Third Son

UK producer Joseph Thomas Price tasked himself with writing, mixing and releasing his debut album in just 20 days. Si Truss finds out how he rose to the challenge...

- Si Truss

Given that recent world events have pretty much cancelled the entire global social and cultural calendar, many people have found themselves with an abundance of time on their hands. It’s not uncommon to find people taking on something new, from gardening to baking to misguided construction work – lots of people seem to have a project right now.

For British producer Joseph Thomas Price, aka Third Son, lockdown hasn’t meant putting music on hold though. Instead, he took advantage of the rare window in his schedule you the Everest of any musician’s career – his debut album. Not content with simply setting himself the goal of creating a full LP, Price publicly committed himself to the task of writing, recording and releasing the album within 20 days, while documenting the process on social media.

It was more than just an empty promise too. Having kicked the project off on 1 May, Price release the 11-track album, 20 Days, via his own Polymath label on 20 May. A blend of modular-powered electro percussion and bubbling techno synths, the resulting record acts as the perfect summation of Third Son’s influences and snapshot of where Price is at as a musician. FM caught up with him to find out more about the hows and whys of working to such a tight deadline.

Why did you decide to record an album in 20 days? What was the thinking behind the time limit, and why do it now?

“It was time for me to make an album. I wanted to do something that was challenging and I’ve always kind of known I work best under some sort of pressure. After hours of talking ideas through with my management I started to get excited by the idea of doing something unique.”

Beyond having the time-limit, did you have any other set concepts or influences guiding you?