ARTIST SPOTLIGHT – CJ PANDIT

As the sun floods this little corner of The Egg Café and warmth fills the room, CJ Pandit takes the seat opposite, smiling, beer in hand. With Liverpool filling the space behind him and a million lives being led outside these four walls, we begin. Delving into his debut album, ‘One Lost English Boy’, his newfound home city and overcoming hurdles.

Before he got here, there was an entirely different path laid out for CJ. Following his first EP release, ‘Just Before You Disappear’, he found himself on a steep uphill trajectory, featuring on “NME Top 100” and booking “loads of European festivals.” But as we hear so often, “it all got pulled because of COVID” and soon enough, CJ was left in the rear-view mirror, the future he’d planned for himself disappearing as the world moved on without him.

Unsurprisingly, the experience left scars, seeing CJ battle with his self-worth and identity and in turn, produce ‘One Lost English Boy’. “It’s a real snapshot in time,” he explains, “I made a record about being lost and felt even more lost.” Hanging the album up for two years, battling a “complete loss of any ability or faith in what [he] was doing.” Building barriers to protect himself in case the past was repeated, seeing it as a painful situation rather than something that “worked out for the best.” His break offered him the opportunity to reexamine his relationship with his craft, realising “it doesn’t have to be this hellish torturous thing.” The CJ in those two years would never imagine that one day he’d feel proud of the album, excited for the future; “it will do what it’s meant to do and go where it’s meant to go and reach whoever it’s meant to reach.”

This journey, CJ’s journey is a reminder of Thomas Merton’s observation: “art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” ‘One Lost English Boy’ is an opus that so perfectly encapsulates this feeling, and it’s unsurprising given its origins. Despite being fed by vulnerability, the album is far from impulsive, with every element of its construction planned meticulously. “I had the idea of a perfect pop record in my head,” explains CJ, “I know what song starts it, where the slowy goes, where the ballad goes.” In a world where 54% of people listen to fewer albums than they did 5-10 years ago (Statistica, 2020), constructing a new release in this way was a gamble, but one that clearly paid off. Statistics show that people are consuming the release in its entirety, maybe because “it makes total sense as an album” rather than being made up of 10 disconnected singles.

The best bit, it translates just as beautifully in person, with CJ’s band being that added element he never knew he needed. Coming from non-pop backgrounds, they explore the work through the eyes of folk and free jazz performers, uniting as a “we” rather than the backing band to a solo artist. His energy is palpable as he describes Jo, Harry and Charlotte’s artistic abilities, awed by their talents and seemingly by their support too. “There’s just such a good group of people… and they’re all in, it’s so cool!” In finding his feet as a musician, CJ has been lucky enough to find his people too, from his band to his best friends and the very reason he chooses to call Liverpool home.

Before the world locked down and he was knocked off balance, CJ was put in touch with Mike Halls (Clean Cut Kid). Entering the room with the “biggest imposter syndrome,” preparing to collaborate with “the most underrated writer in this country,” CJ wasn’t expecting to find home. To not only fall “in love with the city on the first day”, but meet his “closest friends” in Mike and Evelyn (Pet Snake). Being supported and nurtured as he rebuilt, surviving the turbulence of life and art with the help of his “surrogate northern parents.”

Coming out of it all, CJ explains that ‘One Lost English Boy’, an album that allowed him to navigate his identity as someone who is “half English, quarter Indian, quarter French,” has made him realise that he could just “keep making albums about identity forever.” Bringing in “musical touchstones”, sampling work from his Grandma’s cousin Line (Monaco’s 1968 Eurovision entry) and taking inspiration from “Bangor records and Bollywood movie tracks,” the creative inspiration is endless.

And after all, “when you answer one question, a million more appear.”

Follow what comes next for CJ via Instagram at @cjpandit. With a Liverpool gig coming “any day now”, we’ve been hitting that refresh button. And check out Featured Artists Coalition, where CJ is an ambassador, to find out more about having your voice heard.

Written by Megan Walder / @m_l_writes

Photos by Emily Lomas / @camerapersem