Pop Culturalist Chats with Josh Taerk

Josh Taerk is one of music’s most gifted songwriters. And he’s undoubtedly an artist to keep your eye on. At only 25, he’s already released two successful albums, toured the US, Canada, and the UK, and built a worldwide fanbase. His latest work, Here’s To Change, showcases Taerk’s evolution as a musician and a writer. Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Josh about his career, storytelling, and how Toronto shaped the artist he is today.

PC: When did you realize you wanted to be a musician?
Josh: When I was twelve, a friend of mine invited me to see this band play. I’m at the venue, in the middle of talking with my buddy and some of his friends when suddenly the band started playing “Shook Me All Night Long” by ACDC. I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, I was mesmerized by the band; how they sounded, looked onstage, how all those moving parts came together to make such awesome music. I knew that I needed to do that.

Growing up, I was and still am a huge fan of Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. I would listen to them constantly, dancing and singing in front of the mirror in my bedroom. Deep down, I always knew that I wanted to be like them; singing and performing in front of people.

PC: Did your family and friends support your decision to pursue music?
Josh: I’m very lucky that my family and close friends were always very supportive of my dream.

From day one, my family believed in me and to this day encourage me to do what I love to do. I was in university, and half way through the first year got an opportunity to move back to Toronto to work on my first album with producer Terry Brown (Rush, Cutting Crew, engineer for The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, etc). So, I had to make a choice, go to this school and follow this path that had a secure future or leave this school and follow my dream of being a singer / songwriter.

When I told my parents that I was leaving after that year and starting my music career they said, “Great, how can we help?” They have always been my biggest cheerleaders and have been there for a lot of my firsts in the business. My first international show, first sold out show, first US show, first headlining hometown show, etc, I’ve been able to experience with my mom and dad. I love them a lot.

I’ve also started writing songs with my two younger brothers Ryan and Matthew, and I love it because I get to have a relationship with them that’s more than just being related to them. I get to work with them on something I love, and we get to share in this thing that means so much to all of us.

PC: Who are some of your musical influences?
Josh: I love artists that tell stories in their music. No matter what genre they’re in, as long as they tell stories I can relate to, that song’s more than likely on my playlist. I listen to everything from Tom Petty to Ed Sheeran, Green Day to Taylor Swift, and can find inspiration from almost everywhere and everyone.

My biggest influence to date has been Bruce Springsteen. He is one of the best story tellers I’ve ever heard and seen live. He tells very emotional stories in his songs that are so specific to his experiences growing up, yet somehow feel universal at the same time.

PC: How did growing up in Canada shape your development as an artist?
Josh: I believe that everything happens for a reason. So, with saying that, I would be a completely different person, musician, and songwriter if I didn’t grow up where I grew up and didn’t have the experiences I’ve had so far. Every song I write is about feelings, ideas, and emotions I’ve had or gone through, and things the people very close to me have experienced as well. Growing up in Toronto, with my friends and family has shaped the kinds of stories I tell and the experiences that influence those stories.

PC: You’ve released two albums, what was the songwriting process like for each? How are they different? And what do you hope fans take away from listening to them?
Josh: My writing process has always been a very natural one because I like to write about life and the different emotions and moments that come up in living life. For both of my albums so far I wasn’t writing to make an album, I was writing about the things I was going through or the people very close to me were going through at the time.

The Josh album was made up of songs that I had written starting at age 16 to 18. For me those songs capture the stages of my life during that time beautifully. The growing pains of finding out who you really are and what you really want to do in life, my first crush, first heartbreak; all of those moments inspired the songs I wrote and released on Josh.

With Here’s To Change I knew what I wanted to do with my life, I fell in love for the first time and fell out of love as well. My idea of who I was had changed, the way I saw the world around me had changed and I realized that change was a big part of living life. That was the inspiration behind the HTC album.

PC: What is your songwriting process like? Do you write during specific times or as lyrics come to you?
Josh: Inspiration comes to me at different times for different reasons. Sometimes it starts with a melody that’s stuck in my head. Other times a line or phrase will come to me. Every time I write though, I want the story to be the focus. I build the melody and music around the story and find the best way to tell that story through my music. The one thing I never do is try and force a song. If I do, that song never turns out the way I would have wanted it to.

PC: What’s been the most personal song you’ve written? And what is it about?
Josh: All of my songs are very close to my heart because they’re all based on personal experiences, feelings and thoughts that I’ve had or people very close to me have had. In saying that though, “Me, Myself & I” has always been an emotional song to perform because it’s a song about finding yourself, trying to figure out where you fit in this world, and realizing that you’re never going to be done figuring out who you are and why you’re here.

PC: Where do you draw inspiration for your songwriting?
Josh: My inspiration comes from living life. Experiencing as much as you can in life creates more stories to write your songs about. I also listen to a lot of different genres of music, everything from Green Day to NSYNC, Ed Sheeran to Bob Dylan and just about everything in between because you never know what song is going to catch your ear and inspire you to try something new in your own music.

PC: John Oates is one of your mentors. What is the best advice he’s given you?
Josh: John has given me tons of advice over the couple years I’ve known him and I’m very grateful for it. I think the best advice he ever gave me was to ask. If you ask for opportunities and put yourself out there with the people you want to work with, then that will put you one step closer to getting where you want to go.

PC: Your new single, “Anywhere Love Took Us” is hitting airwaves. What can you tell us about the song?
Josh: “Anywhere Love Took Us,” was the first song I wrote with my friend and producer Teddy Morgan and our mutual friend Jack Williams. It started out as a guitar riff I was working on. Teddy and I were waiting for Jack when I started playing the riff. He stopped me and said, “That was cool! Play that thing again.” Teddy then looked at me and said, “Yeah, we’ve got to write something to that.”

PC: Do you have plans to tour in 2017?
Josh: I do. I’ve got a bunch of shows coming up and, on top of that, we’re booking more North American dates as well as UK dates as we speak.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Josh: Gilmore Girls

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Josh: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (From 1990)

PC: Favorite book?
Josh: A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Josh: The Book of Mormon

PC: A band or artist people would be surprised is on your playlist?
Josh: Taylor Swift

PC: First album ever bought?
Josh: NSYNC (1997)

PC: First concert attended?
Josh: Bruce Springsteen in Toronto, May 2000 at the Air Canada Centre.

PC: Go-to karaoke song?
Josh: “Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night” by KISS

Make sure to follow Josh on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. And check out Josh’s music on iTunes or Amazon.