Exclusive Premiere: Indian-Australian Electronic Producer JOSHI’s Boogie-Ready ‘Too Late’ With Joe Sephine

JOSHI and Joe Sephine want you to boogie. Whether that’s breakdancing, ballet, or perhaps, Bharatanatyam, we’ll leave that head-scratcher to you.  

Don’t think too hard, though, because the duo’s latest record, Too Late, isn’t supposed to send you into an existential dread-y daze, nor is it meant to break the umpteenth wall. “We really just wanted to create something for our friends to dance to,” explains Indian-Australian JOSHI.

The frontman of dream pop band Manorism, Melbourne/Naarm-based JOSHI has shed his indie roots and materialised his “synthesiser-obsessed alter ego” on his new track. Too Late is a sonic journey that’s meant to be felt as much as heard—on a pulsing dance floor (obviously a strobe light kind of affair), your heart pounding in sync with the synth-heavy beat and Joe Sephine’s radiant vocals. 

“It’s a fun track.” 

That is all. The end. 

Today, before Too Late hits the airwaves, Brown Boy Magazine is excited to premiere the record to our community. Too Late is slated for release on Thursday, 8 June 2023. Show this South Asian Australian some love, and stream it now below.

JOSHI is a disarmingly friendly human who works full-time in the corporate world, but he’s also the bloke that’ll pick up a pair of used jeans from your front lawn. (True story.) We sat down with the pants-stealing fella to talk about how financial stability allows you the space to create with integrity, the influence of Bollywood on his music, and his South Asian heritage.

Brown Boy Magazine: Who is JOSHI? Can you tell us about your background? How did you get started in music, and what role did music play in your upbringing and in shaping your identity?

JOSHI: JOSHI is my Melbourne electronica, synthesiser-obsessed alter ego. I’ve been playing the guitar since I was 11 when my parents reluctantly bought me an electric guitar—only to hear me play Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes for approximately three years straight. My folks have a bunch of photos of me playing a plastic guitar when I was a wee boy.

I distinctly remember waking up early every weekend to watch Rage and listen to all the great bands of the 90s and rock out on my toy guitar—Radiohead, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Incubus, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Rage Against The Machine. I guess, after that, it was more or less the internet that raised me musically—learning all my guitar chops from YouTube and finding indie and electronic music I loved on MySpace. 

I shared mixtapes and USBs with my friends at school before we formed our first pop-punk band when I was about 13. I first dipped into production in early university, when I could finally afford to buy a Mac on my Officeworks part-time salary with a bootlegged version of Logic Pro. Once I started recording and producing at home, I became obsessed with it, both for my indie music and my electronic experimentation. Music has allowed me to build a second family in my band Manorism, but it also has allowed me to express myself and my story. 

BB: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your new single, Too Late? What are you hoping your listeners will take from it?

JOSHI: It’s a fun track! The intention was definitely to make something fun and DJ-friendly so that I (and all my buddies) could use it in our DJ sets at house parties. I remember sending Bianca (aka Joe Sephine) the first cut of the song a year or so ago, and she sent me back a vocal line on it which immediately lifted the whole demo and made it feel like a song. She has such a great ear for melody and hooks (let alone having a great voice and tone). We still work together on music, and who knows, there could be more coming from the two of us! We really just wanted to create something for our friends to dance to.

BB: Your new solo project JOSHI is a shift from your roots in indie, dream pop. What drew you to the world of electronica for your solo project? And how would you describe your sound?

JOSHI: I have always been a bit of a club rat—it probably started during my time in the UK, where I worked as a DJ on a student radio station. Learning to DJ there, going to parties and finding other creative people were instrumental in me getting more into electronica and dance music. I feel like Manorism is an expression of my songwriting, and I’m so grateful to be able to do that with integrity. JOSHI allows me to make fun dance music and geek out on synthesizers. They both scratch different itches.

BB: Your band Manorism is described as a multicultural melting pot. And you’ve mentioned that Bollywood classics have influenced how you think about music and songs. Could you elaborate on this?

JOSHI: It’s probably more unconscious than being front of mind. Mum and Dad always had Bollywood classics playing through the house growing up. It has never been my intention to make fusion music, but I’m sure it finds its way through somehow.

I think my heritage has influenced my music in a sort of long-winded way. Being the son of two Indian immigrants in the 90s meant we grew up in the deep Melbourne suburbs. Living so far from everything meant we had to find things to fill our time, and music was the perfect outlet for me.

The isolation of suburbia instilled a melancholy and introversion in me that I’ve never managed to escape (lol), which is probably what manifests both in Manorism and also JOSHI (albeit in an arguably more dance-y way). 

BB: What advice would you give to other South Asian Australian artists who aspire to make music—especially those who are balancing their passion for music with a full-time job?

JOSHI: Do what you gotta do. Most of us don’t have the liberty or security to fall back on generational wealth or equity, so I can completely understand following a stable career despite feeling like you have something to express artistically.

I’d argue that not doing music for a paycheck allows you to do it with more integrity (which is why everyone who is successful in music usually comes from money). I guess unconsciously, my goal has been to make myself financially stable, so I can continue to express myself in music without feeling like I need to compromise on what I’m making by making it commercially viable.

My advice is not to be overly critical of yourself either way—I think finding a ‘purpose’ or ‘succeeding’ in your life or art is a consequence of hyper-individualism and capitalist pressure to monetise something for it to be successful.