Dylan Joshua is an unreleased artist, with cultural icon potential. Coming from humble beginnings, Dylan believed that working through the system, and obtaining financial security through the means of a job was life’s purpose. While learning chemistry at the university level, and ignoring his abilities as a poet and musician, he slowly started to perceive the negative effects of the ideals he and most of the middle class believe in. Seeing people neglect their own abilities and seek potential to “fit” the role which would obtain financial security did not sit well with his artistic mindset; he saw it as a loss of humanity.

Isolating himself away from the corporate/university culture, Dylan decided to drop out. Though self-taught, he quickly learned the recording process; giving him the ability to manipulate his sound at the production level, while also merging his poetic outlook and lyrics, contributing to his unique style. While still being attached to people on their own path through the regular system, Dylan finds it difficult to appropriate his actions with their supposition, yet he understands their actions and confusions.

Giving a unique, yet relatable and honest perspective, he created a project named “Alternate” meant to depict his decision for choosing an alternate path in life, and the trials and tribulations that follows this choice. In addition to being a musician, Dylan Joshua created an aesthetic set in the year 2085 to capture the visual representation of the Alternate project, giving it branding potential ready for the world to soak into.

Not only being one of the most conceptually deep and fascinating projects I have come across over the years, Dylan Joshua and ALTERNATEº have taken things to a whole other level…not the next level…but a “whole other level” with the accompanying website; which is an experience all on it’s own…even without being aware of the music or the concept.

Now that we’ve established the amount of thought, depth, creativity and imagination that went into this EP from Toronto based master craftsman Dylan Joshua, do I really need to go on about how great the music sounds?

Or how clean the production is? Or the pristine mixing job? Or the well crafted songs that grab you deep down and resonate your senses? The memorable melodies? The well shaped low end frequencies?

Essentially, if you dig soulful, R&B with a modern, futuristic aesthetic then I can guarantee you are going to embrace ALTERNATEº with open ears. I don’t even listen to much modern R&B (I’m a classic soul guy) but I am thoroughly enjoying (and am highly impressed by) this project.

From the concept to the visuals to the sounds, ALTERNATEº is a winner! It’s probably the best R&B project I’ve seen yet. At least in my 8-9 years writing about independent music and independent creatives.

In the below interview, I chat with Dylan Joshua about challenges, motivations, technology and more.

Find links, the full Q&A and music below.

Be sure to visit the website for the full experience (opens in new tab).

Where are you from and what style of music do you create?

I’m from Toronto, Canada and to be honest I’m not sure exactly what style of music I create. I’d like to think it fits somewhere in the hip-hop and r&b world but I don’t really care too much for labeling it. It’s more of an “it is what it is” approach.  

What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?

Experimenting. The most fun I have is when I’m editing my vocals and trying new plug-ins and finding the best way to bring out the feeling in a track. The fact that there’s so much I don’t know keep me excited to keep moving forward.

How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific? 

It’s our first release, so in terms of goals or accomplishments, its really just getting the music around and hearing feedback from people outside of our immediate circle. 

Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?

Well obviously standing out is a big obstacle when your coming up, especially now. But I got some advice from a good friend telling me to just focus on the music, and the music will speak. So hopefully he’s right. For me technology has helped a ton. I have the ability to write, record and edit from home. Producing graphics or and visual content has never been easier with the technology we have at our disposal. So I think it’s on us as the artists to push technology to its limits and create the dopest shit we can. Even if it takes going the extra mile. It’s time for a new renaissance. 

What was the last song you listened to?

SAFE- Diamonds. 

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

Lol well I had a bit of addiction to making CDs when I was a kid. I used to love making different different mixes of different vibes and putting it them in the right order so that the CD flowed well and I wouldn’t have to skip songs. They were all downloaded Mp3’s so I guess both. 

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

Now your asking the hard questions… lol. So I have both Apple Music and Spotify. I think Apple music is more visually pleasing to use, so when Im in the passenger seat or if I’m running the music manually i’ll use that. Spotify’s algorithm is crazy though so if I’m driving I’ll usually just let that run.   

Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?

The best place would be on Instagram: @alternate2085