Joshua Strawn (born 1976), known professionally as Joshua Strachan, is a songwriter, record producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist.

Biography

Joshua Strachan was born in a suburb of

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moine ...

, grew up and currently resides in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is ...

. In Roanoke, Strachan met Jeremy Kolosine of the seminal

electropunk Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrume ...

band Futurisk, who was then playing in a

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

band called Shakespace. Kolosine invited Strachan to join the band, first as a keyboardist, then later as a vocalist and guitarist. Simultaneously, Strachan took up playing bass in the Diplomats. Shakespace recorded one EP and one album, while the Diplomats recorded an EP which was mixed by R.E.M. veteran

Mitch Easter Mitchell Blake Easter (born November 15, 1954) is a musician, songwriter, and record producer. Frequently associated with the jangle pop style of guitar music, he is known as producer of R.E.M.'s early albums from 1981 through 1984, and as fron ...

. The Diplomats disbanded before the EP was released, and Shakespace disbanded during the recording and mixing of their last album. Strachan moved to New York in 2004, and upon meeting bassist Ryan Rayhill, the two formed

Blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...

. Blacklist released several recordings on

Wierd Records Wierd Records is an American independent record label, founded in New York City by Pieter Schoolwerth in 2006.Jonathan Garrett, "The Wierd Records Social Club", ''Village Voice'', May 26, 2009Access date: May 29, 2009. "Wierd" was also the name ...

, a label which Strachan was closely involved with from its inception until its conclusion, not only as an artist, but also as a co-thinker and writer. He joined Religious to Damn in 2009, and after Blacklist announced an indefinite hiatus from recording and touring, formed

Vaura Vaura is an American experimental band from Brooklyn, New York, United States, formed in 2009 by singer, guitarist and primary songwriter Joshua Strachan and featuring Kevin Hufnagel ( Dysrhythmia, Gorguts) on lead guitar, Toby Driver (Kayo Dot ...

in early 2010 with

Kevin Hufnagel Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

Toby Driver Toby Driver is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter, producer, label owner, and artist, best known for his work as the leader of the experimental bands Kayo Dot and maudlin of the Well. Driver creates the majority of the album artw ...

and Religious to Damn drummer Charlie Schmid. In mid-2012, Strachan launched Azar Swan, a collaboration with Zohra Atash, the lead singer and primary songwriter of Religious to Damn. In 2013, he started a solo project called Vain Warr. In 2016, while living in New Orleans he launched the record label

Primal Architecture Records Primal may refer to: Psychotherapy * ''Primal'', the core concept in primal therapy, denotes the full reliving and cathartic release of an early traumatic experience * Primal scene (in psychoanalysis), refers to the witnessing by a young child o ...

which has released music by acts such as Kelly Moran as well as his own projects. Azar Swan's album, ''Savage Exile'', was released in 2017. In the summer of 2019, Blacklist reformed to play a festival show in Brooklyn, NY and alluded to a possibility of future releases and performances. In the winter of 2019 Desolation Colony, an electronic project with Justin Vial, played its first show opening for Italian composer Fabio Frizzi in New Orleans. In late 2020, the debut LP by The Red Window entitled ''Afterlife'' was released, a collaboration between Strachan and former Shakespace bandmate Jeremy Kolosine. In mid 2021, Strachan released "Deerstalking" by Meridiane, a project with

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

artists

Pieter Nooten Pieter Nooten (born 22 January 1961 in Oss) is a Dutch musician and composer best known for his work with Clan of Xymox. Music career Nooten's musical career began in the late 1970s. Starting out as the drummer in a local symphonic rock band, ...

Clan of Xymox Clan of Xymox, also known as simply Xymox, are a Dutch rock band from Nijmegen formed in 1981 best known as pioneers of darkwave music. Clan of Xymox featured a trio of singers and songwriters – Ronny Moorings, Anka Wolbert, and Pieter Noote ...

and

Warren Defever Warren Defever (first name often spelled Warn; born April 30, 1969) is a musician and producer, originally from Livonia, Michigan, and now based in Detroit. He is most known for his chameleonic project His Name Is Alive, though he is active in n ...

of His Name Is Alive.

Influences

Due to the diversity of Strachan's musical endeavors, the influences he has cited span multiple genres, including Scott Walker, The Comsat Angels,

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped de ...

and

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instru ...

, the

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh rock band formed in Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (drums, percussion, soundscapes), plus Nic ...

Ulver Ulver (Norwegian for "wolves") is a Norwegian experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album '' Bergtatt'', were categorised as folklore-influenced black metal, but the band ha ...

, Blut Aus Nord,

Comus In Greek mythology, Comus (; grc, Κῶμος, ''Kōmos'') is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. He is a son and a cup-bearer of the god Dionysus. He was represented as a winged youth or a child-like satyr and represents ana ...

the Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock music, rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stop ...

Prurient Ian Dominick Fernow is an American experimental musician, poet and multimedia artist. He is best known for extreme music released under the stage name Prurient, as well as numerous other aliases including Vatican Shadow and Rainforest Spiritual ...

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan. The band's androgynous look and increasingly ...

and

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

Lyrical themes

When being interviewed for Blacklist in 2009, Strachan described his lyrics as "militantly

humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

". Though lacking in many overt references, their album '' Midnight of the Century'' alluded to superstition and religion in almost every song, encompassing all three major

monotheism Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxf ...

s as well as

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the the ...

and

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...

which Strachan has called "political superstitions." In an interview for Vaura in 2019, Strachan referenced

cosmic horror Lovecraftian horror, sometimes used interchangeably with "cosmic horror", is a subgenre of horror fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is named ...

, saying, "The nightmare visions that inspired Sables are simultaneously of an omnicide, and of an end to humanity while human beings still continue to exist materially. Humanity being the word we tend to use to refer to our kindness, our ability to understand one another and allow for the existence of others, our ability to be graceful and make peace.""Hear Avant-garde Post-metal Act Vaura Channel Scott Walker On New Song "Basilisk'"
''Revolver Magazine'' Retrieved 2020-02-19

Non-musical endeavors

Strachan has written about his background in political action and organizing, from a brief stint with

ACORN The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera '' Quercus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and bo ...

in the early 2000s, to being employed by the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

and the

Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Ne ...

. While attending The New School, Strachan was active with two philosophical organizations, the Nietzsche Circle and the Foucault Society, both created by

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ca ...

scholar Yunus Tuncel. He also befriended his professor

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...

out of a shared interest in the history of the secularism of the left, and the two were in contact until Hitchens' death in 2011. While living in New York, Strachan worked full time as a social media analyst for ad research firm Competitrack, and part time as a freelance journalist. His writing on politics, music, and culture has appeared in ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'', '' Talkhouse'' as well as in feminist publications such as '' BUST'', and ''Slutist.''

Discography

With Shakespace

*''Air Sign Orange'' EP (2000, Happy Couples Never Last) *''This Sleeping Heart'' album (2001, self-released)

With the Diplomats

*''Kindly Put Your Trousers On'' EP (unreleased, 2000)

With
Blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...

*''Blacklist'' EP (2006, self-released) *''Solidaire'' EP (2007

) *'' Midnight of the Century'' album (2009, Wierd Records) *''Disorder'' single (2020, self-released) *''Afterworld'' album (2022,

Profound Lore Records Profound Lore Records is a Canadian independent record label founded in May 2004, which "began as the 'hobby-like venture' of a few friends but, over the past six years, the label has evolved into a one-man enterprise, shaped a distinct 'aestheti ...

)

With Religious to Damn

*"Falls Down Again" single (2010, M'Lady's Records) *''Glass Prayer'' album (2010, M'Lady's Records) *"Lovely Day" single (2012, self-released)

With
Vaura Vaura is an American experimental band from Brooklyn, New York, United States, formed in 2009 by singer, guitarist and primary songwriter Joshua Strachan and featuring Kevin Hufnagel ( Dysrhythmia, Gorguts) on lead guitar, Toby Driver (Kayo Dot ...

*''Selenelion'' album (2012,

) *''The Missing'' album (2013,

) *''Sables'' album (2019,

) *''Vista of Deviant Anatomies'' album (2022, Primal Architecture Records)

With Azar Swan

*"Amrika" single (2012, self-released) *"Lusty" single (2013, self-released) *"In My Mouth" single (2013, Pendu Sound Recordings) *''Dance Before the War'' album (2013, Handmade Birds) *''And Blow Us a Kiss'' album (2014, Zoo Music) *"Variations" remix 12" single (2015, Handmade Birds) *"The Golden Age of Hate" single (2017, Primal Architecture Records) *''Savage Exile'' album (2017, aufnahme + wiedergabe) *''The Hissing of a Paper Crane'' album (2019, Primal Architecture Records) *"Empire Grave" single (2019, Adult Swim)

With Vain Warr

*''Deadline Season'' EP (2016, Primal Architecture Records) *"Shadow of the Thresher" (Vain Warr + The Harrow) single (2020, Primal Architecture Records) *''Mausoleum Saturnalia'' EP (2021, Primal Architecture Records) *''Maleficia Carnalia'' album (2021, Primal Architecture Records)

With The Red Window

*''Afterlife'' album (2020, Primal Architecture Records)

With The Harrow

*"Beyond Stars" (2021, Self-released) – Saxophone performance

With Meridiane

*"Deerstalking" single (2021, Primal Architecture Records) *''To Walk Behind The Sun'' album (2021, Primal Architecture Records)

With Klosterfriedhof

*"Cry Havoc Through the Silent Groves" single (2022, Primal Architecture Records)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strawn, Joshua Living people 1976 births American multi-instrumentalists Musicians from Des Moines, Iowa