Name: Joshu
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Nationality: Antiguan
Recent release: Joshu's Way back home EP is out via Cassava
Recommendations on the topic of sound: Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks and This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin both really opened my mind to the physiological aspects of music and the mechanics of why it’s so important to us.

If you enjoyed this Joshu interview and would like to know more about his music and work, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Soundcloud, and Facebook. 



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I’m more of an emotional listener.

I don’t see things so much as feel them when listening to music. Depending on the music, that manifests in my body as tingles in the spine, or goosebumps, or feeling really pumped up, or crying.

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

I love listening on headphones to really hear all of the production details. I feel much more immersed in the music and part of the sound.

But I’m also not too picky about how I listen, because great music can translate onto any system. A powerful song can bring me to tears.even on a phone speaker.

Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.

Bon Iver’s 22, A Million is the massive one for me. I originally didn’t like it because it was such a departure from the first two albums, but I’ve fallen in love with it precisely because of the sound.



I really like the way Justin finds words that feel so good in your ears, and so much of the stories told on that record are done with textures and sound.

Another would be Brian Eno’s Apollo record. Some mornings I put that on and melt into the cosmos.



Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

The sound of heavy rain while you’re underwater makes my body melt. I have no idea why.

There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

Hands rubbing on a balloon is probably my worst sound in the world. Should be illegal. Also hearing the smacking of someone’s mouth while the speak really gets me.

On the other had the sound of the ocean lapping on the shore I could live in.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

I don’t know if this is everyday, but in the bush near my house there’s some bamboo, and the way it clinks together in the breeze is at once so delicious and eerie.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

One space that always stuck with me is the crypt at Winchester Cathedral. It’s flooded from autumn to spring, but if you go down there in the summer, the acoustics are so insane.


Winchester Cathedral Crypt. Photo by slynkycat

You can whisper in one corner and it’s terrifyingly loud in another. Beautiful.

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

I love to play in nature. In my garden or out in the bush or on the beach.

Recording out there is a bit more difficult!

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

Now that I’m mixing all of my own music, it has started to feel much more material, yes. Especially EQs and tonal tools feel like sculpture.

How important is sound for our overall well-being and in how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?

It’s very important to be surrounded by good sound.

But I’m not really sure if our “acoustic health” is reflective of overall health. Especially since that’s a highly subjective measure.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds?

Probably free diving and hearing whales sing in the distance. That experience made me feel so small and so deeply interconnected at the same time.

Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though interspecies communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?

It’s definitely possible, I do it every day with my dog!

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

Yes I try to make sure I’m never to close to the speakers at gigs, and always bring ear plugs to festivals or ever my ears when things get loud.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

When I first went to England from Antigua when I was 9 years old, I couldn’t sleep because it was so silent. There were no tree frogs and crickets and insects and bush noises that I’d grown up with.

But I’ve come to deeply appreciate all different types of silence now.

Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasised that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?

I think looks and sight are potentially much more bound up with the ego.

So de-emphasising that and listening more would definitely have positive effects on both an individual and societal level.