Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joshua Morata. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Joshua, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

For as long as I can remember I’ve always been a self-sufficient person, so taking classical courses or studying music theory was never something that interested me. Before ever taking an interest in the piano, I aspired in becoming a guitarist- Growing up in the early 2000’s, Santana had this song out on the radio called “Smooth”. That to me was my first education on guitar-driven music, and I really wanted to do something like that. Eventually as my musical palette expanded, I fell for the synthesizer, which in turn made me hop on the piano.

To tell you the truth, I’m still trying to figure everything out. You’d think after 10 years of doing this music-making thing one would have it all down to a T. What I HAVE learned over the years, is to space out my projects as much as possible. To spend enough time on an album so there wouldn’t be any creative fatigue- My only problem with that is, is I’m constantly writing, so whatever I finish at that moment, I want to be able to put it out as soon as possible. Not as a means to compete with anybody, but moreso of a way to present to others that I can put out the quantity AND quality.

If there’s one thing I could have done to obtain more creative experience…It’d probably collaborate more. These past couple of years I found myself working with others less and less, but even then, that could also be a learning curve within itself. There was a time I would work with other musicians on their projects, really as an opportunity to gain a new audience; I’d be a lyring if I said it never hindered my creative process. The way I see it now, It’s more about timing and creativity, rather than seeking fame or something along those lines.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

For those who aren’t familiar with me, I don’t blame you.. Hello! I’m Joshua Morata. I’m a musician, graphic designer, and all-around creative person guy. I’ve been a creative dude since the dawn of time. Specificially since 2012 if we wanna get technical. I write, produce, arrange, and pretty much do everything on my albums. I’ve also worked on my friends’ projects- Designing cover art and other promotional material for their releases. I mainly do it for free if I rock with them enough to refrain from asking for a single dime.

If for whatever reason somebody out there wants to work with me, I’d like for them to know I have a pretty quick turnaround time. When it comes to designing covers or music ads; Whatever it may be, I have it done within a day or two. This is not to say I have pre-made templates or I have others doing the work for me. If that was the case, I might as well pack it up right now. I just have way too much time on my hands, so don’t be surprised you end up seeing a new email from me within the next day.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Given this current climate of entertainment, a ton of up and coming artists are barely getting their dues, and considering the copious amount of releases being submitted to streaming platforms practically DAILY, it’s incredibly difficult to find genuinely talented people in a sea of work. Regardless of one’s opinion on “industry plants”, it’s a formula that works and will continue to work as long as the money is there to back them up. We live in a singles-driven market, and unless you’re a multi-platinum selling superstar, your album won’t mean a damn thing to anyone. The way I see it, the way to support artists in this day and age is quite simple: Share their work and support them. Even if their work isn’t your cup of tea, surely there’s someone out there that’ll dig it. It just takes a simple share- A story post, comment, whatever works, as long as the artist is getting the support needed to get off the ground.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I don’t like them as much as I don’t understand them. If there are people out there that have spent God knows how much on a drawing of an animal in a top hat, all power to them- Just keep that nonsense away from me. I’ve heard that some artists are releasing their music as NFTs. Again, I don’t get it, but if it works for them and they’re getting paid, Godspeed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/jmoratamusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCky2SE86kKV4t3_81n_OVxA

Image Credits
Jesse Christopher Morata