Joshua Payne - musician/composer | by Phillip Istomin
One of the most attractive qualities in another person to me is uniqueness. I seem to gravitate towards the people who possess it. Uniqueness comes in many forms, but the best kind is an authentic uniqueness, not something that has been strategically thought out. It’s natural, it is a part of a person’s DNA. Joshua Payne oozes uniqueness. He’s an extremely gifted and creative musician & performer with a distinctive personal style that’s impossible to ignore.
I believe the first time I saw JPO (Joshua Payne Orchestra) was at the Red Door martini bar downtown a few years ago. I loved the covers they performed, completely unexpected, done in a jazzy way you weren’t used to hearing them. I remember thinking “man, this guy lives and breathes his guitar!” It’s clearly his comfort zone, his home. And yes, he does make funny faces when he plays, but it’s not nearly as creepy as John Mayer.
Joshua was born and raised in Alpine, Utah. The amount of musical DNA that runs in the Payne family is staggering. Josh’s father, Marvin, was a singer/songwriter, his mom, Niki, played the violin, and his brother David is the leader of an incredible band of his own called The Red Bennies. "My dad taught me some chords on the guitar when I was 10 years old,” Joshua explains. "I always wanted to be a guitar player. I loved listening to my big brother's tape collections of new wave bands. One day I heard my brother's rock band, Red Bennies, and that had a profound effect on me. My mom used to drop me off at the local university and I would hang out all day listening to music and learning from kind students & professors.”
Josh never had any formal training or schooling, it seems he was just born to play the guitar, so he figured out how quite naturally. His band, JPO, made an name for themselves by playing almost every night for years in the downtown Salt Lake City in the streets, bars, and hotels. They cover a lot of hip hop, which is a big part of their aesthetic and identity. The music is performed in such a fun and sometimes unexpected manner. The band is also visually entertaining. The players are all dressed in suits (Josh wears Tom Ford when playing in fancier establishments). Josh has a beautiful custom amp that sits behind him, and there’s a projection of old Mickey Mouse cartoons on the kick drum. Lately Josh has been using his iPhone to create all sorts of interesting vocal and guitar effects, it is really fun to watch.
The JPO is splitting time these days between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. I’m happy to see them get some gigs and attention in a bigger market, but I’m also thankful that they always find their way back home to play frequent gigs. Make sure to catch them next time they’re in town, it’s truly a performance you won’t want to miss.