by Zak Mercado (@ciaoguaglione)
Much of music making today feels more and more of an interior experience. Over the past few years, it has especially been so. Many artists became known as they drew and grew communities together over the internet (as opposed to in person) during the time of pandemic. Even in the biggest cities, in the United States, for example, people, though surrounded by one another, began spelunking ever deeper into the caverns of their own thought processes.
Los Angeles based Josiah Collins brings all of that to the table. His limited offerings on his Soundcloud are experiments in top-notch beat making, resulting in engaging electronica and techno pieces. On “Spiral,” more of his musical interests appear. Of this particular song, he reflects, “After having some of my favorite shoegaze artists on constant rotation for months I fell so in love with the raw and engulfing feeling you get from the distorted guitars and soft vocals.” Collins squarely translates his own feeling about the earworms possessing him into his own song. It’s somehow gentle and steady, containing its heaviest and most erratic elements without letting them burst out too heavily. It takes a good ear and restrained producer to know how much bursting at the seams the proverbial musical garment can take. Collins nails it. Moreover, the guitar sounds are crisp and deliberate, like clear and conscious thoughts in a deep meditation.
Citing the solitude of the pandemic as an influence on this piece, it also recalls Phil Elverum having Calvin Johnson’s studio all to himself late at night up in Northern Washington. Likewise, Collins recorded “Spiral” in a single solitary session, in a very interior setting of mind. What results is a clean, measured, and potent whiff of grunge gaze with a tasteful quality of production from one who understands beat and variation. Our interest is piqued and here’s hoping for more coming from this emerging artist.