January 2022

Where are you currently based?

Edmonton, Canada.

How did you first start playing music?

I began playing music when I was very young! I was given a toy piano when I was about 3 years old, and I would play Disney songs by ear (I watched a lot of Disney movies). Eventually I was put into piano lessons (which I hated), and then began writing my own songs and singing in high school.

What’s been happening recently?

During the pandemic, I’ve mostly been producing music for other artists, while gearing up to release my own album. For my own music, I’ve been mostly wearing my “business and marketing hat”, so producing art for other musicians has been my creative escape. It’s easily been my busiest year by far! 

Your single ‘This Party Sucks’ will be released on January 14, what influenced the sound and songwriting?

The sound of this song was definitely inspired by the likes of Charlie Puth and the new Weeknd stuff. Very moody, upbeat, dance-pop was the vibe for sure. It sounded like a party song, but we didn’t want to just write another party song, so we said “why don’t we make a song about bad parties?”, and that’s how this song was born. 

How did you go about writing ‘This Party Sucks’?

I wrote this song with Robbie Jay, who has worked with the likes of JoJo and Conor Maynard, and Edgar Vargas, a producer I was put in touch with through Warner Records. We actually wrote this song over a Zoom session, as Edgar was in L.A. and Robbie was in England at the time. I’ve had to adapt a lot to writing songs over Zoom during the pandemic. Initially I hated it, but over time I grew to almost prefer it, as it’s easier to stay focused and get the job done.

Where and when did you record/produce/master and who with?

I co-produced the song with Edgar Vargas, who sent me the initial instrumental. I added a few things just to give it a bit of a personal touch and we called it a day! I was supposed to go down to L.A. to record my vocals at Edgar’s studio, but due to the pandemic and flight cancellations, I ended up recording the vocals at a studio where I live. 

How did you approach the recording process?

The recording process was done in stages. Edgar and I sent the track back and forth with our changes on it, and then I recorded the vocals at Velveteen Audio here in Edmonton, Alberta. It’s crazy to think that even 10 years ago, it would’ve been a lot more difficult to record a song this way. But thankfully, music technology has come far enough to allow me to record and write an album with people I’ve never actually met in person.

What programs/equipment did you use?

The song was produced on Logic Pro, which is the DAW I use for everything. I had the privilege of test-driving a Tube Tech Cl-1B compressor, which has been used on pretty much every hit record you could find today. I recorded my vocals into a Neumann U87 mic, which is just the best all-around mic I’ve ever used. Throw some effects and samples in there and voila! 

What do you have planned in support of the single?

There will be a lot of cool visuals accompanying this single! Not entirely sure if I’ll do a full music video yet, but I’m getting a lot of TikTok and IG content done that is extremely high quality and exciting to be releasing! It’ll almost be like a music video broken down into several smaller clips that all add up to one larger narrative! I’ve never tried doing it like this before but it’ll be an exciting experiment.

Who are you listening to at the moment?

Lately, I’ve been loving the new Adele album. It’s so different from what I’ve heard from her before and there are some HUGE songs on that record. I’ve also had the Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson Paak) record on repeat since the day it came out. I cannot remember another album that made me appreciate music this much in a very long time.

What do you like to do away from music?

I’ve acquired many hobbies outside of music over the past few years! For the longest time, if somebody asked me what I enjoy outside of music, I didn’t really know what to say, but since then, I’ve taken up skiing, soccer, hockey, and a few other outdoor activities that have definitely been keeping me busy. I’ve also always loved reading and I’ve read almost 24 books this year! To sum it up, I love trying new things; except skydiving or bungee jumping. I will never try those.

What else do you have planned for 2022?

There’s a lot of album release planning to do and I’m trying to get all of that together as early as possible to prevent any last minute emergencies. Other than that, just spending time with family and friends and making the most out of my favourite holiday, especially after a very difficult year.

Favourite food and place to hangout?

I would say right now, if you were to find me at any food place in my city, it would likely be at a local restaurant called The Next Act. Everything on the menu is incredible (especially their brisket donair), and I spend far too much money eating there. I’m not sure if you have donairs in Australia, but if you don’t I’d love to take you to The Next Act if you ever visit Edmonton!

Twitter: @JoshSahunta

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Website: www.joshsahunta.com