Back to my Roots
by Josh McCausland
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Dear Josh, Thanks for accepting our invite for this interview. What current projects are you dedicating most of your time now? I am focusing mostly on composing recently. After finishing up Anamnesis, I decided to shift more into composing as I really enjoyed it and it was a really cathartic venture for me. I just recently released an album of piano pieces called, Unaccompanied Melodies Vol.1. Who are some of your contemporary filmmakers whose output has impressed you? |
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Donald Glover, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, and The Coen Brothers, and Douwe Dijkstra are some people currently whose work ethic along with style really impress me.
What do you mute or ignore to remain focused on your list of tasks?
Usually people, I have to really isolate myself sometimes to really focus on what I am doing.
What other elements, in addition to the visual aspect, do you see as essential in making a film that is impossible to ignore?
The score. I may be bias here since I am transitioning into composing. But, I have always felt drawn to the score. Even from a young age I always felt the music really puts you in the world of the film. It’s really everything. And it has been the starting point for my last two films.
How do you define the entirety of projects that you’ve accomplished through your company iQ flicks? What have you set your sight on doing with your team of iQ flicks in the not so distant future?
I have accomplished a lot in my iQ journey. It started as a way to hide my name and freelance under a company. Then it turned into a place for me to shoot music videos and partner with labels and production companies.
Now, I see it almost as an art house hub. Where it’s a place that showcases dancers, short films, and media of all sorts that focus on one thing; the human condition. That’s the goal for the future as well, to keep highlighting media and content that focuses on catharsis.
You’ve said that art is your way of continuing to exist as a child in the living room sketching on the floor with no restrictions or worries. But as an adult what are your restrictions and worries you try to fight and win over through your creative work?
I don’t have a lot of restrictions thankfully. But I guess now that I think about it, I have always used art as a way of coping or dealing with emotions. It’s always been a compadre to the sadness that I was experiencing. So, I used any sorts of media to express what I was going through. May it be, film, music, painting, photography or drawing, I always found a way to express it through art.
I’ve struggled with a lot of personal trauma through art and found music to be incredibly therapeutic for me. The only struggle I have had personally is separating art from depression and anxiety. It’s sometimes really hard for me to create when I am really happy. That may sound crazy, but art was my crutch for so long. It was my drug. I used to need it so heavily. I used to need to write, or compose to hold myself together and now I just sort of want to because I love it.
What do you mute or ignore to remain focused on your list of tasks?
Usually people, I have to really isolate myself sometimes to really focus on what I am doing.
What other elements, in addition to the visual aspect, do you see as essential in making a film that is impossible to ignore?
The score. I may be bias here since I am transitioning into composing. But, I have always felt drawn to the score. Even from a young age I always felt the music really puts you in the world of the film. It’s really everything. And it has been the starting point for my last two films.
How do you define the entirety of projects that you’ve accomplished through your company iQ flicks? What have you set your sight on doing with your team of iQ flicks in the not so distant future?
I have accomplished a lot in my iQ journey. It started as a way to hide my name and freelance under a company. Then it turned into a place for me to shoot music videos and partner with labels and production companies.
Now, I see it almost as an art house hub. Where it’s a place that showcases dancers, short films, and media of all sorts that focus on one thing; the human condition. That’s the goal for the future as well, to keep highlighting media and content that focuses on catharsis.
You’ve said that art is your way of continuing to exist as a child in the living room sketching on the floor with no restrictions or worries. But as an adult what are your restrictions and worries you try to fight and win over through your creative work?
I don’t have a lot of restrictions thankfully. But I guess now that I think about it, I have always used art as a way of coping or dealing with emotions. It’s always been a compadre to the sadness that I was experiencing. So, I used any sorts of media to express what I was going through. May it be, film, music, painting, photography or drawing, I always found a way to express it through art.
I’ve struggled with a lot of personal trauma through art and found music to be incredibly therapeutic for me. The only struggle I have had personally is separating art from depression and anxiety. It’s sometimes really hard for me to create when I am really happy. That may sound crazy, but art was my crutch for so long. It was my drug. I used to need it so heavily. I used to need to write, or compose to hold myself together and now I just sort of want to because I love it.
You’re located in Chattanooga, TN. How’s life in Chattanooga for a young filmmaker and an artistic person?
I actually just moved recently. I now live in Chicago. Chattanooga was a great town to grow myself in. I am still in contact with a lot of my friends there and will continue down the road because Chattanooga has some of the neatest artists/friends that you will find.
I am excited about Chicago and I am brand new, so I don’t have too much to report. But, I am very excited to get connected to other artists in the city here.
Do you identify more with a particular group of artists or movements or do you see yourself as doing your own thing while keeping an eye on past, current, and ongoing developments in the art world?
I consider myself sort of a fly on the wall. I love to observe the world, reflect on it, digest it, and then spit it back out into something creative. I often create for myself and my own catharsis and in turn people connect with it because they have experienced something similar.
I am really connected with all sorts of groups within the creative scene but I would say I stay pretty unbiased in my own personal label.
What has made you smile today?
My girlfriend, Yuri. As cliché as it sounds. She’s been such a wonderful part of my life for the last 5 months. We act like big kids but treat each other like mature adults. It’s the best. She just perpetually makes me smile with her love and support. It’s really foreign and at the same time so familiar with her.
We have two ongoing campaigns and it would be awesome if you gave us your take on both or either one of them?
#BeatTheBlues features works and confessions of artists and non-artists about experiences and ways to beat the blues and rise from the depth of darkness?
I could talk about this for days. (haha… no literally) All of my art typically comes from art, much like Gandalf, leading me through the Middle Earth in my mind.
#WhatMatters A paragraph about what matters to you the most at this point in time and how does your work and life reflect that.
At this time, love means a lot to me. It always has, but in the last years I have focused on self-love and growth and learning what it truly means to take care of yourself. In the last half year, I have learned what it means to love someone else and have it reciprocated.
I am working on an album of guitar songs right now called, “Back to my Roots”. It is an album that is back to my home musically, which is guitar and most of the songs I wrote while on facetime or in proximity of my girlfriend, Yuri. Most of the songs have this feeling of relief and joy that none of my art has ever had before her. It’s a really wild juxtaposition from my usual work, but I enjoy it and appreciate it.
For more about Josh and his art, you can visit iqflicks.com and joshmccausland.com