Introduction
Joshua Ramsay is a Canadian singer, songwriter, producer, recording engineer, actor, and the lead vocalist of pop rock band Marianas Trench.
Early life
Josh Ramsay was born in Vancouver, BC. He went to high school at Magee Secondary School from which he was later expelled due to his heroin addiction. He has dual citizenship in the US and Canada. He grew up in a family filled with music, where his mother was a vocal teacher and his father owned a recording studio (Little Mountain Sound Studios). Ramsay inherited that love of music by initially starting his own solo career at the age of 14. He decided later that he needed a supporting band. Ramsay got together with his sister, Sara Ramsay, and formed the band Ramsay Fiction. After ultimately not working out, Ramsay joined high school friend Matt Webb in hopes of creating a new band. They found Ian Casselman in an ad in the newspaper, who introduced them to Mike Ayley, Ian's roommate at the time. The four members went through many names before finally setting on Marianas Trench.
Marianas Trench and work as a songwriter and producer
Ramsay formed the band Marianas Trench in 2001 and released their first self-titled EP, which contained songs that would appear on their limited edition video single, the Say Anything EP, their second EP Marianas Trench, and debut album Fix Me. The band later signed with 604 Records, through the assistance of owner Chad Kroeger and co-owner Jonathan Simkin.
He is also a successful producer and a songwriter for a wide array of artists including Carly Rae Jepsen, Nickelback, 5 Seconds of Summer, Simple Plan, Faber Drive, and Emily Osment. Josh plays 13 instruments, and often plays all of the instruments on the songs he produces for other artists. Josh Ramsay was featured on the Carly Rae Jepsen song "Sour Candy" in 2008.
Some of his most successful works include "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen, which was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards; "Hit Me Up" by Danny Fernandes; and "Fallout" and "Haven't Had Enough", the latter two by Ramsay's own Marianas Trench.
Ever After, the third studio album from Marianas Trench, went gold in its first week.
He provided vocals for the opening theme song for The Hub's Transformers: Rescue Bots.
On April 22, 2013, at the annual Juno Awards, Marianas Trench won the 2013 Juno Award for Group of the Year.
On October 23, 2015, their fourth album, Astoria, was released. This album includes the singles "One Love", "This Means War", "Who Do You Love", "Shut Up and Kiss Me", and "Astoria". In 2017, they released "Rhythm of Your Heart."
On March 1, 2019, their fifth album, Phantoms, was released, including singles such as "I Knew You When", "Only The Lonely Survive", and "Echoes of You."
Personal Life
On March 20, 2020 Josh posted a photo of himself and Amanda McEwan to his instagram feed announcing their marriage.
Discography
The discography of Marianas Trench, a Canadian pop rock band, consists of four studio albums, two extended plays, 18 singles and 18 music videos. The band have been certified multi-platinum by Music Canada for their CD and digital download sales.
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | |||
| "Hush" | 2011 | 90 | non-album singles |
| "We Should Be Friends" | 2018 | — |
Featured singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certification | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | ||||
| "Sour Candy" |
2009 | — | Tug of War | |
| "Hit Me Up" |
2011 | 22 |
|
AutomaticLUV |
Other appearances
| Year | Title | Artist | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | "Beautiful Blue" | Holly McNarland | Home Is Where My Feet Are | Backing-vocal |
| 2009 | "Give Him Up" | Faber Drive | Can't Keep A Secret | Songwriter |
| "Forever" | ||||
| 2010 | "Wavin' Flag" | Young Artists for Haiti | Backing-vocal | |
| "Witness" | Jakalope | Things That Go Jump In The Night | Songwriter and backing-vocal | |
| "Hate Love" | Girlicious | Rebuilt | Songwriter and producer | |
| 2011 | "Passenger Window" | Melissa Rae Barrie | Breakaway | Songwriter and producer, drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals |
| "Call Me Maybe" | Carly Rae Jepsen | Curiosity | Songwriter and producer, guitars, bass, backing vocals | |
| "Landslide" | Matt Webb | Coda and Jacket | Songwriter, producer, mixer, programmer, drummer | |
| "Stage I Remember" | Songwriter, producer, backing-vocal, mixer, programmer, drummer | |||
| 2012 | "Guitar String / Wedding Ring" | Carly Rae Jepsen | Kiss | Songwriter and producer |
| "Drama Queen" | Suzie McNeil | Dear Love | Songwriter and producer | |
| "Tough Love " | ||||
| "Take Your Shirt Off" | Anami Vice | Are You Serious | Producer | |
| "Here's to the Times" | By Starlight | Antics | Producer | |
| 2013 | "Save Your Breath" | Jessica Lee | "Carried Away" | Songwriter and producer |
| "Stop and Go" | ||||
| 2014 | "Satellite" | Nickelback | "No Fixed Address" | Songwriter, backing vocals |
| "She Keeps Me Up" | Songwriter, backing vocals, guitar | |||
| 2015 | "Story of Another Us" | 5 Seconds of Summer | Sounds Good Feels Good | Songwriter |