Artist:Josh Backwell

Josh grew up in the small Victorian surf coast town of Breamlea and picked up a guitar at an early age when he fell in love with music. Early punk rock influences came from the Fat Wreck Chords school of NOFX, Bracket, Mad Caddies, Propagandhi and the like, as well as the vastly different folk sounds of Paul Kelly, The Waifs, David Hosking, Loren and The John Butler Trio. After playing a few small punk rock gigs at and around school, Josh began to feel the pull of the acoustic world and was moved to write politically charged folk songs. He even wrote and performed a song as part of his Year 12 English assessment on the stolen generations. Josh's remarkably honest lyrics draw inspiration from social, political and environmental issues around the world, blended with his own personal experiences to create a unique, powerful sound varying from upbeat reggae/dub to the raw, emotional sounds of folk/rock.