AMPLIFIED

AMPLIFIED: JOSH CARUS AKA MNEMONIC ADVICE

words by Lucy Messineo-Witt | photo by Mia Cherfane

Sounds like: Mac Demarco, Wallows, Del Water Gap, Peach Pit, Warren Zevon Jerks to: Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Wilco

Jerk Magazine: Can you describe your sound?

Josh Carus: I’m inspired by a lot of indie rock, whether it be current or 90s. I’d say that's what I base my sound around the most, but I also have a really heavy focus on songwriting, and I'm definitely influenced a lot by songwriters of the classic rock era. I like to put my own spin, my own energy on a combination of those two elements.

JM: What music do you listen to, and who are your favorite artists?

JC: My all-time musical hero is Bruce Springsteen. I've seen the guy twelve times in concert. He's just an overall hero of mine. I would say my favorite band is a band called Wilco. The lead songwriter and singer Jeff Tweedy is another one of my idols, and I think both of those guys have kinda been who I want to model my music after because I think both of them have had amazing careers. I think they do really well in the limelight, with representing themselves and their fans really well and never embarrassing themselves or their fans, which I think is really important and something that musicians should aspire to.

JM: What was the first song you ever wrote?

JC: When I was really really young, I wrote this song called “Thunderboom.” My guitar teacher had a studio in his house, and he asked if I wanted to record a song in there, and so I recorded “Thunderboom” there. That recording exists somewhere, hopefully buried deep in my music library. I don’t think that’s the first song I ever wrote, but it's definitely an early one. I think it was literally about thunder. I think that just sounded cool to me as a little eight year old.

JM: Do you remember the moment where you

realized music was it? JC: My first ever word was guitar; fact check that with my parents. Music has always been inside of me. It was always just a passion, a goal to be on a stage with a guitar entertaining people. Once I got into high school, I felt that I was mature enough to do so and record [songs] and play them live. I played my first show acoustically, playing my own stuff when I was a junior in high school.

JM: What does your future look like?

JC: Wow, I mean, I don't know. I don't think anybody really knows what their future looks like. I hope my future is continuing to do what I'm doing and hopefully getting more people to listen, more people to connect with what I'm putting out there. I also really look forward to fronting my own band and playing consistent shows with a full rock band because I think that demonstrates my full capabilities not only as a writer but as a performer. So I think just playing more music and hopefully reaching a wider audience.

We're you JerkING or were you JERKed? @jerkmagazine