Joshua Edwards is fast establishing himself as a go-to writer and lyricist in the electronic music scene.
Following collaborations with Tobu and Electro-Light which have collected more than 11M streams, Purple Dinosaur sat down for a socially distanced chat to talk about his life as a lyricist and how Covid-19 has affected what he does.
Talk to me about yourself both personally and as Joshua Edwards.
I spend probably 75% of my life outside of work writing. I wanted to create a vision, a brand and try to collate all my writing into one place rather than just being the guy nobody knows about. There aren’t really many famous songwriters who only write. So I created Joshua Edwards. Outside of this, I enjoy writing feature length scripts and football.
You’ve been writing for a number of years, have you noticed any changes in the way you write now in comparison to when you were just starting out?
I don’t think so. I need to feel a track to be able to write to It. It either comes straight to me, or it never comes. I’m always very open about that. Sometimes It can take a very long time to write a song, but the melody usually comes to me early on. This has been the same since I started.
Do you have a favourite track that you’ve done?
I love Take Me Away – it was one of the first songs I ever wrote, and the fact we were able to get Thomas Fiss involved on the vocals was a real highlight of my career. That was hell of a project at the time. Running Wild is also a favourite of mine, it was the first track I’ve written that I’d played to a crowd (as part of Decimal 5). That was a huge milestone for me. So those two I’d say are my favourites for different reasons.
What do you look for when you’re asked to write for a track?
I only ever ask for a link to the song. If I dig it, I’ll write. If it’s not for me I’ll pass. I only ever want to hear the song to make my decision.
You’ve worked with Tobu on Let It Be Now with William Ekh and Brenton Mattheus – what’s the process like working with an established artist in comparison to someone who’s just beginning to find their roots?
Funnily enough, that project was actually a competition we didn’t win. Tobu heard our attempt and was super keen to produce something fresh behind it. Working with musicians who have a good knowledge of the industry is always super fun. They’ve ‘been there done that’ so know what will work and what won’t. They really are perfectionists and will look at every second of the song in great detail. Its really admirable and honestly a pleasure to work with. Lots of fine tuning but super worth it when you come to release.
The majority of the songs you’ve released have been electronic music – have you ever tried writing for different genres that are completely different or can we expect anything like that in the future?
I love writing Christmas songs. As we speak I am preparing to release an electronic Christmas song with Roy Knox and Rosendale, however, I would love to work on a more traditional style. That would be a cool project.
Looking at your Twitter bio, you’re an aspiring screenwriter. Is there anything you can tell us about that?
I absolutely love movies. I always have. I had an ambition to write a feature length movie script, didn’t need to be produced, or even read. I just wanted to be able to say I’d achieved it. In 2020 I completed my first script, which has been read and loved by many, one day hoping to be produced. I’m now working on a low budget idea which I could hopefully shoot with a team locally one day.
Has Covid-19 affected what you do in any way and if so, how have you been able to overcome these obstacles?
The only thing that has affected me with Covid-19 is that my day job is now where I write. So after an 8 hour stint, I don’t really feel like sitting on the computer for another long period of time. I haven’t really done much writing in lockdown, a few really lovely songs but I have been trying to revamp some old ideas.
What’s on the bucket list of things you want to do as soon as Covid-19 has cleared and we’re in a more stable global climate?
Visit my family. There’s too many door stop drop off’s and zoom calls for me. I just want to burst through those doors and give them a hug.
