Under-the-Radar: Joshua Judges Ruth
A small, under-the-radar, band has uplifted from the depths of Las Vegas. They have only just begun their journey through the music scene. ‘Joshua Judges Ruth’ only started six months ago and has already headlined a show. At each show a couple new faces spring up and sometimes ‘Joshua Judges Ruth’ has more fans then the headlining band. Even though the band has only just begun they are already accumulating more fans then local bands that have been around for years.
The band formed through friends knowing other instrumentalists who wanted to be a part of a band. Aaron Kasarjian, bassist, and Brandon Qualls, drummer, met through church, they were both on the Worship Team and shared the passion for music. Qualls met Alex Hanson, guitarist, while he was working at Gold’s Gym. Hanson worked at the juice bar and then he joined the band. Hanson knew Malfabon, lead vocalist, from church and Jon knew Brett Hardin, guitarist, and they knew he was drug free so they invited him into the band. “So basically it’s a story of everyone knowing everyone and bringing them into the band.” Qualls said.
The name ‘Joshua Judges Ruth’ comes from Qualls’ dad. His dad saw the three books, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, in the Bible and thought they would sound cool together. He believed that if either of his children were in a band, the band would have the name ‘Joshua Judges Ruth’, hence the name ‘Joshua Judges Ruth’. “[My dad] promised us $100, which he has not given us.” Qualls said.
‘Joshua Judges Ruth’ consists of five straight edge Christians who want their passion for music heard. They do not consider themselves a Christian band but Christians who have formed a band to do what they love to do and be a positive influence. “A lot of our lyrics deal with our walk with Christ and our everyday life.” Kasarjian said. “We are trying to be a positive influence.”
“Br00t4L” is how ‘Joshua Judges Ruth’ describes their music. Each band member is influenced by something different then the other which makes their sound unique. The music is not limited to one genre of influences but a plethora of influences from both hard core and soft core music. Their musical influences range from Dashboard Confessional to Iron Maden to Circa Survive; this range gives them the opportunity to reach out to more people and not just one group. “We try to put our musical influences together and make it sound like something we’d want to listen to or a show who we’d want to see.” Kasarjian said.
“We had a very good start, very exciting at the time,” Hanson said. “But now that we look back on it, it was definitely our worst performance, but people still loved it. It got our foot in the door.” The excitement the fans showed made them more excited to be performing their first show. Also, the band sold over one hundred tickets for the show. In two years ‘Joshua Judges Ruth’ hopes to be on the road full time, and signed—if not signed then looking for a label. “We want to be triple platinum,” Hardin mused. “And on tour in Britain.” Hanson added.
On Nov. 22 their EP was released. This consists of a compilation of songs they have written over the past six months. The third song ‘Put Your Nikes on and Just do It’ was written before Malfabon and Hardin joined the band, but everything else was written by the full band. “[Put Your Nikes on and Just do It’] is our catchiest song, our fans love it; they know every word.” Hanson said.
‘Joshua Judges Ruth’ already has a trademark: “Oh Snap!” The song ‘Oh Snap!’ is the last song they play at each concert, and their favorite song to perform.
“In:Aviate was our favorite show because that was where we were respected the most.” Qualls said. They received a lot of support from a bigger, more well-known band, and were treated like human beings not just another small local band.
“Keep playing the music you love to play. Don’t ever compromise your music.” Hanson advises small garage bands. “Don’t let bigger bands and their influence on the scene be your influence on the scene.”
‘Joshua Judges Ruth’ is a group of goofy guys who have come together to do something they all love to do. Even though they each have a different influences and backgrounds of music, each person adds their own style into each song. They are hardworking guys who want to be heard and to set a good, positive example for the music scene.
