We spoke with William John Titus Bishop about “Like A Rolling Stone” and more!

Q: So William, let’s start with the obvious — why “Like A Rolling Stone”? What pulled you toward that song in particular?

A:I have been listening to Bob Dylan since I was a teenager. I have arranged a number of his songs on previous albums, so recording the track felt like a natural progression. It helps immensely that Dylan’s music has been introduced to a new generation since his biopic. It is also my favorite Dylan song, so I had fun recording it.

Q: It’s such a towering track in music history. When you took it on, how did you go about making it feel like yours?

A: I think it’s impossible to gauge just how much impact Dylan has had on popular music and popular culture throughout his career. His music is ubiquitous and I didn’t want to record the song with the intention of trying to compare myself to any part of his legacy. The recording from Highway 61 Revisited is full of sound; organs and pianos and electric guitars. I was recording a solo album because I had been invited out to Scandinavia to work with some Swedish musicians and so I arranged the song for solo piano and vocals. I think the arrangement gives a different atmosphere to the track, a more personal, introspective feeling.

Q: Your version has this really intimate, almost fragile energy. Was that the plan going in, or did it just happen once you hit record?

A: The recording took place in a recording studio in a very remote town in the south of Sweden. It was just me and the recording engineer in the studio and we wanted to make sure the only tracks that were recorded were the piano and vocal parts – there is me on the record and not much else. 

Q: Do you remember the moment when you felt, “Okay, that’s the take”? Or are you someone who keeps chasing it until the last second?

A:I like to record things in as few takes as possible. I treat the studio like a live music venue. I was working with a very competent engineer and we made sure the track sounded as good as it possibly could. It was the first or second take of the song – it is much easier with just one musician. 

Q: Was this song always meant to be part of the Vintergatan: Solo Acoustic project, or did it sneak its way in later?

A: I had arranged the song for piano a long time ago but never had a chance to play it live or put it on a record, so it made sense to put it on a solo album. 

Q: You recorded the album out in Läckaby, this tiny town in Sweden. What was that environment like — did the isolation feed into the mood of the songs?

A:The studio is an amazing place, inaccessible by public transport and about 7 miles from any town. It was beautifully peaceful, which allows you to concentrate a lot harder on the songs.

Q: There’s a strong sense of both the personal and the political running through Vintergatan. Did you feel those themes shaping the way you approached the covers?

A: All of the cover songs on the album are songs I play regularly and have been playing regularly for some time now. I didn’t intend for the album to be political but I travelled out to Europe during a period of political upheaval and change. The album is about that period but it is not meant to be a political commentary in any way. With all the covers I wanted the listener to be able to hear just the one instrument and voice, so the album works as a piece of music.   

Q: “Nicotine” feels incredibly raw, almost like we’re hearing you think out loud. What headspace were you in when you tracked that one?

A:When I learnt how to write songs it was with a very clear idea. The songs are almost always a description of a meeting or encounter between two people. So the songs aren’t so much about expressing a particular state of mind. Rather the songs are structured in quite a specific way. Nicotine is about a night spent between two people and I tried to describe their emotional reactions as closely as possible. 

Q: A lot of the record feels like we’re sitting in on a rehearsal, but in the best way — like the tape just happened to catch something real. Was that intentional? 

A:Yes absolutely. I like to treat the recordings like a live performance. 

Q: Looking back at those sessions in early spring — far from everything — what did that time teach you about how you work, or maybe who you are as an artist?

A: It was more of a coincidence really. I was invited out to Sweden to work with some great musicians and while I was there, living in an apartment on a street called Vintergatan and I thought that it was a good time to record an album. I don’t think I would have recorded it if I had been living in the UK at the time. The recording engineer was fantastic at making the whole process very quick and very smooth – the whole album took one day to record and is of excellent sound quality.  

Q: And now that Vintergatan is out there, what’s next for you? What’s on the horizon for the rest of the year?

A:I had originally intended to record a very different album, which I’m working on right now. So that will be released hopefully early next year. I am very grateful for the time spent travelling over the past four years and the cultural differences I have encountered because otherwise I would never have made the album.