Ahead of his latest release on the Concrete Kïn label 'Sovereign Solitude', we spoke with Joshua Moreno to understand more on what's behind the music
BIO
Joshua Moreno (aka JoMö) is a house / electronic artiste & producer. He’s from one of a twin islands located in the Caribbean named Trinidad and Tobago, usually known under the alias, “T&T.” Throughout his life as a young adolescent growing up, music has always been a major part of Joshua’s life. His inspiration to go further into the music world roughly began around his high school years after he participated in several talent shows. His musical mentors at the time gave him the opportunity to further progress his musical talent by teaching him the fundamentals of music theory and composition. At this point he became determined to become an artist himself and began learning to produce music with the now popular DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), FL Studio ("Fruity Loops", as it was known at the time). As time progressed and the music industry began to rapidly expand its contents of genres and artists, Joshua developed an interest becoming a Disc Jockey. He performed several local gigs at bars and small night clubs before producing his first house track "Inception" which was released by Immersed in early 2020. Joshua is still growing as an artist and doesn't plan to slow down until he has reached his goals and mission as a musician. He has recently founded independent radio show, "Luscious Vibrations" (which is also based in Trinidad & Tobago).
We're extremely excited about your upcoming release on Concrete Kin, how did you first get into music?
I'm extremely excited as well. Thanks for having me. I first got into music around my high school years. My music teacher was such an inspiration to me at the time because he could play almost anything that came to his mind. I've always wanted to be able to do that. That's when I learned about DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) and the truly creative space it offers for productions. With today's technology, you can create anything you want from a single thought. But there's a different kind of beautiful experience to being able to perform what you create. I'm hoping to get to that point in my career soon.
What was the inspiration behind the Sovereign Solitude EP?
A big inspiration for me are the musical journeys that are created by DJs in their sets, and any kind of music that evokes emotion through melodies and warming baselines. I tend to listen a varied assortment from movie scores to nu-jazz depending on my mood, all of which I draw inspiration and ideas from. Also general daily sounds can inspire me, for example I was recently at someone’s house and this cooling fan was making some really eerie noises - perfect to sample for some subdued beats.
What's your creative process like?
Music is an experience. When I'm about to create something, I think of two things: "would I as a listener feel something new from doing this?" and "does this convey the message I'm trying to put out?". There is no one artist on this planet that puts out music that suits every single person's tastes. But in my mind, I try to make what sounds good to me and what could possibly be enjoyed by like-minded listeners. I usually start with the "feel" of the track. The song writing and melody. Once I can get a good feel of these, I then proceed to adding drums and samples and that actually work together with the overall experience. I feel like a lot of tracks these days are being "manufactured" rather than written and produced from the heart and soul.
What advice would you give to producers starting out?
To any young and upcoming talents out there, let me say this now: Take your time. Do not be fooled by the "hype" of that artist that you just recently discovered and want to be like them by having releases "now". There is a 100% chance that they've been working under cover for at least more than 3 three years non-stop putting in that hard work and failing before finally seeing the results of their hard work. Trust me, it's not as easy as it seems. If you want to improve even faster, my advice is "steal" what you love from other artists but make sure to "mold" it into your own style. Do not be a copy of someone else. It shows. Try re-creating piece by piece a track that you really like and understand the applications of what was done to achieve that particular result. In the process you'd be surprised that you'd learn something new almost every single time. Pretty soon, it'll become like clockwork in your mind to finish tracks even faster. Which brings me to my next point: Discipline. Learn discipline from now. Just because your "idea" is great and you sketched it down, that's not the end of the road. Get in there and put in as much work as you can into completely half-baked concepts. It'll do your life some good. Trust me.
What's next for Joshua Moreno?
Whilst producing is always going to be next for me, my main goals from here on out is expanding my reach and getting involved in the music experience as much as possible. I'd like to open my own label one day and expand my already existing brand "Luscious Vibrations". I think there is great music out there from artists that are so small on social media. But it's a waste they don't get an ear because of their "social" status or ranking. I'm hoping to create a space where that is completely eliminated and people can freely share their wonderful ideas and come together as talents. That's my genuine end goal I hope to achieve from all this.
'Sovereign Solitude' by Joshua Moreno is available to stream and download across all major platforms Friday 27th November
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