We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joshua Monroy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joshua below.
Joshua, 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 was a big nerd in high school. I earned a scholarship and was pre-med, spending a lot of my time during summer breaks in medical conferences and learning camps related to the medical field. Meanwhile I loved music and always dreamed of somehow being involved in the music industry. Keep in mind this was 2001, long before YouTube or many of the tech advancements we have today. I met a doctor during one of my medical conferences that asked why I wanted to be in the medical field. It got me thinking, “what made me choose this path?”. One word came to mind: MONEY. He said that unless my heart was truly in something, I would likely never be happy doing it. That was it for me. It hit me so hard. I knew then and there I had to find a way to make records and work in muisc in some facet. Through word of mouth I found Full Sail, a creative school specializing in audio production and decided not to go into the medical field. The rest is history.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I graduated Full Sail University in Orlando FL in 2002 with an associates in Audio Engineering. I moved back to Atlanta and received an internship at Tree Sound Studios and later became a house engineer there, where I won a Grammy with Outkast for Speakkerbox/The Love Below album, worked with Elton John, David Bottrill (Tool, Peter Gabriel) and Ludacris, among others.
Luda approached me to work for him exclusively and I won my second Grammy for Rap Album of the Year with him in 2007. I began producing artists out of Ludacris’ studio and ended up signing a publishing deal with Sony Music. I moved to LA in 2010 to produce records full time, leaving behind my life working for Luda. He supported me all the way, though and him and I remain close friends to this day.
The writing scene in LA taught me to hone my musical skills and build songs quickly. I learned to trust my instincts and flow with the energy of the room. I think that was the hardest part for me in the beginning. I was so self conscious of singing in front of someone or playing a part that I wrote and was shy to share my thoughts. I think the confidence I built from writing so many songs changed me and leveled me up permanently. As my confidence grew so did my clientele. I got bigger sessions and expanded my business, opening a 5 room commercial recording studio in the heart of Hollywood with my business partner and Grammy nominated engineer, Eric Denniston called Studio 1ZERO.
Studio 1ZERO was a home for several producers and writers. I grew a production team and started developing many projects. My access to more resources within the industry grew as well and my love for artist development was addictive.
I wanted to learn music marketing and be able to promote the artists I was most excited about. I learned to utilize my contacts and push artists through bigger playlists on Spotify.
Today Studio 1ZERO is a full service music production studio with the added benefit of label services. We see a project through from start to finish: writing, recording and producing the song, creating marketing assets for promotion of the song on Instagram and Tik Tok, and finally getting the song placed on Spotify editorial playlists to build the digital audience. My passion for developing and marketing music projects is at an all time high and my knowledge, experience and skill set only serves to lift my clients to the next level! I work in multiple genres including Rock/Indie/Alternative, Rap and Hip Hop, R&B and Pop.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
My hope is that the United States law makers get on board and help usher in new laws that protect the people that create the content that corporations like Spotify and Apple Music exploit for billions of dollars. The laws in the US that govern music royalties are from the 40’s and 50’s. What a joke!! We are powerless against these tech giants and unfortunately I don’t see a change coming any time soon.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I leaned business earlier on in life. I learned by trial and error. Bad financial decisions ruled a lot of my 20s and I could’ve been further ahead of not for those. During my 30’s I started learning the tax system, learned to invest and save.
My advice is to save your money! Learn to budget even if you have more money than you can spend. Buy property, start other businesses. Have multiple lanes of cash flow.
Contact Info:
- Website: Studio1zero.com
- Instagram: @studio1zero