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

Joshua, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

You always hear the word being thrown around of a “calling” and that’s what it became for me. Hell or high water, broke, stressed out, overwhelmed, I was always drawn back to creating in the music space. I put myself through music production school (Icon Collective) while also working full time as an automotive engineer. It was stressful and my sleep schedule was thrown out of wack for that entire year but I genuinely didn’t see an alternative. It was sink or swim for me. Even when I wasn’t making a ton of money either through my day job or music I still felt drawn to write music, produce music and play shows. Even when I’ve had to take breaks because of just life, car issues or health troubles, I wouldn’t be away from the music for too long, weeks at most. It’s largely akin to a spiritual practice, showing up religiously for service. Even if my music isn’t massively popular and I’m not making a ton of money off of it, I still do it because it genuinely brings me joy and it’s brought most of the great things in my life. Travel, friendships, great relationships, healing and love.

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

My name is Joshua Miranda, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and I’m a music producer, label owner and DJ in the electronic music space. My artist name is Fantom Freq and my label name is Thiccfreqness Records. I write mostly house, breaks and uk garage but I dabble in other genres. This is largely the same style of music that I sign onto my record label as well. I’ve been a DJ since 2011, music producer since 2016 and label owner since 2021. Music has always been a part of my life since I was young singing in choirs and teaching myself guitar. I didn’t get into electronic music until about 2008 when I was in college. I started going to raves and festivals and fell in love with the music which lead me to DJing it at local college parties.

Some of the things I’m most proud of is the places I’ve been able to travel because of music including but not limited to: Austin, TX, Chicago, IL, Las Vegas, NV, Miami, FL, Phoenix, AZ, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA. Internationally it’s taken me to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Milan, Italy and Tokyo, Japan. I’m also proud of the few festivals that I’ve played EDC 2018, 2022 and Countdown 2023. I’m also proud of all the records that I’ve put out over the last 7 years on other record labels as well as my own.

My sound lends itself to darkness and the macabre with groovy basslines, driving drums and catchy vocals. I borrow a lot of music samples from movies and especialy horror movies. I also tend to use my vocals quite a lot in my own work which has become more of a trend over the last few years. It helps add more of my own flavor and originality to my work. I truly enjoy collaborating with a multitude of various artists across the world because I’m a consumate student and enjoy consistently learning from others as well as through my own creative process.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

If you look at a lot of the imagery from my own personal brand as well as my label thiccfreqness, at first glance you might think it’s dark and macabre and practically speaking that’s on purpose. I have deep roots in mexican culture, calavera, day of the dead, spirituality as well as stoic philosophy. A huge tenant of stoic philosophy is the idea of “Momento Mori”, remembering that one day you will die. It’s a sobering reminder to live everyday like it’s your last. To love to the fullest. To embrace the present moment. To create. To build. To share. To bring joy into the world while you’re here. A lot of that comes as a motivating factor in what I do creatively and how I live as a whole.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing how you can really bring the best out of people. Especially with music and live performance you have the power to change people’s moods and lift them up. I think that’s the ultimate goal of all musicians is to make people feel alive, feel present, and feel connected. I think every person can resonate deeply with a piece of music or many pieces of music, purely out of nostalgia for a time or moment in their lives. I think as an electronic dance artist, my role is two fold: making people move where motion creates emotion. Dance and music as a whole can be deeply therapeutic, both as a listener and as a creator.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fantomfreq.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantomfreq
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fantomfreq
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/fantomfreq
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@fantomfreq4025