Joshua Michael Tillman, better known by his stage name Father John Misty, is an American musician. He is known for his satirical lyrics and eccentric performance style.
real name: Joshua Tillman
labels: Sub Pop, Bella Union
genres: indie rock
plays: voice, guitar, piano, drum kit, percussion guitare, harmonica, bass guitar
member of: Fleet Foxes, Saxon Shore
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Joshua Michael Tillman was born in Rockville, Maryland, on May 3, 1981, the son of evangelical Christian parents Barbara and Irvin C. Tillman, an engineer at Hewlett-Packard, who met at a Christian youth group. His mother was raised in Ethiopia, where her parents were missionaries. The eldest of four children, he has a brother and two sisters. Before he settled on a career as a musician, he briefly had ambitions of becoming a pastor because of the performance aspect, when he was approximately six years old. He has commented that his parents strongly emphasized Christianity in his upbringing, to a degree that he has described as "culturally oppressive". He was estranged from his parents for many years, but they have since reconciled.
After attending Nyack College in New York from 1999 to 2002, Tillman moved to Seattle when he was 21. He found a job there working at a bakery, which allowed him to record at night before his 4:30 am shift began. A demo he made eventually found its way to Seattle singer and songwriter Damien Jurado. A year later, Tillman started opening for Jurado. At shows Tillman would distribute CD-R copies of songs that would later become his album I Will Return. During the tour, he also struck up a friendship with Eric Fisher, who produced another CD-R album, Long May You Run. Tillman and Jurado both later signed on for a U.S. tour with Richard Buckner.
After leaving Fleet Foxes, Tillman moved to Los Angeles and signed to his next record label Sub Pop. Dissatisfied with the slow and sad music he had previously made, he adopted the performing name of Father John Misty. The first album under his new name, Fear Fun, was released on May 1, 2012. A couple of months before the release of the album a video was released for the song "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" starring Parks and Recreation's Aubrey Plaza. The album was a dramatic departure from any of Tillman's prior releases.
Tillman's musical style has been described as indie rock, indie folk, folk rock, chamber pop, soft rock, psychedelic rock, folk, and country.
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