An Edmonton musician got quite the shock when he realized a few songs he made years ago were featured on the popular Netflix series Love Is Blind.
Josh Sahunta is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist who has been making music in his Edmonton studio for years. Some locals may even recognize him for the shows he's played in Fort Saskatchewan.
In the past few months, Sahunta had several of his friends asking him if he had a song in the Netflix series Love Is Blind.
"I told all of them it wasn't [me]," Sahunta said.
After his own bandmates insisted the song was from him, Sahunta decided to check it out for himself.
"I don't have Netflix right now, so he sent me a video of it, and it literally was me."
How could a singer not know that his own song was featured in one of Netflix's most popular shows?
The story begins two years ago when he was paid by Hard Music, a Toronto-based label, to write 10 songs they could pitch for movies and television.
"It was just early pandemic, I had just gotten laid off from a part-time job that I had," Sahunta said. "I wasn't quite doing music full-time, and so it was just nice to get a big chunk of money upfront."
"I didn't really know what would ever come about it, and two years later I'm seeing a few of these songs being picked up by these big shows."
He used the alias 'J Swift' for these songs, a name he says that he's quite embarrassed by.
"I was listening to Taylor Swift when I got the email asking what alias I wanted," Sahunta laughed.
Now that his J Swift music is being played on television and radio (including on MIX 107), Sahunta says he wished he has considered a different name.
"I never thought anybody would ever find it... Now I can't hide anymore."
With this new success for Sahunta, he's been working with Skinny Dip Records in Vancouver to create more songs for television and film.
"I'm really now leaning into that love song, wedding song kind of vibe," Sahunta said.
Sahunta released a new single "Someone Like You" to kick off his new project, with more music coming in the future.