We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Josh Herren. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Josh below.

Josh, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I grew up listening to music and loving it, and even played in worship bands and sung in choirs from elementary school through college, but io never thought about making music of my own until the summer of 2020. Before then, I always had a fear of not being able to make a song that would hold up against the music I listened to, and if i could make one i had a fear of it being objectively bad, and the last thing i wanted was to make music that I myself didn’t enjoy. Summer 2020 brought a unique opportunity with the lockdowns happening. In a way they were a blessing in disguise because I finally was in a spot where i had nowhere to go and nothing to do, I truly had nothing but time. There was a moment while doing some yard work and listening to music where i just had the thought “you know what, if i really put the hours in and learn the craft, i really think i could do it. I think i could make music for real.” And that night i stayed up till 4am messing around on ableton and making what would become one of my first ever tracks from Galaxy Shores.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Well, i started recording music for the first time in the summer of 2020, and by 2022 I had released the debut, self titled EP for Galaxy Shores. I grew up around music long before I ever considered making my own. When I was 12 my dad gave me an iPod that was loaded with all his favorite artists, so some of my first real memories listening to music are hearing the likes of Boston, the eagles, queen, Pink Floyd, etc.. and it really shaped my taste and how I viewed music going forward. During the quarantine period of summer 2020, my brother and I would spend our nights talking about all the crazy stuff we wish we could accomplish, but then we would just spend another day playing video games and watching tv. Finally we had a talk where we basically said “we have to find something to do with all this time, we have nowhere to go and nothing to do” and I knew if I came out of that slow season of life with nothing to show for it I would have so many regrets. I had just recently purchased Ableton and a midi controller, and that night I stayed up till 4am working on what would become ‘Launch Sequence-Re Entry’ on Galaxy Shores’ debut EP. After that I just didn’t stop, and even when life picked back up I was working then coming home and making music for the rest of the night. I spent countless hours watching YouTube tutorials and putting random effects on sounds I was making and seeing what would happen. As I got more and more serious I began collecting gear, and before long I had a whole studio full of instruments and I knew there was no going back at that point.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

From the very start of Galaxy Shores, I’ve wanted my approach to stay away from being “me” centered. I didn’t even want to use my own name for the project because I never wanted it to be about me, I wanted it to be its own experience. There are people who have listened to the songs and think we record as a band and I love that, and in part they’re right because when we play shows we absolutely are a band; nothing would get done up there without the guys. Also, as a christian, my faith is extremely important to me, and my music is a reflection of that faith. Though the songs may not fall into the “worship” genre, to me each one is an act of worship, and I never finish a song without first having a moment with it where I feel a Holy Spirit type inspiration. That’s when i know i have to finish a song and it’s how i know that it’ll work out in the end, even if it drives me crazy in the mixing/mastering process. I feel beyond blessed to have been given an incredible gift from God, and the unique opportunity to be able to pursue using that gift as a means to provide and make a living, and I want to spend every day working as hard as I can to achieve that and be worthy of that, and as far as I go in my career God will always receive the credit. I intend to pursue excellence in creating to please my creator, and I hope that when people listen they can feel that passion and inspiration that infuses every song I make.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Before I started, I didn’t realize how personal the creative process would become to me. Each of my songs feels like one of my children and I find sometimes myself being over protective of them. I don’t really talk in depth to many people about how the process is really going, cause to me it all seems so out there and weird to talk about and i never wanna bore anyone or come off as annoying. It warms my heart when someone actually asks in depth questions on how sounds are made, how i mix something, or asks to hear demos unprompted. I feel like it gives me a chance to nerd out about something i would usually keep to myself. I would consider myself pretty extroverted normally, but i’ve actually found that as i’ve gotten deeper and deeper into the creation process it’s drawn me deeper and deeper into myself, and i now feel quieter and more reserved in general, more so when I’m talking about making music, and especially when I’m showing someone a track. If theres something i hoped the people around me, and those who live around people trying to be creatives would understand, it’s how insanely personal the journey and the creations are to those that made them. My songs are incredibly vulnerable for me, they’re my way of journaling my thoughts down and expressing ideas and thoughts I might not normally share with others, This isn’t saying everyone has to like everything i make. I thrive off of negative feedback and constructive criticism, and sometimes i have had friends give me ideas that completely transform sections of a song for the better. But, there are times I wish the people around me were aware of how difficult it is to pour your heart out and make it make sense sonically, and when people i care about treat the music and the dream of making a living making music as small, it tends to make me feel small as a person.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.galaxyshores.com/launchpad
• Instagram: instagram.com/galaxyshores
• Facebook: facebook.com/galaxyshores
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfjqeikW55cKawy8kD9VY7g
• Other: galaxyshores.bandcamp.com

Image Credits
All images by Dylan Greenwood (Dissono)