LA producer known as Josh Legg pens big summer anthems that go down smooth
Josh Legg, who produces and performs under the name Goldroom, grew up on the water spending summers boating on the Atlantic coast before sailing to the warmer waters of southern California in 2009. Goldroom made his mark as a musician in 2013 with the single “Fifteen,” a slick tropical house anthem featuring the Aussie alt songstress Chela. He stuck with this formula for this summer’s EP , a collection of dynamic, cabana-electro house tracks, each with a different female vocalist singing lead. Where Goldroom breaks new ground is with his video production; instead of traditional music videos, he creates 15-minute film novelas that he posts on Snapchat.
Hometown: Boston
Current residence: Los Angeles
What prompted you to draw your artist name from the Gold Room in Echo Park? Was it the free tacos?
The Gold Room, before it became kind of a Dodgers bar, was pretty much exclusively a place to go and get stupid drunk and do some soul searching. I did a lot of that there, and I just happened to be there trying to think about starting a solo project, and I had enough Tecates that the bar beat me. I always knew I wanted to pay homage to this city, and to the Southwestern United States. And it all feels like one giant golden room to me. It all made sense.
What are your top four favorite songs about Los Angeles?
- Elliott Smith “Angeles”
- Tupac “To Live And Die In LA”
- Tom Petty “California”
- Ryan Adams “La Cienega Just Smiled”
Since you grew up boating and sailing, does that make you a fan of Michael McDonald?
Being in boats and in and around the ocean is a huge part of my life. I've been sailing since I was a baby, so yeah, I've been known to enjoy some yacht rock from time to time. The funny thing about that whole scene was that they were way ahead of their time from a production standpoint. Some of the writing is pretty cheese, but those records sound amazing. I'd collaborate with Michael McDonald in a second.
What is different about creating for Snapchat? How do you make it work for your art?
Well, there was a significant technical challenge in releasing the videos in vertical format, but besides that, it was just about collaborating and finding a common ground.
How did the short film concept come about for your music videos?
That idea was present from day one with the Snapchat guys. We knew we could do something special and unique given their platform. I loved that the videos would be released a day at a time, and that people would have to wait to see what would happen next.
You're a multiinstrumentalist. I'm curious about how your songs come together. Does it start with your guitar in hand? Is it a blank file on Apple Logic?
Every song comes together so differently! For instance, "Fifteen" I wrote start to finish alone on acoustic guitar. Later on I built the electronic track and got Chela to sing it. Conversely, on “Embrace,” I had an instrumental in place but no vocal ideas. George Maple and I got into the studio together and sat across from each other and wrote the song. When I go into a session, I never have any idea how it’s going to go. We might write an entire song without touching a computer, or we might dive into a folder full of instrumentals I've written. That’s the beauty of songwriting. Every song is different!
Your recent work features various female vocal leads. Tell me about this direction.
That's totally not by design. I'm always writing songs with my own vocals. I've definitely fallen in love with the process of cowriting songs with singers and songwriters though, and so I think my last EP really just showed my total infatuation with that time. For my album, there will definitely be a lot more male vocals, including my own.
Are you aiming for more variety on an upcoming fulllength record?
I'm definitely trying to push my sound forward, and I truly want to create something cohesive and special that tells a story. I have no interest in making a record that’s the best 12 "singles" of the 45 songs I've written. I want to make the best album. For me, everything has been about getting better at being true, and writing honest and meaningful songs. I'm making dance music, but I really believe I should be able to pick up an acoustic guitar and sing the songs for you ... if they don't stand up that way, they're not good enough.
