WE INTERVIEW – JOSHUA KETCHMARK

One thing we’ve really been drawn to with your music is your ability to paint a picture and tell a story. Where do you find inspiration?

Music has been my soundtrack, my inspiration, my friend, and my enemy, it’s even given me a vacation from myself when I’ve needed one and has helped me find myself. The songs that have always stuck with me have always had imagery. “Guess I should have known, by the way you parked your car sideways. It wouldn’t last” There’s a lot of imagery in those lines for me. Little Red Corvette by Prince was the first song I heard that made me say. I want to write songs like that. Maybe I’m reaching a bit but that’s how I felt when I was younger. I’ve always gravitated to his more story-driven lyrics.

Growing up in the midwest and hearing Mellencamp for the first time and very quickly identifying with it. I’ve always tried to put as much storytelling into the lyrics as I can and it’s not uncommon these days for a song to go through multiple revisions until I settle on something that I feel the song is trying to say.

It reminds me of watching ‘Wings for Wheels’ the Springsteen doc about the making of ‘Born To Run’ and how he wrote and rewrote those lyrics so many times, stripping them down until they felt emotionally real. Working really hard at finding the soul and spirit of the songs. That’s something I aspire to do more and more with my songs in recent years. My latest release ‘Blood’ is my tenth record and lyrically I feel that it’s as honest as I’ve ever been. All the songs are based on real life, and the way I remember feeling when I was coming of age and trying to figure out who I was. I hope that whoever hears it finds a little bit of themselves in it as well.

I spent over a decade living in Los Angeles, which is where I consider my career started. I’ve now settled in Nashville, TN for the second time. The writers in this town really know how to put a story into a song and the calibre of talented musicians and troubadours here is intimidating. So inspiration is all around.

What is your favorite song to perform, and why?

I don’t have a favorite song as they all have their place in the set. Typically, the most recent addition will take centre stage for a while with me. However, my current single “No Stopping Us” is always fun to play. The majority of the tracks from my latest record “Blood” have graced the stage.

What’s the best gig experience you’ve had?

Choosing the best gig experience is a tough task, but two shows in Hollywood CA immediately come to mind. The first was at the Roxy Theatre and the second was an intimate show at the Hotel Cafe.

The Roxy Theatre show was great for many reasons. The staff and crew were amazing, and they treated the band and myself with such kindness. As a rising artist in LA, it was my first time headlining and I was blown away by the outpouring of support from fans and friends. When the first chord was struck and the curtains parted, it was a sea of people from the stage. Standing in the same spot as so many artists who have inspired me have stood was a surreal moment. The energy was electric and I will always cherish that experience.

The Hotel Café is a singer-songwriter destination. At least it was and still is for me, no band, just a mic, an acoustic guitar and a room full of people. It’s a place where the music takes centre stage and the audience truly listens. My first show there was a game-changer. I was not expecting the level of attention given to every word and chord. Coming from the usual back bar noise that I was used to, to the attentive audience at the Hotel Cafe was a welcome change. That first show is the one that will always stand out.

What’s the worst gig experience you’ve had?

What was the worst gig experience? I was asked to join a band in the early 2000s and at that time I thought it was everything I wanted, but after joining the band it rapidly took a turn. It was another one of those ‘almost’ times in my life. That band had great potential, which on any given day could be a blessing or a curse. Needless to say, I wasn’t in that band for too long once things went south and started to fall apart. Playing that last show with them is an image that is still burned in my brain.

Aside from music, what are you passionate about?

Music and movies are the two things that define me. Watching ‘True Romance’ or ‘The Lost Boys’ and quoting lines from the Big Lebowski or ‘Fight Club’ is how I unwind. That said, you’d usually find me in the studio, writing, recording, demoing, and doing something. Music has been such a part of me for so long that it finds its way back in even in those times I try to take a break. I like to always be learning something new, guitar technique, mixing tricks, arranging for strings, or just trying to be a better songwriter. If I don’t feel like I’m being challenged then I don’t feel like I’m moving forward.

What first got you into music?

The radio, making mix tapes and finding the hidden gems in my parents’ record collection like The Beatles and Queen. One of the friends I had on my block had a drum set in his basement, he and his brother would play me all kinds of bands that I had never heard of on their father’s stereo, their dad always had instruments around. A year or two later I stumbled across an acoustic guitar in the back of the basement closet in my mother’s house. Initially, I just strummed it aimlessly and ran around with it but eventually somewhere in all that, songs began to take shape. That was the spark.

If you could go open for any artist who would it be?

Springsteen

What’s the worst career advice you’ve been given?

I wish I could recall, no one has really ever been able to tell me anything. It’s been that way since I was very young. With me, when I’m ready to go there is no taking no for an answer. Sure I’ve been told ‘ That’s a tough business’ and ‘you should have something to fall back on’ or my favorite ‘always have a plan B’ but it has been my experience that the people that give out that kind of advice are people that turn their radio on to get from point A to point b, they aren’t musicians or artists.

What’s your favorite backstage snack?

Water, maybe, though on occasion it’s coffee (tricks friends teach before a show)? I don’t really have a favorite snack though. I don’t like to eat before I go on I’ve found that it hinders more than it helps. Finding favorites was always a task for after the show. So when we’d play the Roxy the restaurant next door was The Rainbow Bar and Grill, so that’s where the band and I would end up after a show for stuffed mushrooms, pizza and many, many drinks. I’m definitely an after-show meal kind of guy than a backstage snacker.

Do you have any upcoming shows to tell our readers about?

I haven’t been on the live scene since March 2020; I spent the years leading up to my latest release in the studio, producing, recording and mixing for other artists at my studio Black Gold Speakeasy in Nashville, TN. I primarily work with singer-songwriters, some local and some regional bands. That’s why I always appreciate getting your in-depth mix breakdowns and critiques on Send Me Your Ears. I really fell into all of the engineering and mixing out of necessity. It’s something that has always interested me but never something that I saw as an option until I realized that I could help other people.

As for upcoming shows, there is nothing on the books. There’s an opportunity for a possible summer run from June-August, which would be the first time I’ve been out that long. My fingers are crossed that the stars will keep aligning on that, we’ll see. Maybe a couple of weekend runs here and there. At this point though it’s up in the air. I’ll be back out there sooner or later; I’m very quickly exhausting my reasons not to.

Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Joshua. Some great answers there! Readers can find out more about Joshua Ketchmark below;

https://joshuaketchmark.com
https://www.facebook.com/JoshuaKetchmark
https://twitter.com/joshuaketchmark
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6bZetQYyRYCyW8Qm2UCyfY?si=2TU_cPilROGB6n4P7D3uZg
https://soundcloud.com/joshuaketchmark?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
https://www.youtube.com/user/joshuaketchmark
https://www.instagram.com/joshuaketchmark/
https://www.tiktok.com/@joshuaketchmark/