Fresh for 2024, and fresh off the release of his first two singles, emerging Miami-based indie soul artist JOSCH (A.K.A. Josh Schwartz) showcases his musical palette with the funk and soul-filled track, “Fantasies Don’t Cry.”
Drawing from a wide pool of inspirations ranging from funk, R&B and electronic music to soul, pop and lyrically-based folk music, JOSCH spent 2022 touring with Zac Brown Band (on their “Out In The Middle” stadium tour) and currently tours with rock and roll legends Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew (on their “Remain In Light” tour) as well as disco funk band Cool Cool Cool, and of course indie funk band Turkuaz.
“The song “Fantasies Don’t Cry” combines bombastic horns by The Horn Section, funky 70’s clavinet from keyboardist Swatkins (Allen Stone, Scary Pockets), a driving back beat and Schwartz’s soulful vocals dripping with attitude. “Fantasies” is the frustrated confessions of a scorned lover who gets kicked to the curb without warning, replaced by someone else.
“The concept that one’s reality, the model of their universe they put together in their mind, can be shattered instantly by getting broken up with, that has always fascinated me. Whether it’s getting dumped, losing a friendship, getting fired from a job, we’ve all experienced some kind of event that makes us question our perception of others, of ourselves, even our own sanity. It makes you wonder if you can really trust your senses and your gut. My aim with “Fantasies” was to channel that heavy mass of emotions in a way that brings a bit of levity to the situation. I think having me sing the vocal melody in unison with myself but an octave higher lends some Scissor Sisters-esque sassiness and humor to what could other wise have been a pretty dark song.”
Josh Schwartz
The opening query, “Did I miss the meeting when you decided to dust me off the shelf?” moves quickly into the accusatory “your heart is fleeting, your mind will mirror someone else.” So begins the journey into the mind of the heartbroken and confused protagonist that waffles between deep hurt, bitter resentment, and a begrudging acceptance of the fact that “romance, to me, can die.”
While he recorded the song during the pandemic, Schwartz wrote “it “Fantasies” while in college, around 2007, for acoustic guitar. He says of the song: ““Fantasies” is one of the few songs I’ve written that’s stuck with me for years. When I showed it to [then-bandmate] Dave Brandwein, who was producing my album, he loved the soulful, R&B style choruses but hated the verses. On the demo, I played the song on acoustic guitar and swung the rhythm slightly, which Dave rightly pointed out sounded a bit cheesy, kind of 90’s pop rock. The verses just didn’t match the vibe of the chorus, or of the other songs for that matter. But I wasn’t ready to give up on the song.” So Brandwein and Schwartz put their heads together and realized that with a few tweaks to the chords, beat and instrumentation, they could transform the song into a 70’s-inspired funky strut. That’s what it would’ve remained were it not for the insistence on Schwartz’s part that they add horns.
“Dave suggested I shy away from adding a ton of horns, since our funk band at the time, Turkuaz, was horn-heavy and this album was my chance to show another side of me. While most of the other songs I recorded don’t have horns, I knew in my gut that this song needed a powerful horn arrangement to musically portray the depth of emotions the lyrics deal with.”
To make that happen, Schwartz tapped his longtime bandmate Chris Brouwers, who masterfully arranged the 6-piece horn arrangement heard on “Fantasies.” The horns you hear are courtesy of The Horn Section, which in addition to Brouwers on trumpet and Schwartz on baritone sax, includes Greg Sanderson on alto and tenor sax as well as Grammy and Latin Grammy nominated trombonist Quinn Carson. “I was worried it was going to be too much with six horns, but Chris’s arrangement beautifully dances around the guitar line and vocals and doesn’t get in the way. It was the final element the song needed to really pop.”
Mixing all the myriad elements of “Fantasies” was no easy feat, but mixing engineer Kyle VandeKerkhoff was more than up for the challenge, and mastering engineer Joe Bozzi made VandeKerkhoff’s mix shine. Rob O’Block, as with Schwartz’s first two singles, was heavily involved in the production of the song. His menacing, synthetic-sounding guitar playing evocative of The Black Keys soars in the instrumental sections, and he added other guitar and electric bass parts along with drum-replacing and other production elements that helped the song go from demo to done. Dave Brandwein, former leader of 9-piece funk band Turkuaz of which Schwartz was a part, produced “Fantasies.”
JOSCH has previously released “Icarus In Motion” and the chilled-out “No Beginning, No Conclusion,”
“Fantasies Don’t Cry” one of the many powerful songs featured on JOSCH’s forthcoming full-length album, Ethereality. Listen below.
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