Joshua Strawn

Joshua Strawn
Birth name Joshua Strawn
Genres Avant-garde metal, dream pop, cold wave, deathrock, post-punk, shoegaze, industrial music
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist
Instruments Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards
Labels Wierd, M'Lady's, Profound Lore Records, Handmade Birds, Pendu Sound
Associated acts Vaura, Azar Swan, Religious to Damn, Blacklist, White Bodies, Shakespace

Joshua Strawn is a songwriter, record producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist.

Biography

Joshua Strawn was born in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, grew up in Roanoke, Virginia, and currently resides in New Iberia, Louisiana. In Roanoke, Joshua met Jeremy Kolosine of the seminal synthpunk band Futurisk, who was then playing in a dream pop/shoegaze band called Shakespace. Kolosine invited Strawn to join the band, first as a keyboardist, then later as a vocalist and guitarist.[1] Simultaneously, Strawn took up playing bass in The Diplomats. Shakespace recorded one EP [2] and one LP, while the Diplomats recorded an EP which was mixed by R.E.M. veteran Mitch Easter. The Diplomats disbanded before the EP was released, and Shakespace disbanded during the recording and mixing of their last LP.

Strawn moved to New York in 2004 and upon meeting bassist Ryan Rayhill, formed Blacklist. Simultaneously, he finished his studies at The New School where he befriended Christopher Hitchens. Blacklist released several recordings on Wierd Records, a label which Strawn was closely involved from its inception until its conclusion, not only as an artist, but also as a co-thinker and copywriter. He joined Religious to Damn in 2009 and after Blacklist announced an indefinite hiatus from recording and touring, formed Vaura in early 2010 with Kevin Hufnagel, Toby Driver, and Religious to Damn drummer Charlie Schmid. In mid-2012 Strawn launched Azar Swan, a collaboration with the lead singer and primary songwriter of Religious to Damn, Zohra Atash. In 2013, Strawn inaugurated Vain Warr, which he says has many of the same dynamics as a solo project, but is currently a forum in which to be a big douche and to play and release music he had written for a second Blacklist record.

Influences

Due to the diversity of Strawn's musical endeavors, the influences he has cited span multiple genres, including Scott Walker, The Comsat Angels, Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, the Manic Street Preachers, Ulver, Blut Aus Nord, Comus, The Sisters of Mercy, The-Dream, Kate Bush, David Sylvian, and These New Puritans.

Lyrical Themes

When being interviewed for Blacklist, Strawn described his lyrics as "militantly humanistic." Though lacking in many overt references, Midnight of the Century alluded to superstition and religion in almost every song, encompassing all three major monotheisms as well as political superstitions like Stalinism and fascism.

When being interviewed for Vaura, which has been associated by some with black metal, Strawn explains an affinity for Lucifer as an emblem of liberty and morality, saying, "Satan is the great refuser of tyranny, the original freethinker and civil disobedient...If I detach from what black metal musicians (and fans) say about black metal and just look at it as a collective gesture, I like that it’s an anti-religious moment with strong iconography. If Yaweh was telling Abraham to murder his son, it would be Lucifer telling him not to. I have zero question as to who falls on the right side of that moral question." He qualifies those comments by saying, "for all this talk of Satan, I’d still never call myself a Satanist."

He has also described a shift in the spirit of his writing from the more politically anti-theist writings to one that shares more of an affinity with Philip Pullman.

Discography

With Shakespace

With The Diplomats

With Blacklist

With Religious to Damn

With Vaura

With Azar Swan

With Vain Warr

Other appearances

References

  1. ↑ Adams, Mason (2004-11-06). "Roanoke Times. "Electronic music (with audio)" By Mason Adams". Roanoke.com. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  2. ↑ "Epitonic. "Shakespace"". Epitonic.com. Retrieved 2012-06-26.