JOY is a beautiful combination of opposites: young yet mature, complex yet simple, with the ability to produce breathtaking music while still unapologetically enjoying a bit of Justin Bieber.
She is not an '80s-Euro-pop band from Austria. Although she does share a name with them. “When I put myself on Spotify they added my music onto their page at first. But it’s the complete, opposite genre.”
While the Austrian Joy is all about mullets, sparkly jackets and cheesy lyrics, the Australian JOY’s tunes are smooth, soulful and ethereal; the kind of music you want to wrap yourself around and fall back into. “I put out my first song when I was in Year 12 for a music assignment.
"I just did it for fun, I didn’t have a back-up album or even another song but suddenly everyone was on to me – booking agents, managers – wanting more material. So I kind of had to roll with it.”
JOY writes, sings and produces every element of her music herself. In an age where pop-stars are assembled on manufacturing lines and come complete with pre-written songs and post-production crews, people often find it hard to reconcile her age with her talent.
When asked about her maturity, JOY laughs: “maybe I was an old man in a past life. Being thrown into this industry so young and having everything go from nothing to something in about six months, I’ve kind of had to grow-up a bit.
“When you’re working with people 20 years older than you, you need to come across as legitimate so they respect you. But I’m still just a normal kid. I collect sneakers, eat food and make music. That’s kind of like my life.”
And JOY has an impressive sneaker collection. “It’s an obsession and it’s just getting worse. I started buying them ages ago and then I was just like, ‘fuck normal shoes’. I am never wearing heels. I’ll go out to dinner or to meetings or events with Nikes.”
Apart from her sneaker obsession, JOY loves puppies and listening to questionable music. ”I have a really unhealthy habit of going into dog stores and nearly buying puppies. I found this dog in America, it was a pug and it was also called Joy and I was 99 per cent going to get it but then I realised I couldn’t actually bring her back to Australia. I am going to turn into a crazy dog lady when I’m older.
“And yes, I listen to pretty horrible music sometimes. My iPod has 2011 Chris Brown and Justin Bieber on it and I have no shame. Although it’s really bad when you’re in the car with someone and your phone’s on shuffle and it starts playing.
“It’s worse if something I’ve recorded comes on. I have this habit of waking-up in the middle of the night and singing vocal ideas into my phone. I get inspired, so I record the ideas, and then I wake up in the morning and listen to them and I’m like ‘what was I thinking?’.”
JOY also has a secret fetish for making “disgusting EDM bangers”, although she keeps them for her ears-only. And she loves stepping back from the spotlight and working with other artists on their music. “In the States I was doing a lot of hip hop and trap production, making beats for people.
"It started as an anonymous side project, but it’s so much fun I think it’s going to be a part of what I do as JOY.”
JOY Tour Dates
Fri 6 Nov - Shebeen Bandroom (Melbourne)Fri 13 Nov - The Foundry (Brisbane)
Sat 14 Nov - Jack Rabbit Slims (Perth)
Fri 20 Nov - Goodgod Small Club (Sydney)
