Josh Sweiven of North Hollywood on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Josh Sweiven and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Josh, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
This question feels extremely relevant to my life. I’ll do my best to articulate this properly:

For me I think it’s both. For so long I was solely doing music and was so intensely focused on walking a path that I had dreamed up for myself when I was a teenager, which is a time in life where you’re naive and big life decisions like building a life, raising a family, etc. are abstract concepts because they feel so far away.

I really had that tunnel vision for a long time, and it wasn’t until I edited one of my own music videos that I found this whole other creative pursuit that I had never even really considered for myself. It’s interesting… most of the time you’d imagine yourself wandering until you find a path, but for me it was the exact opposite. I needed to walk that path to wander elsewhere. And that’s not to say I’m entirely done with music at this point, but editing has brought me places in the last few years that I couldn’t imagine prior.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hey I’m Josh Sweiven and I’m an editor/songwriter

Last we checked in was in 2021 & I’m going to try to sit with that & fight the existential dread. (I’m only half joking) A lot has happened in that time.

As a musical artist (Glooms) I put out a joint EP in 2022 called “therapy.” with my long time friend and former bandmate, BabyAK. It was the last thing I’ve released musically, and potentially my last under the Glooms pseudonym. To me, it feels like a proper ending. I did a lot of self growth and healing using music as an outlet in my 20s, for better or for worse publishing my worst vulnerabilities and ugliest sides onto the internet forever. I’m happy to be in a much better place and put the person who I was to rest.

During the “therapy.” project, I found a love for editing video that took my creative pursuits elsewhere. Though I had been working adjacent to film for years, I decided to put my head down and learn everything I could about editing. In my mind I was already behind by starting in my late 20s.

*Fast forward through a lot of long days learning, practicing, being humbled, and spending entirely too much of my life on Premiere Pro*

My girlfriend would say I’m a workaholic now, which is a sentence I never thought I’d ever type out. In 2025, I worked on videos for artists such as Alex Warren (Ordinary/On My Mind/Eternity/Bloodline), Ava Max (Lovin’ Myself), Lizzo (Still Bad/Love in Real Life), Bon Iver (Day One) & many more. I’ve also edited commercially (currently working on the new Dr. Squatch campaign) and have a feature film (SWOON) under my belt.

I have a lot of people to thank for putting so much trust in me. To name a few – Jerry Brunskill, Jake Johnston, Brendan Barone, and the whole team I now work closely with over at Echobend Pictures. I wouldn’t have touched half the projects I have at this point without them, and I can’t express my gratitude enough.

Music has also recently pulled me back in – as I am currently working on an album as the vocalist of a band I recently joined. To any listeners of Glooms – it’s a bit heavier than what you’re used to hearing from me.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
There is one glaringly obvious answer to this question that I would be remiss not to mention.

I grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis & lived in the city for three years before moving to Los Angeles.

The way I’ve seen the city come together to defend their communities in the past few weeks has been more than inspiring. As of the day I’m writing this (1.27.26), we all know what has occurred and have seen the injustices the community has had to overcome. Despite this, the Twin Cities has held its ground against an occupying force and the people have come together in such a beautiful way even when they’ve been so horribly wronged. It’s revitalized and reminded me how proud I am to be Minnesotan, & how we should continue to treat our neighbors with compassion.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Ever since my blood clot and angioplasty in 2014, I’ve become a bit (maybe more than a bit) of a hypochondriac. For example, I remember back to 2017 when my friends were taking a roadtrip up to San Francisco and I decided not to join because the route they planned didn’t have hospitals close enough throughout the journey – in case anything did go wrong. It also used to be a consideration when searching for areas where I was looking to rent an apartment.

I’ve put in a lot of work throughout the years in therapy and through things like meditation to try and remedy this, but honestly I do still struggle with it at times. Especially because my anxiety symptoms manifest similarly to the symptoms of a heart attack.

I’m still learning to manage this, especially when trying to juggle multiple clients with multiple deadlines at a time. It can be really debilitating at times, but working against your own feeling of mortality is a process.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
For a long time I don’t think it was. Back when I was single I remember almost every girl that I dated thought I was going to be some sort of, for lack of a better term, bad boy. I think the persona of a musician and just the darker style I had portrayed online/through my songs gave a pretty big misrepresentation of who I actually am.

I’m an absolute weirdo. Like not in the quirky “haha omg i’m so weird” kind of way. If I would have led with my play time on Runescape those poor girls would have known what they were really getting themselves into.

My mom thinks I’m a catch…

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What will you regret not doing? 
When I was young I was one of those (angsty) teens who thought I’d never want children. Now I think that if I didn’t I would really regret it. There’s something inherently human in the act of nurturing and raising another life.

With that being said, there’s also nothing wrong – especially in the world we live in today where things can feel so bleak – with unsubscribing to the idea of wanting to have children. I also understand why some could even consider it cruel in today’s climate. I just picture myself in the end wondering “what if” if I decided not to and had the means to.

& I try to live my life with as little “what if”s as possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gloomsdayediting.com
• Instagram: @glooms

Image Credits
Meagan Flores