Sounds 4 the soul.

INTERVIEW.

1. You’ve got a stunning style. What do you love about music?

I appreciate the acknowledgment! I really do enjoy and take pride in expressing myself within my unique selection of sounds. I must say that music has been the most consistent and dependable love within my life. Music has never done me wrong. The thing that I love most about music is that it is universal and it brings people together. I am all about love and connecting people to one another. Despite language barriers, music such as certain sounds and rhythms do not need any language to understand. Waking up and starting your day off with the right soundtrack can definitely influence your mood and day into a positive one. Music is genius.

2. What non-musical influences come into your music?

I would say networking with the right people, personal life experiences, art, photography, education, and world issues have all been major influences for my music. I discovered who I was at a young age. Because of this I was able to find a love for something such as music. Being able to present music in an artistic way while simultaneously educating people all over the world on unknown artists, and helping those see my perspective on what I think quality music sounds like has been key for me. The biggest influence thus far has to be all the constant compliments I get from people all over the world. I am humbled by people’s words and stories regarding how my mixes have changed their lives and helped them think. It definitely keeps me going and I have met some of the most innovating and like-minded people just because of my music collection and talents.


3. What if anything do you hope people take from the sounds of JOEKAY?

After listening to my art-expressions, I hope you can pause for a few moments and realize that there is so much more out there than you will ever know. There are so many talented individuals out in the world that it is ridiculous and mind boggling to even comprehend. I really recommend that the listeners copy and paste all the artists and track names from my playlists that they like into google and do some research. There is an infinite amount of music available that will make you lose your mind. It is a domino effect, one artist and track leads into another artist, record label, event, and life style. Trust me.

4. You’re from Los Angeles, probably see some amazing shows yah? What have been some of the most memorable concerts you’ve been to recently?

Ahh man, I have been to hundreds of events! There are so many good ones, but if I had to highlight the most memorable ones, I would have to say back in 2008..there was this one Low End Theory event in particular where Kutmah, Samiyam, The Gaslamp Killer, and Flying Lotus all performed. This was when Low End and Flying Lotus we’re really starting to blow up. This was the first time I had seen Flying Lotus live. I remember just being blown away by him and the rest of the crew. I have seen them all perform at least about 8-10 times, but I think that was one of their best performances as a group. The music and energy was just organic and very raw. Kutmah is one of my favorite DJs still to this day. The Low End theory is a must experience event. Another memorable event was Mochilla’s Suite for Ma’ Dukes! J Dilla has been the biggest influence in my life so it was great to experience a tribute by other influential musicians such as Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, De La Soul, Dwele, Karriem Riggins, J Rocc, and other greats.

5. Any projects in the making?

I have a few projects in the works right now. Myself and two other partners (96 & Andre Power) have come up with a vision/label called: SOULECTION. A personal friend of mine is currently building a site from scratch that will allow my partners and myself to post our vision. SOULECTION will represent a Music/Art/Life-style blog/Radio Show/Events/Future Record Label. Basically anything that is ill and innovative will be posted on our site. In correspondence with the build-up of our site, we are wrapping up a compilation album for the launch of our website. The compilation will consist of about 27 artists (mainly producers) of pure quality sounds from all over the world. 96 and myself handpicked the artists who we felt have been really innovating over the years. And no, it is not just “Another Beat Tape”. It is deeper than that. The whole sound of the compilation is really deep, soulful, and eclectic. And the best part about this compilation album is that it will be downloadable for free! I am hoping to reach a massive amount of people and looking for this compilation to be a soundtrack for people’s lives regardless of their musical depth. SOULECTION and our compilation should be dropping right on the New Year or possibly before.

6. Words for all the young producers reading this?

The beat movement is at a point where every one is making beats and releasing beat tapes now a days. That is all well and good, but if you want to really surpass the typical sound and stand out you have to do something that hasn’t been done yet. You don’t want someone to say, “Another Beat Tape?” We all know you (the artist) are talented, but it is more ear-catching when you can create something that no one has heard of yet. Stay true to your sound, but expand to places you’ve never been before and do it from within instead of doing it for the currency. If you do things out of love, the currency will come automatically if you do what you do well.

http://soundcloud.com/joekay

http://www.joe-kay.com/

http://www.facebook.com/JosephKayIV

http://twitter.com/j0eKAY

– DJ Phantom (now Jimi Jaxon)

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