Joshua Radin
Joshua Radin – He is Here
by Abraham Kuranga
Originally posted October 20, 2006.
Joshua Radin – a native of Shaker Heights, Ohio – was the born under a lucky star. He is an avid painter and was working towards a career as a screenwriter, but he virtually hit the jackpot early last year with a completely different art form.
He was never on a musical quest to be a rock star. He wasn’t even trying to get a record deal. As a matter of fact, he was quite content being a writer. Although it wasn’t making him much money, Radin was happy living in New York City and doing what he loved.
Then the proverbial light bulb went off in his head. He decided to parlay his writing talent into composing songs. “I have always been a music junkie,” says Radin, who is a fan of Bob Dylan, Elliott Smith and Paul Simon – to name a few. “I was barely getting by, because it’s expensive to live in New York City.”
He decided to hook with a friend to write and record some songs. Armed with a guitar, his trusty pen, and a pal’s bedroom, Radin recorded a slew of songs in a few months. Using his connections from screenwriting, Radin sent off a few songs to some Hollywood producers.
The rest is literally a fairytale.
“We sent the song ‘Winter’ in to some producers and in a few weeks it was on the show Scrubs.” The Zach Braff-anchored sitcom spawned Radin a huge fan base. “The response was crazy,” explains Radin. “We had to put a website together that night. The next day, it was shut down with too much traffic.” Braff (who went to college with Radin, but never really knew him) became a huge fan, making sure to get more of Radin’s songs on the soundtrack to his film The Last Kiss.
The mania really set off for Radin after another boudoir recording wound up on one of television’s most popular shows, Grey’s Anatomy. When the song “Closer” aired on the ratings juggernaut labels starting calling and mailing boxes of money to Radin’s apartment. Well, not really – but the bidding war had begun. “After Grey’s, my music got an unbelievable response,” says Radin. “People from all over the world were emailing, and asking where they could get my music.”
If Radin’s rise to the major label ranks sounds meteoric, that’s because it was. “If you would have told me five years ago that I would be here, I would have told you that you were crazy,” says Radin.
After the dust had settled from the major label scuffle, Radin landed in Columbia Records’ corner. “I told Columbia that if they could get me an opening slot on [Bob] Dylan’s tour, I would sign with them.”
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