All his life Josh had some sort of connection with the piano. At four years old he received piano lessons for a very short period, but even at this young age he was more interested in writing music than playing what was given to him, and was insistent that his teacher transcribed his ‘improvisations’ rather than actually learn how to play! A few months later he gave up his lessons, but he continued to mess about on the piano and by the age of 7 he was picking out melodies, his first being Robert Miles’ dance track Children. However, other than these small musical explorations, piano playing remained a dormant talent. It wasn’t until aged 15 that he began to teach himself seriously, using music as a form of expression after the tragic death of his step-father. Shortly after his step-father’s diagnosis, Josh discovered the Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi on Classic FM. This life changing discovered gave his music direction and provided the stimulus Josh required to begin composing seriously. One year later he had composed and released Sunrise – his first solo piano album – minimalist and simple in style, yet emotionally complex.
Sunrise was well received, getting positive feedback from Einaudi himself, who commented that the playing was “full of character”. Following its release, Josh was invited to play at the prestigious Ravello Festival in Italy, a festival in which Philip Glass has previously performed, and in which Einaudi himself will perform later this year. Using improvisation, live electronics and other musicians, Josh's concerts take the audience on a journey. With his emotional yet sensitive piano technique and the personal connection established with each audience through one-off improvisations, Josh's music is at its very best on the stage.
Josh then released Silent Embrace, another collection of piano solos, at aged 17. Around this time he also began working on his first serious collaborative projects, and at 18 was working on his first music and dance collaboration, as well as composing for the video game Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso, a release by Steve Ince (writer/producer, Broken Sword & In Cold Blood). This early start into the world of commissions gave Josh a taste for such projects, and since he has been involved with numerous dance and short film collaborations. His ability to hop from genre to genre with such ease, whilst still retaining his original feel and character makes Josh one of the most versatile young composers around. Josh always looks into the heart of the project, connects with it and finds a way to personally express what he sees there, whilst working closely with others to ensure an overall view is established and maintained.
Josh’s latest release, Those Nights, was released recently as digital download. Describing it as “a sonic snapshot of visual memories”, Those Nights is a diary of his life aged between 18 and 20. Having reached a new level of maturity, this album sees Josh expand his musical language beyond minimalism to include influences from electronica, flamenco, impressionism and jazz, as well as whatever he was listening to at the time.
More recently Josh was in residence at the Theaterforum Kruezberg in Berlin, where he worked for three months to put on a performance at the end. The resulting improvisation showed Josh’s exploratory nature, blurring the boundaries between musical performance and performance art, as well as experimenting with extended piano performance techniques, and focusing on the use of textures rather than melodies.
This exploration of new textures also shows in Josh’s latest projects, which include composing for lesser known and new instruments such as the hang (for the Austrian percussionist Manu Delago) and glass harmonica (for the Wiener Glasharmonika Duo). His main focus at present however is as a producer. Josh is currently working on an electronic album, and also is experimenting with the use of electronics in live performances.