ABOUT ME:

Josiah Soren Garrett is a bass player, beat maker, creator, and published author from Atlanta, GA. Josiah has collaborated with artists from all over the United States across a variety of genres, including rock and roll, funk, and hip hop. He has published an educational book with Mel bay Publishing and continues to self-publish articles about the Music Industry and beyond.

Josiah has released several sold out NFT Collections, such as Lo-Fi Leopards, Jazzy Beanz, ABSTRACT, SOUNDS, and more.

I am lucky enough to know exactly how I want to spend my life - performing music.

When I was 18 I moved to Athens, GA to start a band. I attended open-mics and late-night jams at dive bars and coffee shops. I engaged in mindfulness, healthy routine, meaningful practice, self-love, discipline, and I documented my learning experiences at the University of Georgia to guide me in my musical proficiency.

Running Sound at Wildwood Revival Festival in Athens, GA

It took some time but I finally started seeing my hard work pay off. I began engaging with the other musicians on and off the stage. People started returning my phone calls, inviting me over to jam, even asking me to start bands. I was being introduced to important members of the musical community around me. I wasn't an outsider anymore... I was getting noticed.

The confidence that came with that boosted my ambition. For 7 years, I practiced my tail off and ingrained myself in the musical community of Athens GA. I interned at Recording Studios, trained underneath some of the best audio engineers, and found a home within the curtains of my favorite venues. I volunteered and then was employed at many of the city’s largest music festivals as a stage manager and audio engineer.

My ambition manifested in a desire to do something unique that would set me apart from my peers. I decided to publish a book with a major publisher.

I had already documented my journey to becoming a better bass player - flashcards, notes, technique, instructions, abstract thoughts, and a system of learning designed to include the self-taught musician. I had, in a sense, every tool at my disposal to create a series of educational materials that could be shared and understood by musicians of all proficiencies. From the day I began to the day I published with Mel Bay took me 18 months of non-stop work, 6 drafts, and many self-doubts. But in the end, I did it. In 2018, I became the 3rd youngest author in Mel Bay history. You can order a copy of the book here, or just DM me and I’ll you one :)

After that, I decided to drop out of school.

I figured “well, shit I’ve already published a book which is more than most of my professors can say…”. I had spent my entire life in the classroom and I wanted to get out there in the world. I was quickly given an opportunity to join a group as a free-lance musician and spend my time touring the USA as a professional bass player.

While touring around the country, I had a lot of down-time. I genuinely enjoy writing and documenting my experiences as a form of learning and so when I realized that my education about the music industry had failed to take into account the reality of a touring business and life on the road I decided to do something about it. I spent every second that I could in the van and in coffee shops around the country drawing on my own experiences and continuing to learn about every facet and detail of the music business.

I decided to release a group of articles together as a free e-Book for anyone that was interested, and then to write more detailed and highly specialized articles on specific subjects. This way, I could share what I was working on one chapter at a time instead of bottling it up for years to release as a single piece of published work. This work required the knowledge of true professionals in those fields: Booking Agents, Manager, Lighting Designers, Show Promoters, Producers, Publicists, etc. And if you should be anything in life you should be efficient, so I began interviewing my friends and colleagues in the industry to learn more about their profession. I posted the interviews online as a podcast and officially launched the Music Industry Success Series! (Check out some of those Articles or download the Free eBook!)

I found myself in a good routine of performing shows, playing music, interviewing professionals, and constantly writing and documenting my experiences. But a shadow of my past began to grow - the abandonment of my degree. After all, I was only 1 year away from the completion of my own academic journey. So, in 2019, I decided to put all my efforts on 2 things - finished my degree at the University of Georgia and the composition of my debut, full-length album, “Colorblind Pilot”!

And then suddently, everything changed.

In March of 2020, COVID19 rocked the nation and I started on a new path. I completed my degree at the University of Georgia and pull the full force of my time and momentum into composition, producing, practicing, and setting myself up for the strong return of the music industry in 2021. I dove into Music production, specifically lo-fi and instrumental hip hop beats as a part of my mindfulness journey. For over a year, I kept my head down and grinding out the work and wondered how this would change my music industry forever.

In April of 2021, I released my debut Beat Tape Album on Etymology Records under the mentorship of Jazzinuf. This 13-track lofi jazz hip hop record features the peaceful sounds of piano, calming lofi jazz drums, and live bass. The album, called “Mind. Body. Soul.” is a reflection of my own musical journey after the pandemic hit and deprived me of gigs and my musical community. Only the finest samples were used and carefully crafted to give each track a powerful calming and emotional atmosphere. (Mind. Body. Soul. RIYL: The Deli, Jazzinuf, Quickly Quickly)

For the years between 2021 and 2022, I spent the majority of my time leaning into my skills as a producer, and during those two years I released over 75 lo-fi songs across two artist profiles (“Josiah Soren” & “nowimalamp”) as well as producing music for various music and art digital collections. I also spent quite a good bit of time recording in the studio environment at Stanwood and Maze Studios for various projects, including hip hop, Alternative Rock, Acid Jazz, and Psych Rock groups.

In April of 2023, I will be releasing my long-awaited debut, full-length studio album, "Colorblind Pilot". This eclectic Album features 15 performing musicians and is the culmination of a decade of musicianship from Josiah and friends. Rehearsed, Recorded, and released during the Pandemic, Colorblind Pilot is a story of Josiah's own journey into adulthood, and addresses themes like systemic racism, falling in Love, and mental health.

In late 2023/early 2024 I’ll be releasing my debut Acid Jazz and Hip Hop collaboration “Samurai”, an acid-jazz album that features 7 incredible lyricists from the underground Atlanta and Athens hip hop scene and a quartet featuring Josiah Soren on bass, Jacob Hurlock on piano, Dallas Dawson on drums, and the Child of Regulus himself, Mason Quinn, on tenor saxophone.

I love cooking and playing Super Smash Brothers Melee for Nintendo Gamecube! I am also passionate about craft beer, and by day I work as a beer-tender at some amazing breweries. I love seeing live music and I average 150 (watched + performed) concerts a year. If you have any questions for me, I’d love to hear from you!

NFT Journey

In the Summer of 2021, I began my NFT journey. After quickly finding a home within the AVAX ecosystem, I have released several NFT Collections and over 100 songs on the Avalanche Blockchain, including:

Jazzy Beanz (13 Songs)
Lo-Fi Leopards (50 Songs)
Baby Leopards (16 Songs)
8-Bit Leopards (13 Songs)
Leopard Queens (10 Songs)
Piano Panthers (10 Songs)
ABSTRACT (30 Songs)
ElectroCatz (15 Songs)

I love cooking and playing Super Smash Brothers Melee for Nintendo Gamecube! I am also passionate about craft beer, and by day I work as a beer-tender at some amazing breweries. I love seeing live music and I average over 100 (watched + performed) concerts a year. If you have any questions for me, I’d love to hear from you!

TL;DR

28 Years Old
Published Author with Mel Bay Publications
Freelance Touring Musician
Author of Music Industry Articles
Student of NFT & Blockchain
Producer of LoFi Hip Hop Beats
Founder of Lo-Fi Leopards, Jazzy Beanz, & ABSTRACT
Band Leader
Venue Bathroom Cleaner
Biased because he’s writing his own “About Me” section
The very best

You can learn more about Josiah here: https://josiahsorengarrett.com/

Jazzy Beans #113