Mastering the basics with Josh Butler: Elevated Frequencies Episode #18

Olivia: Let's do it. Josh, thanks so much for joining me. It's so nice to talk to you.

Josh: Good to be here. Thank you.

Olivia: I just saw you in Chicago last weekend and that was a treat.

Josh: Did you have fun here?

Olivia: It was so much fun. It was very hot in there. I didn't know it was going to be so hot.

Josh: Yeah, I was sweating. I probably should have worn shorts in hindsight.

Olivia: Yeah, that's what I thought too, because I saw the forecast. I'm like, oh, it's going to be comfortable. But you know, it's just a testament to the fact that everyone was dancing, having a good time.

Josh: Oh my god, it was packed as well. Such a good vibe in there, wasn't it?

Olivia: It was, and I had to, I have to tell you a funny story. So this has never happened to me before in my adult life. I like to think that I'm pretty smart, have

Josh: Thanks.

Olivia: my

Josh: Yeah.

Olivia: wits about me, but okay. So a year ago you came to spy bar, right? Like kind of around the same time. It was like late June, early July.

Josh: Yeah, for sure.

Olivia: And I was talking to my friend who works there and I said, oh my God, I'm so excited to see Josh Butler. I've never seen him. Like I cannot wait for the show. And he goes, oh, you know what? I'll just, I'll list you, no problem. I said, you would do that for me? Thank you so much. I appreciate it. So it's the day of the show. And we were actually at like a third-eyed blind concert earlier, okay? And then we were planning to see you after.

Josh: Okay.

Olivia: And my friend texts me and he goes, I'm so sorry, the show is sold out. And I can't. list you guys anymore. We're like at capacity. I go, shit. Okay. So I'm at a concert, so I'm not paying attention and I'm looking online to see if anybody is selling tickets. Long story short, for the first and hopefully only time in my life, we got scammed.

Josh: No way, what do you mean? How?

Olivia: So, so you know, have you ever seen on social media where people will be like, oh, DM me, I have four tickets or whatever.

Josh: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So you bought some tickets, or like, you found some online, kind of.

Olivia: Mm-hmm

Josh: Bought

Olivia: that weren't

Josh: them

Olivia: actually

Josh: online.

Olivia: tickets

Josh: F***

Olivia: Yep

Josh: man, that's heavy

Olivia: Yep,

Josh: that.

Olivia: so seeing your show last weekend was like the best redemption arc. I could have ever

Josh: Oh my

Olivia: asked

Josh: god,

Olivia: for

Josh: well, you should have just DM'd me on Instagram. I would have sorted you out guest list anyway.

Olivia: I appreciate it. You know, it's all water under the bridge. It's just my husband looked at me and goes, are you serious Olivia? He's like, you really fell for that.

Josh: And how much did you pay for them?

Olivia: I think it was like maybe 80 bucks. So I know not, not the worst thing in the world, but it was honestly, it was an ego bruise more than anything else. Cause

Josh: And

Olivia: I'm like,

Josh: forget

Olivia: how did

Josh: it.

Olivia: I fall for that? I'm 30 years old. That's embarrassing.

Josh: Yeah,

Olivia: But

Josh: see, it's sometimes underneath my post on Instagram, like, yeah, four tickets for sale for the show. I'm like, what show though? Like, if not, the

Olivia: Right.

Josh: post wasn't even about a show.

Olivia: I know, I know those scammers are relentless

Josh: Relent.

Olivia: and they got me. I feel like if you go to these types of shows eventually, you're gonna get got. But like I said, Water Under the Bridge, I'm so happy we got to see you last weekend. It was

Josh: Same.

Olivia: phenomenal.

Josh: I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

Olivia: So you've really been busy this summer, right? You've just been touring

Josh: Yeah,

Olivia: nonstop.

Josh: especially the past like six weeks. It's been nonstop. But I'm finally home, chilling now. Well, I say chilling. I'm in a routine, but before leaving, I started rebuilding my studio. So, I'm in the middle of like quite a big project, throwing up drywall and fucking soundproofing all of that. There's been really fun though, actually. I'm loving it.

Olivia: That does sound fun because you can really tailor it to like your needs and how you like it. So that's in your home where you live.

Josh: Yeah, yeah.

Olivia: What sparked that project?

Josh: Well, my studio used to be in an external unit, you know, near the town.

Olivia: Mm-hmm.

Josh: Yeah. When COVID happened and they were saying like, you can't travel anywhere. I was like, cool. I'm going to bring the whole studio back, but it's sort of been in boxes since, to be honest, and I've not had the space to, um, to set everything up. So finally I'm going to get all my old hardware back and, um, yeah, I've managed to work in the box for a while, you know,

Olivia: Yes.

Josh: just on the laptop and stuff. but it's time to get everything wired up again.

Olivia: Is that where you feel like you, because, well, let me take a step back. I read that you actually produced before you DJed. Is that correct? So do you find that you do your best work when you're at home in your own space or is it like when you're out traveling, gathering inspiration from your travels?

Josh: Kind of when I'm out traveling actually, yeah. The past few years of not having a proper studio space has made me realize you don't need much, you know. I've made some great records just with a laptop and headphones, some great mix downs. But the studio is like, it's a nice bonus. You know, it's good to have a dedicated space, like to feel like you're at work as

Olivia: Yeah.

Josh: well. You know, it's inspirational being on the road, but in terms of like finishing records. It's nice to have a space that you're familiar with.

Olivia: Absolutely. And, and especially working from home, like you said, that dedicated space where you know, this room is where I go to work because like I work from home and I feel like I can find myself kind of wandering in between my office and you know, just like, Oh, there's laundry to do or my dog's right there. So sometimes you kind of need that space to just like

Josh: Just focus

Olivia: be able

Josh: here.

Olivia: to completely focus.

Josh: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Olivia: Yeah. So, I saw you tweeted recently too. You kind of talked about how you've been finding your balance in your career where you're not doing 16, 17 gigs a month and you're trying to kind of prioritize your rest as well. And does that come with age or does that, is that just like, you've been doing it for so long? You're, you don't want to burn out.

Josh: Well, it's a bit of both, yeah. Like last year, I think it was last year, maybe the year before, both of the years anyway. I've done long extended tours in the States without coming home, like six weeks at a time. And it's a bit much, you know, to be away all that time. So, yeah, this year just re-shifting it. And I've still done a lot of gigs in the States, but I've been home in between and yeah, just rested more and be conscious of health.

Olivia: It's important. You can't keep making amazing tracks if you're burned out. Cause I mean, even, you know, the physical burnout is one thing, but the mental burnout from just, you know, constantly being on the go and being in, in busy environments, I have to imagine that can be taxing just on your creative process.

Josh: 100% and I mean like not even just being in busy environments. It's the traveling actually like I don't know if you saw any of my updates but getting to Chicago was a fucking nightmare like it was that close me even making it. It was like 7am I flew from Manchester to Heathrow while I was at Manchester at like 5am got to Heathrow and had to sprint through the airport because my first flight was delayed only to find out that I'd missed the connection So then I had to fly via Washington and that flight was delayed as well. So it was another sprint through the airport. I was dripping with sweat by this point. It was insane. Yeah. And then it's pretty much like to get to Chicago, have dinner, go to the club. And then yeah, a few hours sleep

Olivia: I

Josh: and

Olivia: know

Josh: do it.

Olivia: I was, I was, I was watching your updates and I was like, I, he, I looked like more towards like 10 o'clock. I was like, okay, he hasn't posted anything, which means he didn't cancel. He's, he's going to make it. I was really crossing my fingers.

Josh: I was determined

Olivia: I

Josh: to make

Olivia: feel like

Josh: it.

Olivia: that's. Yeah. And I feel like it's so stressful now because flights everywhere are delayed. I feel like the travel industry right now is just in shambles. So I can't imagine how stressful that is. And Were you traveling solo?

Josh: Yeah. Yeah, I was

Olivia: Yeah,

Josh: just traveling solo.

Olivia: that's even worse.

Josh: Yeah, it was heavy. But I think it's made me realize I need to shift the itinerary slightly on the schedules we were on before as DJs and anyone touring in the entertainment industry, comedians or whatever, you probably have to spend or fly in the day early and spend an extra night there just in case because it just alleviates a lot of stress.

Olivia: 100%, but it's tough because when you have a packed schedule, if you're doing a lot of gigs, I mean, it's tough to bake in that extra time. But that's just kind of the nature of how things are now.

Josh: It is, yeah I think, especially for the international flight, I could probably fly out the Thursday then do the show Friday.

Olivia: And it's not like there's, you know, there's worse places you could be than being in Chicago for an extra day. It's

Josh: This

Olivia: a pretty

Josh: is it.

Olivia: fun place to be.

Josh: Oh my God, the guys that I was with, like they were telling me about the jazz scene there and some of the smaller community house nights that go on. It sounds like it's well worth spending some more time there.

Olivia: Definitely. So I know that you correct me if I'm wrong. You spent, was it either part of like growing up in New Zealand or you lived in New Zealand for a while?

Josh: Yeah, so when I was 13, my parents decided they wanted to move to New Zealand. So, yeah, as a family, four of us, we moved over to a little town in the north of, like near the very top of the country, actually, which was great. At first, I wasn't sure on the idea. I was like, I don't know, got all my mates in the UK, you know what I mean? But in hindsight, it was the best upbringing ever. You know, it was very like... natural wholesome yeah outdoors

Olivia: awesome.

Josh: type of life you know

Olivia: Yeah, absolutely. And so talk to me about how, if in any way that kind of shaped your music career, because obviously London and the UK has a rich history of house music and its roots, but I can imagine having that more wholesome outdoor upbringing probably had some influence as well.

Josh: Well, actually, I think in terms of inspiration, it probably didn't have any effect. I don't know, New Zealand's not the place to go to make a music career, let's put it that way. It would have been easier being in the UK, 100%. And I eventually did move back to the UK to start things off professionally. But in terms of having time to, because I didn't have any friends at first, it takes a while to get into a... a groove of a new school and stuff. I was just making beats on my computer a lot more than I was when I was in the UK, so I learnt a lot in terms of self-teaching music production, but I was always tapped into the UK radio stations and the music scene over here.

Olivia: Yeah, well, it sounds like, you know, sometimes in isolation, that's when the creative process can flourish because you have no choice but to bloom. You know, I started my, I used to be a TV reporter and I'm not sure if you've ever heard of a place called Iowa.

Josh: Yep, I've heard of it.

Olivia: Yeah, okay. Uh, I had to live there for a while and there's not much going on there. And you know, it kind of forced me to get really good at what I do because. There was nothing to do on the weekends. There was nowhere to go unless you wanted to hang out in some corn fields.

Josh: Well,

Olivia: And

Josh: it

Olivia: so it

Josh: sounds

Olivia: was kind

Josh: very

Olivia: of like

Josh: similar.

Olivia: the same thing. That's where.

Josh: It's... Yeah.

Olivia: Yeah. That's where I really focused on my craft.

Josh: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I think I did teach myself a lot in that time. I had time to trial and error and experiment with different pieces of software. And that's really where it came from. But when it was time to, you know, make a career or something, I was like, cool, I'm gonna go back to the UK and try and get it moving. Here we are.

Olivia: So when you move back to the UK, is that when you started DJing or did that come later?

Josh: I mean, I was DJing in my bedroom and stuff when I was living over there, and at like friends parties and stuff, maybe like school, school disco type things. You know, it was when I moved back to the UK, I, you know, I got into nightclubs and started to meet people who were working in that, you know, more serious side of the scene.

Olivia: Absolutely. And you have, I know you have Origins Records. Is that, you have another label now too, right? But that was your first.

Josh: No, no Origins is the only one. I've toyed with the idea

Olivia: is

Josh: of starting a second, but yeah, it's not. I don't think it's going to happen just yet anyway.

Olivia: So what, talk to me about how Origins started and why you decided to go, because a lot of the artists I talk to, they say that's the ultimate goal, to have their own labels so they don't have, you know, the chains and constraints on them of what being signed to another label entails.

Josh: Yeah, that was a huge benefit of it. Um, at the time that wasn't such a motivating factor for me. Um, it, but it's definitely been an amazing part of having the label. But the reason it started is, is actually kind of Chicago is kind of involved in that because I was getting to know people like Marshall Jefferson and Robert Owens and, you know, some of the legends have had the originators of house music, you know, Kerri Chandler. Um, so. A lot of these guys were seen on the road here and there, and then we started to make records together. And basically had like, you know, six tracks or something sat there with these legends of house music. So that's kind of what kicked off the idea for the label was bridging the gap of generations between house music, you know, because some of their fans didn't know me and some of my fans didn't know them. And I thought it was, it's kind of a... History lesson in a way as well. The idea behind Origins.

Olivia: That's really amazing that you, like you said, got to bridge that gap and give a history lesson to people who don't know that Marshall Jefferson is literally one of the founders of house music. So how did that happen? How did you find each other?

Josh: Well, it turns out Marshall actually lived in Manchester at the time. I think he still might.

Olivia: Okay.

Josh: I haven't seen him for a few years, but yeah, a mutual friend of ours told me, Oh, you know, Marshall Jefferson's living like up the road from you. You should, you should call them and see what you can do. So we actually started going for pizza first. We learned the pizza for weeks, two for one pizza on Wednesday. And, and just like talking about house music and and all that stuff. He was telling me some amazing stories from tracks, records and Chicago back in the day. And then, uh, yeah, we, we actually got hold of a really amazing studio in a place called Alderley edge, which is like quite, quite a wealthy area of Cheshire. And this, this studio is multi-million pound studio in an old stately home. And we got access to this place and we went in there and made a track called in time. So, um, That's how the thing came together with me and Marshall basically, yeah, he's just randomly living up the road from me.

Olivia: That's so cool. And that's what I think is so special about this type of music is I feel like it's so much easier to connect with other artists and just cross those bridges. I have a tracks record CD, or it's like a double-decker CD somewhere in my closet, actually. It's a source of pride being from Chicago to, you know, just to celebrate that fact.

Josh: Yeah.

Olivia: And in a lot of your music, you incorporate those elements of the early days of house music. There's a lot of, you know, and forgive me for not knowing the technical terms, but the vocals just bring me back to, you know, the feeling of disco, the feeling of, you know, fun warehouse parties back in the day. Was that always like kind of your sound from the get-go or was that inspired by working with house music legends like Marshall?

Josh: vocals thing has always been there for me actually yeah I think it's my sounds probably become a little bit more like New York influenced and New Jersey is it was a big sound for me but I mean yeah anything with it with soul I think the earlier generations of house music had a lot more soul and natural elements you know you listen to like Frankie Knuckles records they've got big string sections and choirs and stuff so yeah I try and blend a little bit of that in and yeah, not move things forward too far in terms of it being like futuristic techie, you know, too techie, but yeah, just sprinkle a bit of both in the mix.

Olivia: Yeah, well, but then you have songs like bass play, which I have to say, and I don't want to embarrass you. And I've never said this to a guest before, but that is literally my favorite fucking song in the world.

Josh: Haha,

Olivia: So that's,

Josh: no way!

Olivia: I just,

Josh: That's an early

Olivia: I had to

Josh: one!

Olivia: tell you, I can't, I, it is so, so my, my brother is a DJ as well. And he was the one who also got scammed on the tickets with me when we were supposed to see you last year and him and I have gotten into like, deep, deep conversations about that song.

Josh: Oh wow, true. I'm so intrigued.

Olivia: Yes, it is just... Sorry, I didn't hear you. What did you say?

Josh: I'm so intrigued about the deep conversations about that track because it wasn't that deep

Olivia: A b-

Josh: to make it.

Olivia: really?

Josh: That one was made quite quickly.

Olivia: No way. That's

Josh: Yeah.

Olivia: what's so funny about music. One track can mean something different to everybody who listens to it and affects everyone in a different way.

Josh: Yeah, it's true. Yeah, one of my favorite parts of that track is the congas and the reverb on the congas. I don't know if you know what any of this means, but I actually use that same

Olivia: I do,

Josh: technique.

Olivia: I do.

Josh: Yeah, yeah. Use that same technique on a few tracks of that period of my career.

Olivia: When was that song released, that track?

Josh: I think that was probably 2011, I want to say, or 12. Because got a

Olivia: Really?

Josh: feeling, yeah, it was pretty sure it was pre got a feeling, which was kind of what took my career to the next level. You know, that was really what started getting me like lots of gigs and international gigs, whereas bass play kind of put me into the sphere of people's like, you know, music. It was on Beatport, it did well on Beatport and stuff like that, but I wasn't actually getting any gigs from it.

Olivia: Wow. See, well, that's, like I said, that's the magic of this music is, you know, certain songs just affect people in different ways. And I think, I don't know if I've had it on my, in my library since 2011, but it's definitely one of like the first in my Spotify library whenever I, you know, got Spotify. So

Josh: Thanks,

Olivia: I'm

Josh: guys.

Olivia: happy I got to share that with you because, yeah, it's an amazing track.

Josh: Thank you so much. I'm actually going to Google it now and see when it was released. It was October, 2012.

Olivia: Wow. Okay. So

Josh: I'll be

Olivia: I

Josh: back.

Olivia: was in... I was in college still when it came out, and I think I heard it right after I graduated, so that makes sense.

Josh: See, I didn't realise that house music, especially this sort of European influenced dance music, was reaching the States at that point. Because obviously it was invented there, but I feel like there was a big period of not very tasteful house music, let's put it that way.

Olivia: Yeah, there was, so I talk about this all the time. Like my relationship with dance music started with like my parents, you know, playing 90s and 80s type house. Then I got into Euro dance and hard style, which is embarrassing to admit.

Josh: Yeah, my brother lives for a lot.

Olivia: And then when, yeah, yeah. And then when EDM became a thing in the States, I think that's kind of what you're talking about.

Josh: Yeah.

Olivia: That's when I fell off because I didn't like it very much. I didn't understand it. And then I think it wasn't really until, geez, 20, 2015, 2016, it started to get reintroduced

Josh: And that's,

Olivia: and it's crazy.

Josh: that timeline is, is almost perfect to my knowledge as well.

Olivia: Yeah. And it's crazy because now it's just exploding in the States and a lot more people are being introduced to the music. I think thanks to TikTok and Instagram, it's just very interesting to see new people discover it for the first time. You know what I mean?

Josh: Yeah, it's really cool. The States is definitely having a moment right now and it's amazing to be part of it as well. I'm literally right in the middle of it all, which is very, very cool. I had some wicked gigs on this last tour.

Olivia: I saw it. So tell me what you have going on for the rest of the summer.

Josh: So doing El Roa in Ibiza. I've got a couple of trips to Ibiza planned. I'm in Poland next week for a festival. Oh, there's loads of stuff going on. Yeah, a few UK shows. And then at the end of the year, I'll be going back to New Zealand on Australia. And actually, we just announced it yesterday that I'm going to be touring with Carl Cox around New Zealand, five shows.

Olivia: That's incredible. So you're gonna have to find time to rest in between all of that.

Josh: That's it. Well, yeah, it's kind of every other weekend that I'm DJing until mid November now. So that's a nice balance for me.

Olivia: Yeah, amazing. And can I ask you before we wrap up, because your production level is so incredible and I know so many people, my brother included, he's gonna be very embarrassed that I'm including him in this bit, but do you have any advice that you can leave for new and aspiring producers based on your experience in this career so far?

Josh: I think it's the best advice is stick to your own sound and what you want to be promoting and use your influences from other people's music to find your own blend of certain styles. Like we were talking about with my influences from early house stuff with the more soulful side of things. But I'm also influenced a lot by dub reggae and drum and bass and UK rave music. So there's bits of everything thrown in there and it was a long process to figure out how to combine these things, but that's the best advice is put the time in to find your unique style.

Olivia: Well, I really appreciate it. And I appreciate you joining me on the podcast. It was a pleasure to speak to you and a treat to see you in Chicago last weekend.

Josh: Thank you so much. I'm glad you made it out.

Olivia: Awesome, so I'm gonna stop.