Joseph

Indie band Joseph is composed of two talented sisters, Natalie and Meegan Closner. Meegan’s twin, Allison, left the group in 2024 and Natalie came out as queer in 2023.

Their first single, “White Flag,” reached number one on the Adult Alternative Songs chart and they played arenas in support of singer James Bay in 2016.

Their fifth album, Closer to Happy, premiered in January of this year on the Nettwerk label. This has led them on tour with a stop in Chicago.

Natalie talked backstage before their recent concert at Outset.

JN: (Jerry Nunn) Let’s start with the name game first. Isn’t Joseph named after a town in Oregon and also your grandfather Jo?

NC: (Natalie Closner) Yes, Joseph is outside of Portland, where we used to go camping a lot.

JN: What is your favorite thing about that part of Oregon?

NC: It is so beautiful there with huge mountains. Locals refer to it as “Little Alps.” My grandpa had a cattle ranch and the outdoors was something he loved, so it all came together in the name of the band.

JN: Are there three girls in the family?

NC: Yes, and we have one brother.

JN: He didn’t want to be in the band?

NC: He’s busy being a software engineer and he’s like smarty pants McGee over there… [laughs]

JN: Is the name confusing at times?

NC: It is impossible to Google. We tell people to look up “Joseph music” or “the band Joseph.”

JN: I read you started the band.

NC: I had been doing music on my own for a while before the band. It was a friend of mine who is here in Chicago who mentioned that it didn’t seem I loved my own music. They asked me what would make me fall in love with the music I was making and I thought about involving my sisters. That was 2011 and I asked them to join me.

JN: I was at the Raye concert last night and her sisters were opening acts for her.

NC: I didn’t know her sisters sang. She is also an independent artist like us and she is killing it.

JN: She has a large LGBTQ+ following. Have you seen our community attend your concerts over the years?

NC: Yes and I feel the audience might have known something about me before I even knew it. There was always camaraderie and our audience continues to be a broad group of people, but the community is the core of our fanbase. I am very lucky to have that on our tours.

JN: I was listening to your music on the drive over here and queer singer Clairo’s song came on right after yours because of similar-sounding material. Do you have a favorite queer musician?

NC: I immediately think of Chappell Roan. I love what she has done with pop music and her artistry is inspiring to me. She is in my world and zeitgeist.

Another queer artist I like is Kehlani. I can’t stop listening to “Altar.”

JN: When did you come out of the closet?

NC: It was in 2023. It’s still a pretty new part of my life.

JN: That’s why we are here, because I prefer to interview LGBTQ+ artists to support the community.

NC: I am so delighted by that.

JN: What is the music landscape like in Los Angeles, where you live now?

NC: It is amazing. I lived in Portland, but so many of my friends and collaborators lived in LA, especially East LA. I moved to the Eagle Rock/Highland Park area. It is a very tight-knit community for music and is very vibrant.

My girlfriend Lauren Schurr loves seeing live music. Some musicians will have a huge tour, but then play in a little local venue to perform a set that they want to do.

There’s a cool improvisational jazz scene in California.

JN: Playing off your recent track “Chills.” What is the last thing that gave you chills?

NC: I love that question! We have been trying to tap into weird synchronicities. Our hotel last night was at The Tallison Hotel in Indianapolis and that reminded me of my sister Allison.

The other day I was talking about a friend and she called me immediately. I have been trying to connect to spooky stuff like that. That gives me chills.

JN: Why is Allison no longer in Joseph?

NC: She didn’t like traveling. She has a dog and a garden.

JN: So no drama?

NC: No. We literally talk every day.

JN: Is the song “Chills” about a relationship?

NC: It was my first actual queer relationship and we rented the U-Haul to move in immediately. I moved to LA and she lived in Portland. The only way for us to be together was to live together. We found out things after living in the same place over time and it didn’t work out. It was intense and scary.

Many times, I am writing a song with an answer, but with this one, I decided not to make myself feel better and not know what would happen. That is the whole song.

JN: Does the person you wrote the song “Blindspot” about know it’s about them?

NC: I don’t think so. That might be a secret forever. It became a conversation about solving things by being hateful and entrenched in our own righteousness.

I grew up very religious and I was accustomed to someone telling me what the right thing is. I thought I had to adhere to that and be so rigid.

When I threw that out the window, it was like I took my progressive liberal thoughts and I was still driven by shame. It still controlled me and the same tactics were being used on me.

The song is about not being pious and allowing love to happen from every direction.

It is saying the idea of hating or not forgiving someone is similar to swallowing poison. Harboring rage only winds up hurting the person who is mad and not the other person. Replacing hate with love or beauty helps a person get where they need to be.

JN: Do you prefer the terms queer or lesbian when being described?

NC: I like queer. I was married to a man for a long time. There is so much language and categories for everyone now, like demisexual, etc.

Being in a category can feel freeing and comforting to see myself in it, but it can be limiting in some ways. If I am being honest, I can’t imagine being with a cis man again. I am dating Lauren Schurr right now and I am thrilled. Ever since I went this way, I knew there was no going back.

JN: Is the song “Ready to Let You Down” about not living up to expectations, such as being a girly girl or trying to be macho?

NC: Totally. There are so many systems that are telling us to be who we aren’t. Why would I try so hard to be someone else’s ideal? I had to let that off my shoulders and allow the other person to be disappointed.

JN: That can be hard to do…

NC: Very.

JN: Are you the main songwriter?

NC: We do it all together. We have songwriting camps where everyone is collaborative. We will get together for around 10 days in a row.

JN: I heard that singer Billie Eilish endorsed Joseph.

NC: I love her. Our dear friend Tom Crouch plays in her band. We went to one of her shows and she was incredible.

JN: Billie’s brother, Finneas, played Lollapalooza last year. Have you played Lolla?

NC: Not recently, but yes, many years ago.

JN: What makes you happy or Closer to Happy?

NC: Right now, I will be happy to go home and have Lauren make me coffee. I won’t have to get out of bed and I can stare at my wall for a really long time.

What will really make me happy is having a dirty martini at Capri Club in Eagle Rock with Lauren one night.

JN: What are your future plans?

NC: We have a few one-offs that we will be announcing soon and we might have a few dates in the fall. We are excited to start writing again and exploring the creative process.

JN: Do you have any plans for Pride month?

NC: I have not actually been to a Pride parade yet. Last year and the year before, we were on tour. Every time we went to a city, I had just missed the parade or it was planned for the week after we left.

I am really hoping I can go this year in LA, fingers crossed!