Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with joshua carro of hidden

We recently had the chance to connect with joshua carro and have shared our conversation below.

Hi joshua, 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: When was the last time you felt true joy?
Every night after 10pm,

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Absolutely — I’m joshua carro, also known as michael.
I’m a composer, music designer, sound designer, multimedia artist, and multi-instrumentalist with roots in experimental and contemporary art music, but my current practice moves freely across genres — from generative electronic landscapes for AAA video games to deep ambient works and collaborative film scores. My art lives at the intersection of discipline and intuition. I’m less interested in chasing trends and more focused on letting each piece evolve naturally, guided by sound itself.

What makes my work unique is that it comes from a place of detachment from validation. I’m not creating to be seen — I’m creating because sound reveals something honest about the world, about the subconscious, about transformation. That honesty, I think, is what people connect with.

Currently, I’m working on music for a major video game title (Borderlands 4), developing new works for my ambient duo ALETHEIA, and exploring a few exciting collaborations — one of which came as a completely unexpected message from someone very special to me. It reminded me how life opens doors when you stay consistent and committed to the path.

At the core of it all, I believe in staying grounded, showing up for the work, and letting the sound lead.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
What breaks the bonds between people is usually force — when someone tries to control, shape, or extract something from another, rather than meet them as they are. Ego, fear, and ideology tend to play big roles in that break. When we stop listening, or when we try to mold others into versions of ourselves or our expectations, connection starts to dissolve. There’s a deep violence in needing someone to be different from who they truly are.

What restores bonds is presence, humility, and trust. It’s in letting people be themselves without needing to change them. It’s in showing up with consistency and honesty — not performative honesty, but the quiet kind that doesn’t require attention. When people feel seen and not judged, connection can start again. And sometimes, even when it can’t — the letting go itself is a kind of healing.

For me, the most authentic relationships are the ones where silence is allowed, where the art or the work or the presence speaks louder than any performance of connection.

Is there something you miss that no one else knows about?
The world without the internet.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That bigger is always better.
There’s a persistent belief that the more bombastic the music, the more notes, the more money, the more followers, the more synthetic drama — the more “successful” or “impactful” it must be. But the truth is: subtlety, space, and restraint often reach deeper into the human experience.

Another common lie: that perfection is the goal. In reality, it’s often the imperfect, the raw, the unpolished textures that carry the most emotional resonance. The chase for technical perfection or industry approval often obscures the soul of the work.

And maybe the deepest lie: that art must justify itself through external validation. But music, at its best, is not a product to be optimized — it’s a lived experience, a mirror, a healing mechanism, or a kind of personal truth rendered in sound. That doesn’t need to be proved or packaged.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
I’m planting things that grow slowly — the kind of work that deepens with time rather than trends. Some things aren’t meant to “pay off” quickly, and honestly, I’m not even sure payoff is the right word. I’m investing in processes that feel real, even if their value might not be immediately visible. They might not ever be “big,” but they’ll be true — and that’s enough for me. The work becomes its own reward the longer I stay close to it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joshuacarro.com/
• Instagram: @soundinglight
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuacarro/
• Twitter: @joshuacarro
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@joshuacarro

Image Credits
all my work