If you believe as josh pan does that time is an illusion, it’s easy to imagine his future, elderly- self meditating on top of a mountain deep in the Chinese countryside dreaming his present life as 28-year-old, OWSLA-backed DJ, producer, singer, song-writer, and multi-instrumentalist. The Taiwan-raised American turned LA-transplant has an insatiable need to create, turning virtually everything he touches into a work of art from which we can always expect the unexpected - be it a DJ set, painting, film scores, graphic design, or a Kanye West fan-fiction.
“Every action you take has the potential to set off a chain reaction in any direction, one smile or being kind to one person might just change the course of history,” josh says in his gentle, earnest tone at the top of his 2018 Diplo ‘n Friends mix. His own musical chain reaction was set off after discovering both the piano and his own voice at age 4, graduating from classical piano lessons and the church choir at 13 to making hip-hop beats, graffiti and breakdancing. Thus, the groundwork was laid for josh to step fully into his creative potential, and after becoming a finalist on a Taiwanese singing competition, he turned down a 360 deal and enrolled as an undergrad student at Penn State University, eventually moving on to a graduate program at Parsons in New York City.
According to josh, he does not “make music” so much as he channels what’s in the ether, inviting the as-yet unknown music of the universe to come through him. Since being discovered in 2015 by Skrillex and 88rising’s Sean Miyashiro, josh has put out a grip of music including the It G Ma Opus (ft. Anderson .Paak), Banned From the Motherland (ft. Jay Park, Simon Dominic and G2), Give It to Ya (ft. ABRA) and his breakout 2017 hit with X&G, “nowhere.”
Over the years, he’s performed at countless festivals and venues all over the world and toured with many notable acts including Getter, Ekali and Graves. Not limited to one genre or style, josh never fails to surprise his audience with eclectic dj sets flowing between futuristic bass, house music and everything in between. When he’s not making and performing music and art, josh pan is working on the blockchain-based music start-up he co-founded, Matter.