Strange Kids’ Josh Balz swears he has no idea who he is

Ever since leaving Motionless In White three years ago, Josh Balz was on a roll. He created the Strange And Unusual oddities stores and the goth coffee (goth-ee?) shop Steamy Hallows. His love for design had him creating club events in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and restaurants in Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles. Balz didn’t leave music behind, though. Strange Kids, his bi-coastal partnership with Jake Simons, released their first music two years ago. Balz’s life seemed hectic, but he was getting things done. 

Then the pandemic hit. He had to close his stores and rethink everything. Fortunately for us, he turned back to music. Last week, Strange Kids released two new songs, “Laguna Vanity” and “Hate To Love.” The new music brings Balz’s Lewis Carroll-meets-Beetlejuice vibe back to the forefront.

Read more: Josh Balz talks life after Motionless In White

Balz is currently navigating some rocky psychic waters. He’s had to furlough the staff of his various businesses and curtail building projects due to the pandemic. Earlier this month, his father passed away. The only solace he had was being creative. “We couldn’t have a viewing. I didn’t know what to do,” Balz says. “I couldn’t cry so I just kept working and working and working. I’ve been trying to figure out the pandemic, a death and the closing of businesses and the reopening of them. I’m trying to figure it all out.”

We think he will. When AltPress catches up with Josh Balz, he’s making a home delivery to a Strange And Unusual customer.

In addition to making home deliveries of Strange And Unusual items, you’ve been busy building restaurants and designing club nights. Which is why this is the first new Strange Kids music in, what, two years?

JOSH BALZ: I was pretty busy in 2019. Strange Kids just got swept under the carpet. It was like, “OK, OK, OK, I’ll get to it.”

Read more: ‘Harry Potter’ inspired cafe joins Josh Balz’s oddities shop

We heard you recorded the new songs in Massachusetts, in a studio built in a trailer.

It’s a place called Railroad Park Recording. There are two studios. One that’s a [detached] garage and another that’s connected to it that’s a camper. Every time I go there, the owner Kyle Therrien says to me, “You want the nicer space?” And I say, “No, I want the camper.” I want that experience in my life. I want that so much. 

I grew up in a trailer park, I grew up camping with my dad. It was one of those situations where it makes sense for me. You have way more fun and way more memories. People are going into all these high-end studios. All the studios compete to see who has the nicest one. I love comfortable spaces. But there was something about turning back the clock and having that nostalgic view on life and recording songs in a camper. Just having that experience you wouldn’t normally have. Kyle’s making a name for himself, and in the next year, I think it’s going to be a hot spot for recording.

The new songs are a departure from “Wind Me Up.” It’s still you, but they come off more introspective.

They’re very different songs. I just decided that I want Strange Kids to be what it wants to be. Jake Simons—the darker half of Strange Kids—lives on the other side of the country, so there’s a lot of FaceTiming and back and forth. He’s the cloaked, hooded figure in the back. We’ve been friends for a very long time. He’s a very intelligent musician and does a lot of the programming.

Read more: See why Motionless In White’s first photo shoot was so awkward

Who are you going off on in “Laguna Vanity”? 

“Laguna Vanity” seems like a condescending song. One of the big lines is “You don’t know who I am.” That pertains to me talking to myself. I have this inner light inside myself that keeps burning. I don’t know how to put it out or if I should extend that flame. If I ever did a music video, it would probably be me screaming into a mirror, because I don’t know who I am or what I want. That’s why you see me doing 900,000 things. The cafe, the stores, the salon, the restaurants, the music, the events. I haven’t found who I want to be. I know who I am, but I don’t know who I’m going to be. Sure, I love what I do, and I’m very happy about what I do. But I don’t know how far I will go. Maybe I’ll sell everything and move into a castle deep into the woods with my animals, you know?

“Hate To Love” has the same kind of semi-anguished stance. 

I’ve grown up having issues with relationships. I have a different love language than most people.  I mean, I am a very emotional and affectionate person. That song is about me hating that I love love. It’s the hardest part of me because I am such an emotional person. I try to hide all my emotions like a big strong man. [The song] doesn’t even pertain to relationships; it pertains to family, too. 

My father just passed away a few weeks ago. And I was going through this dark period of not being sure what I wanted in life. The main thing is that I just wanted to make my father proud. We weren’t the closest when I was growing up, but we [did connect] in the last few years. He was very proud of Motionless, the Strange And Unusual and Steamy Hollows. The last time I saw him, we were doing curbside [service] at Steamy Hollows. He told me, “Stay safe. Or I’m going to kick your ass.” The day before he died, he called me up and asked if I was OK. It struck a chord with me. It was obviously after I wrote the song and put it together. 

Read more: Josh Balz partners in goth-themed restaurant chain Beetle House

I’ve had years and years of not understanding how to love. And then I realized that I am a very loving person of everyone around me. I have a hard time showing that. And that’s what that song is about. Having a relationship with someone, a family member or a partner, whoever, without telling them you love them.

That’s a feeling that’s more common than people might think. We heard that after doing your club night at various locales, you’re planning on opening your own club in Scranton.

I’m signing the lease soon. It’ll be a goth-alt bar with a little tapas restaurant. It’s so the noir community can have a place to go. Mostly around us are bars that lack the atmosphere for the alternative—the dark. I’ve been having these Noir Nights events, and they sell out every time with hundreds of people. So there is a community here looking for places to go. It’s not a big place. It’s small, but it will have my creative touch. I’ll have a door policy. You can come in with your latex and leather. No baseball caps. I don’t want douchebags hanging out in my bar.

Read more: Interview with Motionless In White’s Josh Balz, co-owner of the Strange And Unusual oddities parlor

Nothing says optimism like building a new club during a pandemic.

We were going back and forth with the attorney on FaceTime trying to figure it out [during the pandemic]. I’m like, ”This sucks.” We’re going to shoot for late summer, early fall. I want to take the time to do it right. I’m creating a drink that’s just based around smoke. It’s awesome. And even when we serve food, it’s not going to be just garbage on a plastic plate. It’ll be true Josh Balz fashion. Over the top for absolutely no reason. I’ll be opening a new restaurant with my partners in BeetleHouse in L.A. as soon as the pandemic ends. We were supposed to open April 1. There’s lots of things happening this pandemic is ruining.

Are you pursuing anything else in this seemingly forever downtime?

I just found an old ’70s tour bus. I bought it for no reason. It was really cheap. The guy was getting rid of it, and I was always looking for an RV or a camper for an adventure in the woods somewhere. It looks like the Almost Famous tour bus. It’s awesome.