April Spotlight: An Interview With Josh Ross
What sparked your interest in music?
When I saw Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat perform at my high school, that’s when I knew I wanted to be a musician.
What inspired you to start playing?
It started when my sister was taking piano lessons. I was three years old and I wanted to play too. I took some piano lessons, but soon lost interest. When I discovered the guitar, I really wanted to play that. I asked my dad for a guitar and he said, “well why don’t you play the piano for another year?” So, he tricked me into playing the piano, and it worked!
I practiced enough to show him I was serious and then I picked up the guitar and went full on into that. A couple years later he suggested singing. Singing opened up a whole new world. It brought me back into the piano, drums and everything else.
How old were you when you wrote your first song?
Thirteen.
What was that song about?
A girl. The girl was in love with another guy and I thought, jeez why not me? I can still remember small segments of the lyrics, but not much else.
What is your song writing process like?
Good question. I have few different processes. One is, I’ll here a little tune in my head. It repeats over and over and I find ways to build off it and add new parts.
Sometimes I take a very structured approach. I take a song I really like, like “Someone Like You” by Adele. I based my song, "Somebody that Matters" on "Someone Like You." I used the same structure. There are the same number of lines for the chorus and the verse. There are a similar number of bars and measures and I came up with a basic chord progression that I fit into those bars. I also made sure the lyrics were parallel in structure and tense, but with my own theme. I wanted to write a song about someone who made me feel important and someone I know I can turn to.
Sometimes I’ll write the lyrics first, or I’ll write the chord progression first. Other times I think about what kind of genre I want to write. Basically, I have templates that help me write songs faster.
What would be the one tip you would give to someone aspiring to write their first song?
That’s a great question. Be willing to fail. Be willing to have your songs sound terrible. The first few always will. Keep it simple. It doesn’t need to be complicated and it’s okay to be cheesy. Just speak your mind and see where it takes you.
There’s a difference between writing a song for yourself and one from someone else. I’ve written hundreds of songs that no one will ever hear. I write songs for myself, for family, friends, or my wife. These are songs no one else will ever hear.
At the end of the day, I have to like the song. When writing a piece of music, all that matters is that you have a fun time doing it. As long as you come up with something you like, you’ll find your audience.
When I saw Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat perform at my high school, that’s when I knew I wanted to be a musician.
What inspired you to start playing?
It started when my sister was taking piano lessons. I was three years old and I wanted to play too. I took some piano lessons, but soon lost interest. When I discovered the guitar, I really wanted to play that. I asked my dad for a guitar and he said, “well why don’t you play the piano for another year?” So, he tricked me into playing the piano, and it worked!
I practiced enough to show him I was serious and then I picked up the guitar and went full on into that. A couple years later he suggested singing. Singing opened up a whole new world. It brought me back into the piano, drums and everything else.
How old were you when you wrote your first song?
Thirteen.
What was that song about?
A girl. The girl was in love with another guy and I thought, jeez why not me? I can still remember small segments of the lyrics, but not much else.
What is your song writing process like?
Good question. I have few different processes. One is, I’ll here a little tune in my head. It repeats over and over and I find ways to build off it and add new parts.
Sometimes I take a very structured approach. I take a song I really like, like “Someone Like You” by Adele. I based my song, "Somebody that Matters" on "Someone Like You." I used the same structure. There are the same number of lines for the chorus and the verse. There are a similar number of bars and measures and I came up with a basic chord progression that I fit into those bars. I also made sure the lyrics were parallel in structure and tense, but with my own theme. I wanted to write a song about someone who made me feel important and someone I know I can turn to.
Sometimes I’ll write the lyrics first, or I’ll write the chord progression first. Other times I think about what kind of genre I want to write. Basically, I have templates that help me write songs faster.
What would be the one tip you would give to someone aspiring to write their first song?
That’s a great question. Be willing to fail. Be willing to have your songs sound terrible. The first few always will. Keep it simple. It doesn’t need to be complicated and it’s okay to be cheesy. Just speak your mind and see where it takes you.
There’s a difference between writing a song for yourself and one from someone else. I’ve written hundreds of songs that no one will ever hear. I write songs for myself, for family, friends, or my wife. These are songs no one else will ever hear.
At the end of the day, I have to like the song. When writing a piece of music, all that matters is that you have a fun time doing it. As long as you come up with something you like, you’ll find your audience.