Interview with music artist Joshua Morata

Today on our Hot Seat we have a talented music artist Joshua Morata with us. Let’s have a chat with him.

Twist Online : First of all, please introduce yourself to our readers.
Joshua Morata : What’s up? I’m Joshua Morata. I’m a music dude from Honolulu, Hawaii, and I make music in my bedroom. That sounds incredibly bland, but honestly that’s how I can describe myself. I just like making dope stuff.

Twist Online : Who or what inspired you to get into music industry?
Joshua Morata : Far as I can remember, I always found myself singing to my stuffed toys or writing cheesy love songs as a kid. I didn’t start getting into music “seriously” until I was 15. I feel like, at that age, you begin to learn new things about yourself.
I was going through my first breakup; Before and during that, I found myself writing a lot of poems to this girl I was into. After things ended, I wanted to put my writing into song. I remember being incredibly insecure with my singing, so I ended up rapping for a bit. In some weird way, she kinda inspired me to get to this point. Shouts to you, Chris!

Twist Online : Tell us about your recent album, Solidarity. What inspired it?
Joshua Morata : Solidarity is the second of an ongoing trilogy called “A Month In Manila”. This album follows my journey through heartbreak as I venture out in the Philippines.
This whole album came about spontaneously, actually! I was facing another breakup, only this time it hit me the worst; I developed a drinking problem, which costed me some alienation from my family. I was in the deepest shit; Attempted suicide a few times while I was back home. At this time I was finishing up the first album of the trilogy, and I was hungover. One morning, I was alone in my living room. I produced the beat to one of the songs on Solidarity, “Tender”. And I laid my vocals in one whole sitting.
I decided to vent out the pain of the breakup onto song. I produced a bunch of beats after that session, and the rest is history.

Twist Online : What kind of response you have received from the album?
Joshua Morata : Surprisingly positive! I was expecting a few friends to say “oh, this is shit’, but no. It started blowing up in the U.K, and then a few states in the U.S followed after. I owe the success of the album to Taffy T and Joffery Hollsworth; They both did an excellent job helping me craft the vision I set out to make for this spontaneous release. Massive love and respect to them.

Twist Online : What’s your favorite music genre?
Joshua Morata : I can’t say, I’m always listening to a bunch of stuff. These days I’ve been heavily into William Basinski’s work. On my down time, I enjoy Folktronica or R&B, or anything that has that “right vibe” to it. It’s hard to explain, to be honest haha. My friends put me on their favorite artists or songs, so it’s a new different genre every week or so.

Twist Online : What’s the best part of being a music artist?
Joshua Morata : The best part, to me, is being able to create a mood or atmosphere for myself. Recently I learned that if you meet other people’s expectations, you’ll generate some terrible work. Lately I’ve been deep in my creative space; Just writing away, and whatever I finish, if it comes out and people love it, I’m satisfied in that moment. I also love to engage with the people who’ve heard my music and reach out to me. I think that’s awesome. Since January, I’ve been getting some pretty decent attention from my tunes, and hopefully I can be able to keep that ball rolling.

Twist Online : Have you set some goals to achieve? What are your plans for this year?
Joshua Morata : Seeing as my music’s finally getting some traction, I’ve set this course for myself to travel more and hopefully tour with my friends; Perform a few shows, maybe? That’d be sick. I’m signed to AWAL, which is one of the best independent labels and distribution services I have been a part of since early this year. Another goal, if this even counts, is to hopefully fall in love again? Who’s to say when and how that’s gonna happen; But it’d be cool, I guess. I’ll keep y’all posted if things work out hahaa.

Twist Online : Are you working on any new projects?
Joshua Morata : I’m currently finishing up the next and final album of my Month In Manila Trilogy. It’s called “Melancholia”, and it evolves around the concept of embracing the pain of heartbreak, and the hopes of finding inner peace again. I got a few special guests lined up for this project, and I’m really looking forward to everyone hearing this one; I personally believe this’ll be one of my best releases this year, and a proper ending to the trilogy. Hopefully once all is said and done, I can finally leave my room and enjoy the outdoors with my friends again. This is only the beginning for me.