“I like styling people because I almost always see them differently than they see themselves.” — Josh Madden


Josh Madden works in so many outlets that it would be difficult to fit all his roles on a business card: DJ, stylist, radio show host, writer, photographer, videographer, music producer, and marketer. To spare the typesetter, he usually goes with the simple yet effective “producer.”

Madden produces words, images, videos, fashion, music (currently Freaky Franz’s album), playlists, magazines (he is director of content and marketing at Nylon Guys), an internet radio show (First Person With Josh Madden), and more. He is the great and powerful Oz of downtown culture, working behind the scenes on art you’ve seen but probably not known was his creation. When his younger twin brothers, Joel and Benji Madden, were in the spotlight with their band, Good Charlotte, Josh was behind the glass, masterminding their look and working in the marketing department at their record label, Epic Records.

“I like styling people because I almost always see them differently than they see themselves,” Madden says. In cultivating the look or sound for a person or a brand, you need more than creative chops; you have to be able to prove to the other party that your influence will enhance their stature. The relationship is akin to a tattoo artist providing a piece of art that somebody else wears. “That tattoo is your name; it’s right there forever,” Madden says. “A tattoo isn’t a couple of extra pounds you can lose. A tattoo is going to be out of style in three years if you aren’t careful. I bring art to the shop, but I take all advice as to placement, and the art is always redrawn to work best in respect to its position and location on my body.”