Album Notes

Josh 86’s eighth album, titled Pressure, is his first solo venture. The music spans and combining genres ranging from island folk to acoustic ballads, and includes inevitable slap of rock. These private and sometimes quiet songs, written over seven years, never found a home in either of his bands and eventually became its own collection. Over ten musicians contributed to the album including three different drummers. Found instruments such as a belt and thermos made their way onto the record. The result is something at once subtle and complex.

The last decade of Josh 86’s life is largely a matter of public record. Most notably he has, along with his two bands 86 List and Black Square, written, performed, and produced an astonishing seven records. From his first cd release at 19 with the 86 List to the ever more frequent mainland tours he has been going on with Black Square, it is safe to say not many days have gone wasted on Josh. In 2003, at 21, he co-founded a non-profit titled Unity Crayons whose sole purpose is to bring art and music to an all age community. Dedicated to maintaining a live music scene on Oahu, he has promoted literally too many music events to count, and been instrumental in bringing many national acts to the islands. He has served as the musical director in multiple local theater productions of Hedwig. As an actor he has appeared in Lost, Baywatch, and the up coming One Kine Day. Josh has been truthfully ubiquitous, and simultaneously underground.

He formed his first band, 86 List, while still in high school in Kahuku. "86 list" refers to a list in a coffee shop where he worked on the North Shore. It was a list of things missing from the shop’s inventory, and alludes to the 86 List's songs' lyrical content, which concerns things that are missing or should be missing from society. They played their first show in 2000, when Josh was 18. The band has been a committed to the raw politicism that can be found in the bands that have most influenced Josh, such as The Clash and Operation Ivy. Disaster, the bands first cd, was released in 2001. It has been followed by Our Neighborhood (2003), Tattoo (2004), and 86 (2007).

Growing up in the islands, rebel reggae music inevitably found a place in Josh’s musical template. Black Square was formed in 2002 and quickly started incorporating a diverse set of influences. The band’s name comes from the Russian artist Kasimir Malevich’s 1915 painting of a black square. The theory behind the painting was that the material matter of art was without value and the true value in a work of art was in the feeling it expressed or provoked—without leading the viewer to a specific object based reflection. Black Square seeks to do the same with their music. Packed with a three piece horn section, their musical complexity and genre bending tendencies have gathered them an eclectic and energetic fan base. Black Square has released three cd’s, End the Cycle (2004), One Glass of Water (2007), and Onward (2008). The have toured the mainland five times in the last two and a half years and their music has been featured on FUEL TV, Billabong Surf, Heavy Water, Wahine Blue, Board Stories, and most recently in the feature One Kine Day.