YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF JUSTIN BUSCH, BUT CHANCES ARE YOU HAVE HEARD HIS MUSIC. A SINGER/SONGWRITER, MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST, PRODUCER, AND FORMER NASHVILLE STAFF-WRITER; BUSCH’S SONGS HAVE BEEN RECORDED BY ARTISTS ACROSS A MULTITUDE OF GENRES, AND HAVE BEEN FEATURED IN MOVIES AND TV SHOWS ON NEARLY EVERY MAJOR NETWORK. A VOTING MEMBER OF THE RECORDING ACADEMY, BUSCH HAS WORKED WITH SOME OF THE TOP NAMES IN MUSIC. HE CURRENTLY RUNS HIS OWN PUBLISHING AND PRODUCTION COMPANY “GRADE ONE VIEW MUSIC” IN NEWPORT BEACH, CA, WHERE HE CONTINUES TO WRITE AND PRODUCE MUSIC. THE INTERVIEW BELOW IS A PUT TOGETHER FROM QUESTIONS ASKED BY A VARIETY OF MUSIC REVIEWERS, BLOGGERS, PRODUCERS, ENGINEERS, SONGWRITERS, AND FRIENDS. WHY DID YOU CALL THE ALBUM “EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE”? Well, it’s got a number of different meanings. A running theme throughout this record is wanting everything at once, getting it, and then questioning whether you really wanted it in the first place. Another meaning is what I’m trying to do musically with an 18 song record covering a bunch of different musical styles and lyrical ideas all on the same album. Finally this record is about this strange time in my life where I’ve gone from really struggling and having a lot of debt, to moving to Newport Beach, which is this incredibly wealthy area. This record has some autobiographical songs, but also has a number of songs about people I’ve met out here; some people I know well, and other’s I barely know at all. So “Everything All at Once” really seemed like an appropriate title for the whole thing. AS PEOPLE ARE RELEASING SINGLES AND SHORT EP’S, YOU COME OUT WITH AN 18 SONG ALBUM. WHAT GIVES? I hate this trend where being a musician is all about selling your “brand” on instagram and facebook, while you spend three years promoting a three song EP. They’re talking about fashion and partying instead of writing songs. To me, an artist’s “brand” should be their music. I will probably never stop making full records. Since day one, the music has always been the only thing I really care about. “EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE” CERTAINLY HAS A FEW TRANSITION POINTS THROUGHOUT THE RECORD, BOTH LYRICALLY AND MUSICALLY. WAS THIS ON PURPOSE OR DID IT JUST COME TOGETHER LIKE THAT? Well, as any album comes together things sort of take shape in unexpected ways. I consider myself a singer/songwriter first, and if I could release my music with just an acoustic guitar and a vocal, I probably would. But at the same time I get bored with certain sounds so I try to mix it up. I really just wanted the album to take the listener in a bunch of different directions before it starts to settle into my singer/songwriter home. I think that makes it more fun… more interesting. As a producer and writer, I really have very little interest in recreating a sound or style that someone else has already perfected. I have joked that “Everything All At Once” starts out as Ryan Tedder and then transitions to Ryan Adams. DESCRIBE HOW YOU CHOSE YOUR COVER ART FOR THE ALBUM? Well, first of all, I spent months looking at art, and that photo really just jumped at me. I thought it really summed up some of the stories I sing about on this record. You’ll have to listen to find out, I don’t want to give everything away. I will say the artist Oleg Oprisco is amazing and you should check out his work. He’s Ukrainian, and I’ve learned it is not easy to license a piece of art from Ukraine! WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO LEAD WITH “WEAR THESE SCARS”? I think that song has a good message about being proud of the things that make us human. It’s about finding the courage to own your mistakes, be comfortable with who you are. Originally the idea for the song started when a telecaster I had just bought fell off a wall hanger. It was brand new and now was already dented and scratched. I was so bummed but figured, well, it’s already got some character; that’s where the lyric for the song started. It was co-written with Jesse Stern who is an amazing writer and producer. DESCRIBE WHERE YOU GOT THE IDEA FOR THE “BLONDE” MUSIC VIDEO? The song itself is more metaphorical about how we change who we are on the outside to be more consistent with who we are on the inside… and vice versa. But for the video I just had this idea of something more face value. So we intertwined the stories of all these people, who are totally different, but who all meet up at the end. WHY END WITH THE TITLE TRACK? I think that song is a good summary, a wrap-up sort of song. I dig the arrangement a lot. Sort of like Arcade Fire meets Glen Campbell. The song is about how what we want often changes once we get it. WHO PLAYED THE PIANO PART ON “DANCING IN THE EYE OF THE STORM”? IT SOUNDS MUCH DIFFERENT THAN THE PIANO WORK ON THE REST OF THE RECORD. That’s Mike Garson, David Bowie’s bandleader for decades, and one of the prime guys in crafting Bowie’s sound. He is one of the most amazing musicians and creative souls I know. We became friends from a foundation we both worked with. At the time I didn’t know how much a guy like Mike would charge for a piano part, but I really thought he could bring that song to life so I sent him the song. He said don’t worry about it, and replaced my piano part with what you hear on the album. I think it’s downright amazing what he did to that song. He said he loved the song and was glad to help. When a guy like Mike Garson compliments your song, you hold onto that for a long long time. WHO ELSE WORKED ON THIS RECORD WITH YOU? Well, I was lucky to have some really talented people work on this record with me. Cameron Morgan who just opened Allan Holdsworth’s last show, did some amazing electric guitar work on “When the Lights Go Down” and “Everything All at Once.” Jesse Stern who has played with Parliament and some American Idols, played a lot of bass and co-wrote two songs with me. Grammy Nominated, Dove award winning producer Dave Tough co-wrote some songs with me and played on a number of tracks. Jon Conley, who plays in Kenny Chesney’s band, played some guitar. Tommy Harden who has drummed for Blake Shelton, Reba, and many others, played drums on some tunes. Country artist Ry Bradley, who has become a close friend wrote some songs with me and played some guitars. Chris Bethea mixed most of the record and he’s worked with artists ranging from Percy Sledge to the Backstreet Boys. So many great people helped contribute, it’s really cool. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE WHO TO WRITE WITH? It usually just sort of happens. I really try to just write with people that are fun to hang out with. Dave, Jesse, and Ry are all rediculously talented people, but they’re also great people… just fun to be around. Plus I learn a lot from those guys! ARE ANY OF THESE SONGS, TUNES THAT YOU PITCH TO ARTISTS OR TV/FILM? I almost never record songs myself, that I write for other artists. There are a few very rare exceptions, but to me it becomes their song. Occasionally I perform them live but even that is somewhat uncommon for me. A few songs on this album have been on some TV shows and movies. “Let’s Get Together” was on MTV, CMT, and Bravo shows. “Living for Right Now” was recently on an NBC show called “Chicago Med.” “Find My Way to You” was on a Hallmark Channel movie. There were a few others, I can’t remember everything offhand. WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH WITH YOU MUSIC? I’ve always kind of had the same answer to this question over the years. I really just want my albums to mean something to people. Be the type of record they go back to every once in awhile, a record that reminds them of a time in their lives, of a person, of a place, something that lasts to them. When my music really means something to someone, becomes the soundtrack of a time in their life, that’s really really cool. It’s all I’m going for really… to have your music make people feel something. WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? I don’t know. I never plan on making albums so who knows. I’m working on a little dance music EP right now, and I’m also working on an acoustic album. So I’m totally ADD as usual and all over the place. We’ll see what happens. Just keep on writing and see where it takes me.