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Moderator Emeritus Interview: joshmpdx- Owner of Imaginary Authors

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing long time member and Moderator Emeritus, joshmpdx, AKA Josh. I first became aware of Josh due to our both being frequent posters on the Fragrance Forum. Josh quickly became one of the group of members whose opinions I found very trustworthy. While my interest in fragrance has continued to grow, it can't begin to compare to Josh's journey. He left his real estate career, and ventured into the world of niche fragrances, founding Imaginary Authors. I had a chance to talk with Josh at length. Here are his thoughts on shaving, Badger and Blade, the world of fragrance and much more.






What is your name?

Josh




And what is your title?

Owner




What is the name of your company?

Imaginary Authors



Where are you located?

Portland Oregon




When was your business launched?

We launched IA in September of 2012




Who else is involved in Imaginary Authors?

Ashod Simonian




Could you provide a brief history of Imaginary Authors?

Brief? Reeeeeeaaaaaally working hard to make a distinctive, interesting, fun and fully enjoyable fragrance house.




What is the story behind the company name?

I simply wanted a way to talk about fragrance without using naked chicks and celebrity dudes with cowboy hats... which both run pretty rampant in the mass market of the fragrance world. Or the inverse in a lot of the niche world, where minimal branding doesn't help us understand how a fragrance may work or smell. Each of the stories for Imaginary Authors tells about the fragrance itself, the tone and vibe, as well as cities where ingredients are from and experiences that people can resonate with. It's also just really fun.




What do you enjoy the most about the fragrance industry?

I really, really, really, love making the scents themselves. Being able to do it for a living is extraordinary, so I'm grateful the fragrance industry as a whole enjoys following the Imaginary Authors line.




What did you do before starting Imaginary Authors?

I worked as a real estate agent for 5 years and before that in numerous pizza shops. I really still love cooking.




What do you use for inspiration?

Generally the inspiration for the fragrances is the idea of numerous ingredients coming together to form something more than the sum of their parts and a new olfactory experience. For Yesterday Haze, the concept stemmed from an accord I had to make a great fig note. The idea of The Cobra & The Canary was using tobacco absolute and leather and wrapping them around a lemon opening and giving floral touches to the dense masculine notes.




It is well known that scents have a powerful ability to mentally transport us to another place and time. Were any of your fragrances inspired by personal experiences that trigger that kind of response for you?

While Cape Heartache is a bit of an ode to the Pacific Northwest coastline and Yesterday Haze is set in a distinctive place in my mind, the idea of working with the fragrances themselves is what brings them together with a much looser idea of the exact time and/or place. I think making the fragrance as good as possible at the risk of the experience makes a better fragrance every time. And making the best scent possible is the important part for me. For instance the idea of a garage may smell a whole lot better than the actual place itself.




How long does it take to develop a fragrance and how many iterations doesn't normally require?

Generally it's about 40 different versions.




Which Imaginary Author product is your favorite?

I always like the newest thing that's being worked on. Every Storm a Serenade is the most recently released and it's salty sea brine is still really fun to wear, and i'm really proud of A City on Fire, but of course, what I can't get enough of at the moment is the Saffron based fragrance I'm currently working on called Slow Explosions.




What is your best selling product?

This year it's been Every Storm a Serenade, Cape Heartache and Memoirs of a Trespasser.




Which fragrance do you consider the most underrated?

Easily Violet Disguise, I really love it and it's easily the least selling scent in the line both retail and wholesale.




What are your plans for the future regarding products, expansion?

I really want to make sure and focus on the fun part, which for me is making fragrances.




Outside of imaginary author products, what are your top three favorite fragrances?

This changes all the time, I love so many. Parfumerie Generale Cuir d'Iris comes to mind, Mazzolari's Lui, Montale's Cuir d'Arabie, and no joke, I could only wear Le Labo's Oud 27 for a long long time. Tom Fords Amber Absolute is great... I also really love Bruno Fazzolari's stuff, try Lampblack first, Sanae Intoxicants makes an oud that's incredible, and despite the name Eau de Celery by monsillage is super fun and easy to wear.




While serving as a B&B team member, you had previously interviewed other members. How does it feel to be on this side of things?

I don't generally like talking about myself at all, but I really love fragrances and B&B. So it's absolutely an incredible honor.




How was your experience as a team member? What did you personally get out of the experience?

It was life changing and empowering to say the least, I don't mean to be sentimental, but B&B provided an incredible place engage in the details, chat with folks a whole lot smarter than me and provide continuous inspiration for trying new things.




How do you take your coffee?

Everyday, freshly roasted and ground, and black.




When did you join Badger and Blade?

2008, I wasn't a lurker long, I realized real quick that this place was special.




What happened that made you seek a better shave and how did you find Badger and Blade?

I needed to shave more frequently for my last job and I wanted to make it the most comfortable as possible. It wasn't long before I was enveloped in each of the forums here.




What was your initial set up?

Proraso, a too-floopy Vulfix brush and a Merkur



What was it that held your interest?

The quality of the fella's character here and the passion for the small stuff and attention to detail for a better life.




Shave creams or soaps?

Both



If you were stranded on a desert island and could only choose;

3 razors - Le Grelot straight, 40's style SS, Charcoal Goods DE Razor
2 brushes - Rooney 1/1 Super & Shavemac 21mm finest
3 soaps or creams? Which do you prefer, soaps or creams?
Proraso SC, MWF, and that old Charles Tyrwhitt shave cream (send me a PM if you have any! Please!)
3 aftershaves - Now that I make fragrances for a living, it's important that any aftershave I'm using is really pretty fragrance free - Tuff Sensitive, Speick splash and the Italian Floid Blue & Amber




What is your razor blade choice, or do you prefer a straight razor? If you use a single edge or double edge razor, do you have a blade rotation?

I stopped using straights exclusively when I started my own business and even though I still use them, it's less frequent.



What is your strop preference and what is your stropping regime?

I have a couple Tony Millers and his Horsehide and linen is far better than any latigo or horse hide I've owned.




What is your Honing set up?

I have a handful of Naniwa's, a couple coticules along with a couple barber stones which I always felt were underrated.



How often and what is your method for touching up your straights? Favorite finish?

I like a Naniwa finish, but nothing has ever been as finely honed as the razors i've gotten from Rasurpur.de. or [MENTION=3920]professorchaos[/MENTION].




What set-up do use for grilling/BBQ? What is your favorite dish to BBQ?

I have a Weber smoky mountain and love cooking up pork butt and ribs. It's so easy, the reward for the work is like cheating at life. Although now that i'm writing this out, I think i'm going to make a fatty soon that [MENTION=675]Jim[/MENTION] posted a photo journal ages ago. Those are beyond incredible.




Are you currently reading a book?

I just finished Anthony Bourdain's new book Medium Raw for the third time, and now I'm almost done with Not a Fan. I've also got some fun books on painting that I like a lot and have going at the moment.



Do you have a favorite book?

Infinite Jest, The Goldfinch and probably Giles, Goat Boy.
What book would you recommend to others?
This is Water, Steve Martin's An Object of Beauty, and Oscar Wilde's short stories.
Can you name a favorite movie or two? Adaptation, Rushmore, fight club and Delicatessen



With what historical or fictional character do you most identify?

Dennis the Menace




Do have a motto to live by?

I'm not the most important thing there is.




What is the best advice you received by a member at Badger and Blade?

The stuff about life I've gotten in this place is beyond measure, however "it's just shaving" is a good one that seems like a pretty good metaphor in general.




If you could give one piece of advice to someone new at this, what would it be?

Use more lather and less pressure, and be super nice to people.
 
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Josh is a good guy making fantastic fragrances, and I love that he came from Badger & Blade. Josh, for the record, I really like Violet Disguise too, and Memoirs is my wife's favorite. Need to try some of the new ones!! Keep up the good work, bud!


 
Great interview. Josh was a huge influence on me at B&B and he deserves every success! His scents are the real deal.

Glad to hear you are liking Bruno Fazzolari, Josh. You confirm my thoughts. I just happened to wear the last dab of a sample pack of his scents today.

B&B is blessed to have you steward this forum, Mike!
 
Thanks for the kind words. Keep an eye on the fragrance forum over the coming couple of weeks, as there is more to come from Josh and IA.
 
I've always enjoyed the interviews in the past. Interestingly, Josh has been the interviewer before, and I cribbed many of his questions. It was fun to see him on this end of things.
 
Yes, thanks for the interview. I bought a set of IA samples a while back. My favorites are Memoirs of a Trespasser and The Cobra and the Canary. I bought a full bottle of Memoirs.

I enjoyed the reading the interview to learn more about Josh, IA, and his inspiration.
 
Great read! Josh makes some very interesting scents and some how the almost strange names make perfect sense to me. The Soft Lawn smells just like tennis balls and makes me instantly think of spring. I know a few who LOVE Memoirs of a Trespasser and they have a good reason to do so. I don't even like vanilla on me but I still love the stuff.

Great imagination in these scents. I need to try more from IA.

Keep up the good work Josh. I will be keeping up with you in twitter
 
Very intersecting. Must get a sample of his fragrances.

If you are interested in trying any Imaginary Author fragrances, keep a close eye on the Fragrance Forum over the next few days. Josh will be offering samples of all his fragrances to B&B members at a substantial discount. I'll post more information tomorrow and his offer will "go live" on Monday. I plan to be near the front of the line when the offer starts.

The reviews I've read about Josh's scents have me eager to try them all. Even more important, for me at least, is that I've followed Josh's posts in this forum since I joined more than six years ago. Even before he left the real estate business and started IA, he was one of the members here whose opinions on different scents aligned closely with my own. I've found, through the years, that if Josh likes something, I probably will as well. I can't wait to try the fragrances that he created himself.
 
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