JoyNoise are a band who want you to feel all the hard feelings with them, and then be angry with them too. Recently releasing their latest single "Pollen" and their debut album You're Surrounded By The Best Around, they won't stop until you are jumping along with them to the beat of a shared drum.
Hey guys! Thanks so much for answering my questions, how are you?
I am violently decent, thanks for asking!
How did you get into music?
I’d always been around music, but it wasn’t until 3rd or 4th grade when I started really really diving in. It started with Green Day and My Chemical Romance, then moved onto the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, then down the 77 punk rabbit hole, the 80’s hardcore rabbit hole, and from there just the entire rock n roll umbrella rabbit hole.
What made you guys want to start a band together?
I actually started this band back in 2015 after my previous band fell apart with our old drummer, Jeffrey. It was originally called Coda, then Bloom, and now finally Joynoise with a completely different lineup. I’ve been in bands since I was about 12 or 13, and I guess I wanted to start it because what’s life without being in a band?!
How did you guys come up with the name Joynoise?
Joynoise is literally meaningless, it was just two words I thought sounded cool together. I came up with it one night when I was writing down whatever words came to mind that I liked the sound of.
How did you go about finding your sound?
It’s been a total evolution in terms of our sound. I personally just tried experimenting with whatever sounds I liked from bands I’d be in. Once Darren got into the picture, our sound definitely got more refined and expanded to a bigger, heavier vibe in the vein of his influences, like Muse and Queens of the Stone Age. Put my melodic punk, emo, and shoegaze influences with Carson’s Ween and Sabbath influences and (on the record) Johnny’s metal influences and I guess you have Joynoise.
Did the DIY scene where you guys are from inspire you at all? Who were your favorite bands?
My personal favorite bands locally right now are Sad Park, Death Lens & Ridgeway. The DIY scene I guess inspires us in terms of kinda looking at what others are doing and seeing how we can be unique through all the noise.
You have a new single “Pollen” which is about a “fictional narrator’s descent into insanity as they desperately cry for help.” What was the creative and writing process like for this song?
That song was Darren’s first contribution to Joynoise. He came up with everything except for the chorus chords, which I came up with. I think I already had the words written, or at least a very early draft of them. Lyrically, the writing was influenced by the self destructive tendencies of both myself and the people around me. I write about that a lot so it wasn’t necessarily difficult to put into words. Actually, the two first lines of the chorus, “Send help and I’ll send a parade / I flaunt my rage like a masquerade,” were lines I’d been sitting on for a couple of years already. They were just waiting for a song that made sense to put them in.
You guys have also released your debut album You’re Surrounded By The Best Around, congratulations! What was the main inspiration behind the album?
Thank you! I don’t think we had a main inspiration, per se. We just thought it was time to finally do a full length, so we just started jamming on a bunch of ideas I had. Then, Darren brought a couple ideas into the mix and that switched things up. I thought it was refreshing having him be the lead on a couple songs since it had only been me for years. Eventually, the main inspo started to revolve around catharsis, I think. I think of You’re Surrounded By The Best Around as a very cathartic record.
One of my favorite things about this album, and you guys in general is how you really want everyone to experience all of these feelings alongside with you. Considering these feelings are angst, sadness, and grief. How do you keep that vulnerability going in your lyrics without shying away?
I think we balance aggression and vulnerability rather well. I kinda think of this band as a pissed off teenager punching a hole in their wall. The initial observation is that, like, wow that was unnecessarily aggressive. But then send that teenager off into therapy or something and it’s coming from a real, genuine and vulnerable place. I totally haven’t done that by the way that analogy wasn’t from experience or anything at all.
What would you say was the hardest song to write on You’re Surrounded By The Best Around?
Musically, I’d say Joy II. We had no fucking clue where we were going with that one initially. Lyrically, nothing was particularly difficult to write. Maybe just heavy. Orbit and Afterglow were heavy ones for me. I’m not sure what Darren would say about his two songs, White Hole & Fate, though.
What was the recording process like for You’re Surrounded By The Best Around?
Different. It was the first time we (or maybe just I) had ever recorded in a real studio. Every recording I’d done before that was done either in a practice space or my garage. But for the record, I figured we should scale up to really get our minds in it.
Was the writing and creative process different with “Pollen” than it was with “White Hole”?
For me, yes definitely, because I didn’t write White Hole. That made the whole thing totally alien to me. With Pollen, it was mostly collaborative, however lyrically it was mine. White Hole was all Darren, minus my synth contributions. It was the first time I had handed the torch off, so to speak.
What comes first music, or lyrics?
Trauma comes first.
What song was the hardest song to write on You’re Surrounded By The Best Around?
Musically, I’d say Joy II. We had no fucking clue where we were going with that one initially. Lyrically, nothing was particularly difficult to write. Maybe just heavy. Orbit and Afterglow were heavy ones for me. I’m not sure what Darren would say about his two songs, White Hole & Fate, though.
During the creative and writing process do you listen to any bands/artists for inspiration? If so, who?
I listen to a lot a lot of random shit so I’m constantly getting inspiration from different areas, and the guys all listen to different shit too so it’s everywhere. For example, Pollen sounds kinda like my MCR influence and Darren’s Muse influence having a baby. White Hole is Radiohead/Weezer (to me, Darren might feel otherwise). Enthusiasm was influenced by a band called Girls. Joy II has King Crimson, Black Sabbath, and real punk rock influences. It’s everywhere.
If you could tour with any band/artist who would it be?
Billie Eilish. She’s got angsty fans that’d dig us, I think.
Last question! Who should we be listening to right now?
Us, motherfucker! Go stream You’re Surrounded By The Best Around!
Words by Melody
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