Upcoming 100: How long have you been in the music industry and has music always been a part of your life?
Joshua Marzz: I don't believe you become part of the music industry until you start to think about music as a business. For me, that happened a little over 2 years ago when I finally decided to pursue music full time and I started building my studio. Music has always had a huge impact on my life though, since I was just 12 years old, that's the age I can truly remember falling in love with hip-hop and from there, I've never looked back.
Upcoming 100: Was there a specific moment in your life where you thought, "music is what I want to do"?
Joshua Marzz: As soon as I started writing music, I knew I never wanted to stop but for a long time it was just a way for me to clear my head. It wasn't until soon after I left college that I realized, making music is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It took me hitting rock bottom to finally realize that my dream had been right infront of me for so many years.
Upcoming 100: What inspires you (or your music)?
Joshua Marzz: I pull inspiration from a lot of places. I have a plethora of artists that I’ve studied to master the mechanics. I talk a lot about what goes on inside my head and what I see go on around me so a lot of my music is either observational or abstract. As far as people go, my dad has been a big inspiration for me in building my business and my younger brother has taught me a lot about dealing with adversity head on.
Upcoming 100: Who's on your iTunes playlist?
Joshua Marzz: Eminem, always Eminem, I can get down to his music in almost any mood. Gotta keep some of my favorites in rotation: Childish Gambino, Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, Kanye, Don Kennedy, Ab-Soul, Kendrick, Mick Jenkins, Vic Mensa, Chance, Frank Ocean and some new artists I've recently been put on to like Jay IDK, Daniel Caesar and Supa BWE. That's really just scratching the surface, I appreciate any music that I can connect to.
Upcoming 100: The project you are currently promoting, how did the idea for it come about?
Joshua Marzz: If you go back a couple projects in my discography, you'll come upon a tape named 'Intergalactic Voyages.' That tape followed my story thru a world of self-doubt and drug abuse, which led to me losing my mind. My following EP 'PVRVLLVX' was a bit of resolution to the end of that story but still no one knows what really happened. My current project 'Spoils of the Voyage' is an answer to the question of what happened after the voyage but the answer only serves to raise more questions. Now that I've seemingly conquered my inner demons, will I be able to relish my spoils or will they only serve as further corruption for my unstable mind?
Upcoming 100: There are thousand of artists trying to do what you are doing, what do you think gives you an advantage to break into mainstream America?
Joshua Marzz: Simply put, I'm different. My sound is totally original. I make my own beats but I also work with a lot of producers to keep me on my toes. I'm versatile with my flows and more than anything else, I have a message to spread; a message of love. I have an amazing team behin me that I've assembled and I continue to build. I think I'm just different enough to catch people's eye. I've worked for years to build my skillset ans till do every day, so I think my drive and my originality are gonna play key roles in helping me get to the top.
Upcoming 100: I've heard your lates music and it's amazing! I can definitely tell your sound has evolved over the past few years from previous songs we've heard from you online. What are your thoughts on the evolution of an artist and the evolution of music today?
Joshua Marzz: I think humans evolve much quicker than given credit for. Mental evolution is necessary for survival. I believe crreatives to be the epitome of this, no matter how abstract they may get. I think every artist should be striving to become better every day. Whether it's honing your skills or broadening your skillset, evolution is necessary. Stagnancy is a killer. As fas as music goes, it's ever-evolving and everyone has a different take on it. I consider this to be the most fruitful era for hip-hop. This quantity of artists has never been seen before and I believe now, we're in some kind of quality control state. I think right now, hip-hop is mainly about energy and as long as that energy is positive, I can rock with it. I say we keep pushing the boundaries in every direction possible and eventually we're bound to break through somewhere.
Upcoming 100: Do you have other passions in life? Do you believe passion is an essential part of success?
Joshua Marzz: I believe that if you can’t put your all into something, you can’t truly succeed at it and if you have no passion for it, how could you give it your all? Success is a relative term but for me, my main goal is to be happy and to spread happiness. Making music makes me happy and making music allows me to speak to people I’ve never even met and may never meet. For me, my passion lies within creation. I just like to bring things from my imagination into this reality. I used to draw cartoons and write poetry but I’ve realized that creating music is what puts me at peace all the time.
Upcoming 100: With your current success and working with a renowned PR firm such as Starlight PR, What advice would you give to someone just starting out in his or her career who doesn't even have a studio to record but would love to do what you are doing now?
Joshua Marzz: You gotta start somewhere. I started to build my studio in June of 2015. I had a Macbook that I had gotten for college, an old M-Audio M Track interface with an AT2020 mic that I had gotten for free from my buddy and a pop filter with a huge rip down the middle. I mixed my first EP and decided I needed to upgrade so I started buying more equipment. I got a desk first so I could move my setup off of my old toy chest. I invested in some monitors, new headphones, eventually a new computer, a keyboard, a subwoofer and a stereo controller to tie it all together. I’m also always looking for new, useful plugins. In 2 years, I managed to build quite a studio from the very basic elements I first had. The next big move was to get out of my parents’ basement and move into my own house, dedicating a whole room to the studio. Now I have a much more official studio, in which I run my business as an audio engineer. The growth I’ve seen since I simply put my mind to the task and started working for it has been tremendous so the biggest advice I can give anyone looking to make music for a living is to just do it. Your dedication and perseverance will be tested but when you come out on top, there’s no feeling like it.
Upcoming 100: Where can potential fans find out more about you?
Joshua Marzz: Everything you want to know about me and my team can be found on newwavemusic.net but you can also reach out to me on Twitter or Instagram @JoshuaMarzz and you can find all of my music on my soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/joshua-marzz
