Joshua Burnside

There is a man in an attic somewhere at four in the morning. He is shaking knives in a biscuit tin, stomping and shouting, pitch bending, coding, looping, plucking banjos and squeezing accordions, layering sound upon sound like a demented chef creating a monstrous cake, a swirling dream of colours and visions of the apocalypse, visions of death, and love and stories of people trying to carve out their place in the universe.

Indie folk artist Joshua Burnside is something of an anomaly. With a brooding, powerful sound echoing artists of places afar and time long gone, his enthralling craft strives towards an aesthetic as much as visual as it is sonic. Balanced with a diverse palette of sounds, Burnside deftly blends alt-folk and elements of the Irish folk song tradition with South American rhythms and Eastern European influences, whilst introducing synthetic and found-sounds, synths loops and crunching beats to create a stormy world that shifts and swirls perspective like a lingering lucid dream.

Joshua released his debut album ‘Ephrata’ in 2017 via Quiet Arch Records. Filled with deeply personal stories of characters he had encountered and hearts that had been broken, it illustrated a man at odds with the world before him. A critical and commercial success, the unique mix of Irish traditional, European folk and Americana music that fuelled the emotional core of his inaugural release earned Joshua the ‘Best Album’ award at the Northern Irish Music Prize.

After his time spent touring ‘Ephrata’ around the UK and Ireland, Joshua returned home to his native Belfast, determined to capture the sounds, sights and stories he encountered on his travels. A deluxe EP (‘Wear Blue Bells In Your Hat If You’re Goin’ That Way’) and live album (‘Live At The Elmwood Hall’) emerged earlier this year as he continued to experiment in his studio. Joshua is currently using post-punk and electronic recording methods to push the boundaries of his beloved folk music and make a sound unique to the 21st century, one that echos the uncertainty and humanity of the times. Joshua’s second album will be released in 2020.