Exclusive Interview: Josh Taerk Chats About His New Album, Beautiful Tragedy

It’s been three years since Josh Taerk released a new studio album. During that time, he’s toured around the world, written dozens of songs, and furthered his discovery as a man and artist. He’s taken those experiences along with what inspired him to become an artist and produced his latest album, Beautiful Tragedy. It’s a profound statement by an artist who refuses to be defined by one genre or category. Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with Josh about the record.

PC: What was the inspiration behind Beautiful Tragedy?
Josh: It was a lot of self-discovery. When I approached making this record, I took all these songs that I felt really strongly about and knew they would make something beautiful all together. Then, when I was trying to figure out the name for the record, I had just added three new songs: “Beautiful Tragedy”, “Midnight Mustang”, and “Beauty Queen”. I looked at the title of the first song and thought that in a lot of ways it really captured where I’m at in my life and my journey as an artist. I loved that contradiction in the title. I love how something can be these two really opposite things, yet still be both at the same time. I’ve never really fit into one category or one genre. There are a lot of things that inspire me, both as a person and as a writer. A lot of those things can seem opposite of each other when you look at them separately, but when you put them together, they make something really beautiful and unique.

PC: How does this album differentiate itself from others that you have released?
Josh: With the Josh album and Here’s to Change, I really wanted to pay homage to the music that inspired me to start playing guitar and to start writing. I have deep roots in the rock and roll genre. I grew up listening to Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, John Cougar Mellencamp, roots rock, California rock, and just rock and roll. They definitely brought me to where I am today. The one thing I wanted to do with Beautiful Tragedy that I did a little or started to do with Here’s to Change was take elements from the other genres and the other things about music that inspired me and put them together. I wanted to combine that raw, bombastic energy of rock and roll and modern country music and put that together with the catchy hooks and melodies of pop music, and give it that heartfelt quality of the folkier singer-songwriter stuff. I wanted to take all the different styles and genres that inspired my writing and put them together.

PC: What were some of the major lessons that you learned from your first two albums that you brought to Beautiful Tragedy?
Josh: All of it! Every experience that I’ve had after releasing an album has led to the writing and then the production of the next one. With the Josh album, I was just getting started in the industry. I had written all these songs and I knew I wanted to release something—I wanted to put these songs out there. Once I started touring, I started to see how the audience was responding to certain things on the Josh album. I saw how different moments were creating different emotions within the song, and then how it was a completely different experience when I was performing them live. I wanted to take those lessons and bring them to Here’s to Change. I wanted to bring more of that “how” from production to stage and make that a consistent notion. You know when you listen to an album, and you go, I know how that would play out on stage or I get when this artist wants me to sing along with them. I wanted to see if I could push that into recording Here’s to Change. After Here’s to Change, I went through a process of self-discovery as an artist. I realized I didn’t have to choose a genre or define myself to a specific thing. I could create my own and release music that encompasses everything that’s inspired me. I wanted to take the lesson of “how can this translate live”, but push it further. I wanted to take who I am as an artist and who I am as a person and bring that on stage. This is me. This is what I do. This is my music.

PC: We read that you tested some of the new music on tour. How much did the fans influence what made the record?
Josh: To be completely honest, it affected a lot of it. Seeing the way that people responded to the music, especially depending on where I put the music in my set, and how that would affect how they responded to the different songs, definitely affected the songs I put on the album and how I approached production on those songs. I co-produced three new ones with my producer, Teddy Morgan. For example, with “Midnight Mustang”, given how energetic and rock and roll driven the base of that track is, we wanted to enhance that experience so when they’re listening to it, they can picture themselves watching it live. When I’m on stage performing these songs for people and I’m feeling the lyrics, I can tell when they’re feeling it with me. I can tell when they’re feeling the thoughts that I’m trying to portray with that song. Based on those reactions, I could tell which ones people were getting.

PC: Has there been a song that you thought was going to make the album but after performing it live, you decided against it or vice versa?
Josh: Absolutely! The funny thing is that when I release a record, I have twenty or thirty other songs that I’ve written that maybe didn’t fit properly on this record or didn’t have this all-encompassing story. They didn’t fit with what the entire album was saying. Like you said, there were certain songs that I’ve played live that I was going to release on a record, and then I hear the production in the studio after we’re done and when we’re listening back I go, “That doesn’t feel like the rest of the album. That story is a great story but it doesn’t contribute to the album in the same way that another song may.”

PC: What was it like stepping into the shoes of co-producer?
Josh: It was a lot of fun. I’ve done it once before on a Christmas song that we released. I never thought about doing it until I was in it. It made sense for this record because usually when I’m writing songs, I typically have an idea of how I’d like them to turn out, but with these three songs, that idea was so vivid and complete. I heard where I wanted the harmonies. I knew what the guitar could do in different parts. All of these different elements were so connected with the message and the story that I was trying to get across that I knew I wanted to step into that role.

PC: What was the biggest lesson you took away being a co-producer?
Josh: In this industry, being a musician goes so far beyond just being a creative person. That also applies to being in the studio. If you’re going to be a producer and also a writer on your album, you need to be able to see the project from both of those perspectives, sometimes at the same time. When you’re an artist, you’re thinking about all the things you want to hear on the record and all the things that you think are cool, but when you’re a producer, you also have to take into consideration that this guy wants to do this, this other guy is thinking this, I want to try this, so how can we combine all of them and/or pick out the best parts of each to create something that’s even better than any of us could imagine on our own.

PC: With the album out, what does the rest of 2018 hold for you?
Josh: A lot of touring! I’m looking forward to all of it. We’re heading out to the U.K. in a week to release the album officially over there. We have shows in Scotland in October, London for three dates after that, and then we go back to Toronto for a week. Then I’m traveling from Toronto to New York, playing a whole lot of university shows along the way. After that we’re heading to Chicago, touring through the Midwest to Ohio. We have a bunch of more dates that we’re booking for the new year, as well. We did a whole radio campaign on that title track in the U.K. and the response was absolutely incredible. We’re taking that same single and bringing in to North American Top 40 radio in January.

PC: Is there a venue that’s on your bucket list?
Josh: Absolutely! You can take the boy out of New Jersey but you can’t take New Jersey out of the boy. I grew up listening to down home New Jersey rock and roll. That was my influence for wanting to play the guitar. When I think of places that would be a huge milestone for me, I think of Stone Pony in Asbury Park.

PC: If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Josh: I would tell my younger self to have a little more patience and staying power. When you’re starting out in this business, the biggest thing you can do for yourself is take the passion that you have and believe in it. You’re going to cross paths and work with a lot of different people in this business but at the end of the day, you have to take ownership over your passion and your career. No one is going to fight as hard or as much as you will. When you’ve gotten to the point where you can’t do any more, you have to sit back and know that it’ll work out. You just need to wait for that to come.

Make sure to follow Josh on Twitter and Instagram, and pick up Beautiful Tragedy on iTunes.