JOSCH: New Single “Fantasies Don’t Cry”
We have loved covering the musicians of Cool Cool Cool in their many contexts: formerly with Turkuaz, currently as their own amazing disco funk group, supporting Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew with their Remain in Light project, and branching off with exciting side projects such as The Horn Section and vocal work by Shira Elias and Sammi Garett. Cool Cool Cool are about to hit the road on their Never Noticed tour.
Earlier in 2023, along came a great single “Icarus in Motion” by Miami-based indie soul artist JOSCH (a.k.a. Josh Schwartz). Schwartz is a Cool Cool Cool family member and is one third of The Horn Section as well, playing baritone saxophone and singing. He is exploring yet another avenue with JOSCH, whose second single was the chilled-out “No Beginning, No Conclusion.”
Now JOSCH has splashed new single “Fantasies Don’t Cry” all over the inter webs, and we are here for it. From his press release:
The song combines bombastic horns by The Horn Section, funky ’70s clavinet from keyboardist Swatkins (Allen Stone, Scary Pockets), a driving backbeat, 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 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.”
JOSCH notes:
“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.”
While he recorded the song during the pandemic, Schwartz wrote it while in college around 2007 on acoustic guitar. “‘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 ’90s 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 ’70s-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 six-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 nine-piece funk band Turkuaz of which Schwartz was a part, produced “Fantasies.”
Got all of that? Schwartz is a titanic force to be reckoned with, vocally and on baritone saxophone and now with alter-ego JOSCH. We are looking forward to his upcoming album Ethereality. Based on the first three tracks from the album, we are hungry for more!
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