Josh Fountain

Walk down a main street or through the grounds of a high school and everyone’s plugged into their MP3s and iPods. Yes, we are all carrying our music. Everywhere we go. For most music is the staple diet of teenage social life; for a select few, music is more than just a meal.

And Josh Fountain is a meal ticket – and more.

In seventh form, everyone around him seemed to be preparing for university and had plans set in stone. Yet Josh didn’t feel that was right for him. Instead he followed his passion. “Even though I didn’t take it as a subject at school, music was the only thing I was really passionate about so I decided I would try and make a career out of it! I didn’t want to go to Uni just for the sake of it and spend 3 years doing something I didn’t enjoy.” Josh had the guts to deny the norm and follow a career more difficult than any other to break into. And now he is one of the essential parts of New Zealand’s own Kidz In Space with Ashley Hughes and Matt Neshat.

Josh Fountain has been on the NZ music scene for a number of years now. He has worked with many different artists, the most famous being Smashproof and Young Sid. Of course most recently he has become part of the groundbreaking hip hop/pop/dance band, Kidz In Space. Their single, Downtime has been a huge hit and the music video is doing just as well.

But the musicians’ world isn’t as glamorous as it looks. “People tend to think that because they see our videos on TV and hear our songs on the radio that we are rich and famous but unfortuantely that is not the case…yet”. It’s taken a lot of passion and hard work from Josh, and the other band members, to get the music out to the public. And of course, being in New Zealand, makes it even harder. With such a small population, and so many wishing to make it in the entertainment industry, it’s only the very best and most dedicated who make it.

Fortunately, Josh has proven to be just that and is one of the recent artists making NZ music better than it ever has been. His single, Downtime, was recently the C4 song of the week, showing that our local music can compare to the rest of the world. “The hardest part is making songs that can stand up to those done by international artists. We have to use what we have, we don’t have the big budgets that big artists have but NZ can still make world-class stuff.”

He is currently working on finishing the album for its upcoming release. Unlike the other band members, you’ll find him writing his music away from outside influences. His favourite band is N*E*R*D and most recent loves include Drake, Paramore, Miike Snow and Gorillaz. “Took me a while but I think Lady Gaga has won me over as well.”

Josh has made it so far. Already. And he is sure to go further with his obvious talent and love for music.

Once the album is out, the next thing on his list is to showcase Kidz In Space to the rest of the world. Oh, and he would love to work with Kid Cudi or Andre 3000, “If you could sort that out for me, that would be great! Cheers!”