolm Middleton, that made me feel like I was the little kid on the album cover staring up at them all.“
The album was recorded over three days at Hayman’s home and Osborn will be playing tracks from the record during a run at the Tron at the Edinburgh festival in August. His run of concerts will also feature some old favourites, including Jamie Cook, a song that perfectly reflects the singer’s eye for the unusual, being that it is about his obsession with the computer game Championship Manager.
“That song is entirely true,” says Osborn. “Jamie Cook got in touch with me having heard it. I didn’t even think he existed so it was weird to hear from him. I’d love to shake his hand one day.”
Osborn career has not seen him follow the traditional route for musicians as he has been drawn onto the comedy circuit thanks to an old school friend.
“I’m friends with John Oliver, who does The Daily Show, and when I came to London he invited to join his five-a-side team. I met up with all of these comics and some of them came to watch me play a gig and said I should have a go at playing some comedy clubs, so I did.”
Osborn is currently working on a number of projects with long-term collaborator Daniel Kitson and he is also writing songs and performing shows with Peep Show’s Isy Suttie. However, despite the fact that he is working with comedians he is adamant he is isn’t writing comedy songs.
“I don’t think of them as comic, I just think of them as songs,” he says. ”I would definitely say Isy is a comedian first and her songs are brilliant but as for me, I’d say I’m a musician first and if the songs are funny then it is a bonus.
“I was always trying to write songs people would stop and take notice of. I was doing open mic night and the songs ended up being funny because it was the only way to get their attention.“
Meeting Your Heroes is available at Banquet Records now
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