Interview: Joshua Jensen Sings With The People

The up-and-coming folk-pop artist shares his feelings on musical production, storytelling, and career ambitions fresh off his ACL debut.

Written by Valeria Mota

Photos courtesy of Sterling Rip

Last month, American singer-songwriter Joshua Jensen burst into the pop scene with a unique blend of genres and instrumentation, bringing together a background in classical jazz with a love for Appalachian folk and old-world ballads. After an 11-song set on the last day of Austin City Limits’ second weekend, Jensen established his potential as a genre-bender. Afterglow sat down with Jensen after his early Sunday set to discuss his approach to songwriting, instrumentation, and what’s to come.

Afterglow: You played your first ACL set today. What's going through your head? How are you feeling?

Jensen: Man, it was so fun. I just had a blast. I feel like there's so much more to come from my band and the music we're gonna make together.

Your sound pulls from all types of genres, like blues, Appalachian folk, and old-world ballads. What's your genre-bending process like?

I always start with like the initial ingredients of a thing, and I love the way different genres use vocals. I love gospel vocals, the three-part harmonies. I love the drums and the folk kind of music, very organic drums. But then effects, I'm like, I want an orchestra in the background, too. I'm always thinking, “What's gonna make me feel connected to the story?” And I kind of go from there. Honestly, genre-bending or not, it's more about the story.

When do you know if a song should be more raw and acoustic versus having that full orchestra production that you were talking about?

I think I just let the song lead. Usually, the first initial idea of a demo that you have is always going to be the best. It's always that first draft, the rough draft of something, [that] is usually the best. I kind of just try to get that first wave of the paintbrush down, and then the painting kind of unfolds from there naturally. It's a very, very natural process for sure.

You recorded for a bit in Arizona, and then you went back to New York. What did you learn in Arizona that you felt like you had to unlearn once you got back to New York?

I think New York is kind of its own Wild West in a way, and it's kind of the Wild West of the world in a beautiful way. And I think there's so many beautiful cultures and people there that have inspired me. I live in Harlem, which is like a very historic area. There's a lot of really important history that has happened there. I've always been very inspired by a lot of Black American genres, and I can't say more good things about the experiences I've had in New York City and the ways it's shaped me. I feel like coming from Arizona, you unlearn some of the thoughts that you have about what, you know, a good family looks like, what a good life looks like. There's so many different types of ways to find joy, and it’s definitely expanded my horizons to live in New York.

You left a classical background in jazz, and then you ended up making your own sound in pop-adjacent roots music. What do you think still shows up from that classical background in your music today?

I really love strings so much. I love the orchestra. I love to think about mixing a track … There's usually like 50 to 60 tracks, and you're gonna think about the EQ of each of those. You're gonna want them to blend together, and that's what the early composers were doing. They were making these massive sheet music charts, basically pre-mixed, so that when it comes out of the orchestra, it's already the exact balance. So I'm always trying to tap back into Ravel, a beautiful composer I love, and Rachmaninoff, and I think sonically I want to do a lot more with orchestras in the future.

Where did your single, “People Were Singing,” start for you specifically? Was it a lyric, a melody, or a story you wanted to tell?

I think it started with the guitar riff in open D, which is just very simple. I loved the repetition of that and how it felt and how it swung. And then I just wrote about this dream that I had about someone I used to know and used to feel close to, and the feeling of remembering a song that you used to know, and jumping back into the memory of a song, and then kind of forgetting it over time, and being like, "Oh man, what was that song that I loved so much?” And I think that's kind of like losing somebody, you know? That's kind of the story.

What's your process for translating your songs and genre-mixing into a festival set? 

I love crafting a set as if it's kind of a story, and I want each transition to flow evenly. Even like different keys, I'll try to build a way to bring us into the next key. But then sometimes it's nice to just have a surprise out of nowhere. And I'm still crafting. Like today, we played 11 songs, and it went by so fast; we could have gone for two hours. We'll continue to find the magic and share it with the people.

Last question: What's next for you? Where do you go from here?

I'm so excited for what's to come. I feel like I've been preparing for a long, long time, and then in the last two months, a lot has happened very quickly, and I think it'll continue. I'll continue to try to stay warm and grounded, and just love people along the way. It's cool to build a team of people that you love and who love you and want to support you, and I couldn't be more grateful for my band and who they are.

You can follow Joshua Jensen on Instagram and TikTok and stream his music on Spotify and Apple Music.

This interview has been minimally edited for clarity and length.