Joshua Welshman - Interview - 2025

Hello Josh, thank you for taking some time to answer some questions. We last spoke to you about 14 years ago!!!!  So I am excited to catch up a little!  For those that do not know, back then I was asking you questions about your one-man-band, Autonomy.  You were 19 and attending college to study music recording.  Can you put into words how it feels to be successfully making a living with music?

Cheers man!  Yes a lot of things have happened/changed since we last spoke for sure.  It definitely feels fulfilling to be making my living through music, especially after looking back at how long ago I fixed myself upon this path.  I'd be lying if I said it was easy, it's definitely a difficult thing to be fully freelance working in music as both a touring musician with DS and an audio engineer in today's economy.  But at this point I don't even know what else I could be doing with my life haha.

In the mentioned interview, even back then, doing vocals was your main passion.  

Could you have ever imagined where you are now?! 

Excerpt from 2011 interview:

CR -  You have said before that vocals are your passion in Autonomy, has this always been the case?

J -  Definitely. Prior to Autonomy I was the vocalist for an RI based deathcore band called “Death Haven” for about 5 years. Had a lot of good times in that band and it definitely fueled my passion for vocals.

I never would have imagined doing vocals with Defeated Sanity, that's for damn sure!  I'm still humbled to this day to have the opportunity to play with these guys.  Back then I wasn't one to project or think ahead of how things might be, I just went with the flow and worked as hard as possible on whatever I was doing at the time, and doing vocals wasn't even something I was doing much of when I got the call from Lille to fill in on that first US tour I did with Defeated Sanity.

What was happening for you in between Autonomy and joining Defeated Sanity?

I had become extremely focused on my career as a studio engineer.  I was halfway through university when I sort of hung up Autonomy to focus on my studies, and all of my free time went to school and other relevant things: I was Vice President of my school's chapter of the Audio Engineer Society in my sophomore year, and President my senior year.  I was also interning at recording studios while actively in school and working, it was a very busy time for me.  I had been in New York working at a studio for around 6 months when Lille hit me up to fill in on what would be my first tour with the band in the Summer of 2015.  And as I mentioned before I wasn't actively doing vocals in any projects or even active in the scene in any way during those years.

Ok, so going from not really being active in the scene to filling in on vocals for defeated sanity? You’re making people hate you bro!  Haha no but really what gives?  Had you recorded things for the band?  Did you already know Lille?  I assume they weren’t die-hard Autonomy fans?!  (But maybe)

I knew Lille through the scene already from my solo project 'Autonomy' which he actually enjoyed the last demo I had released (Fun fact: The first riff on 'Condemned To Vascular Famine' from our latest album is actually a rehashed riff of mine from the Autonomy song 'Renounced Posterity'). 

Sometime in 2011 I believe, I did a vocal cover of 'Consumed By Repugnance' on Youtube that he really liked. HERE. Then I ended up doing another cover just for him to check out of 'Blissfully Exsanguinated'  HERE which is much more technical vocally.  He was really impressed and said he would hit me up if he ever needed a vocal fill-in.  I said yeah, okay lol.  And yet, here we are!

"My lyrics vary from song to song, but are mostly influenced by the human race and religion and how both suck haha." - Josh - 2011

- Is this still accurate?

To a degree yes haha.  Though with Defeated Sanity, Lille and I write the lyrics together, and there is usually a very specific lyrical concept in mind for the album.  The Sanguinary Impetus is about violence, sexuality, and the general brutality that occurs on a daily basis in the animal kingdom.  Chronicles of Lunacy is all about mental disorders and delusions.  These are the two albums that I've contributed to both vocally and lyrically.

ACCELERATING THE ROT

Depopulate our precious space of virulent and rancid filth

Offering society

Nothing more than revulsion

By blade dispensed. my self-imposed vocation

To extinguish pre-desecrated beings

One by one, I decimate the miasmic masses

Stooped and slumped in the dark

Excrement made flesh

Living decomposition brought by injection and inhalation

Every dose an artificial revival of vitality

Inebriation diminishing their suffering and my satisfaction

Unfulfilled as my deeds yield such low-scale destruction

I must purge them all of their pseudo-existence

Chemical inclination lethally utilized...

A fatal addition to the formula

Their noxious supply - I infiltrate

Suspended between life and death

Their self-inflicted decay - I accelerate

A toxic armageddon - I initiate

An all-consuming pestilence

Wrought by my hand

Amongst the needles and smoke

They writhe and choke

A squalid domain of disgrace liberated

I've become the sole redeemer of humanity

Can you walk us through that first tour filling in, what it was like?  Crazy nerves at first?  Feeling on top of the fucking world?

I was definitely nervous, I went into it as prepared as I could be.  It was my first time ever being on tour so the personal stakes were very high for me.  We had a few days rehearsing beforehand at Matt Kilner's place where I actually met a lot of people I'm still homies with today.  The tour was a really positive experience, we all got along really well and the fans were very receptive to my performances, so I ended up sticking around.  Lille had auditioned a handful of other vocalists while I was still doing live gigs with the band, but ultimately he was happiest with what I was contributing.

Then how soon after that were you officially asked to join the band?

I believe it was July 2016 that I was announced as a full-time member of Defeated Sanity, so about a year after that first tour I did with them in 2015.  There were a lot of shows in that year between the first tour and becoming full-time so I definitely had put some work in.

I think it is safe to assume that you enjoy being in the band and are a good fit?  We are not in for any surprises in that regard are we?!

I do enjoy it of course and am always humbled to be playing alongside some of the best musicians in Death Metal.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't ever feel that sort of 'Imposter Syndrome' or second guess my value of contribution to the band, but that's also the curse of anyone who's an artist or creative type.  With the time and work I've invested in the band and the positive feedback on the albums and performances I've done, plus knowing I give everything I have on every performance, it's a good reminder that what I'm contributing to the band has value.

So we officially know you now as the full-time vocalist of the legendary Defeated Sanity.  A lot of fans may also know you are a recording engineer.  Is that the correct title?  Can you list some artists that you have worked with?  

It is! Or audio engineer generally speaking, though I'm specifically a studio guy.  I've worked with almost every kind of music under the sun, and with some fairly big artists like David Crosby, Norah Jones, Marc Broussard, Cecile McLorin Salvant, etc.  Specifically in Death Metal I've worked with Brodequin, Emasculator, Embodied Torment, Virologist, and more/more to come haha.

Can you give the fans a few names of vocalists that you looked up to and were/are inspired by?

Some of my biggest inspirations growing up were George Fisher, Joe Horvath (Circle of Dead Children), Matti Way, Chris Barnes, AJ Magana, Ruben Rosas, and plenty of others but these are the ones who come immediately to mind.

Can you name a few album that are NOT any sort of metal that you really love?

 I listen to all kinds of stuff so this will be all over the place and tough to nail down haha.  I love Classical/20th Century Classical music a lot so some are more of extended pieces/symphonies and things like that.  I love Mahler's 5th Symphony, Giacinto Scelsi's 'Uaxuctum', Gyorgy Ligeti's Requiem, Penderecki's 'Utrenja', Chopin's Nocturnes, I could go on and on and on.  I'm a big fan of Hozier's first self-titled record, Bon Iver's: For Emma, Forever Ago, Jedi Mind Tricks: Servants In Heaven, Kings In Hell, Porcupine Tree: Fear Of A Blank Planet, Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell, Melody Gardot: The Absence, just to name a handful of favorites from all over the spectrum.

Well Josh, thank you so much man!!  I've been following you in one way or another since the birth of Autonomy.  Cannot wait to see what happens next for you!!  Good luck with everything!  Any last words?

Always appreciate the support my friend!  Knowing I have people who've known me and have supported what I do for a long time definitely helps keep me going when times get tough (and times get tough when you're 100% in music as a profession) haha.

AUTONOMY DISCOGRAPHY

JOSH'S FIRST SHOW WITH DS

A RECENT DS PERFORMANCE

OUR 2011 INTERVIEW WITH JOSH

DEFEATED SANITY BANDCAMP