Joey! Interview

Conducted and Transcribed By: Jason Pressman 

Edited By: Ryan Freeze and Hope Christy

Pressman: Hello, I'm Jason Pressman. I’m here with The Setlist UD and…  

Joey!: Hi, my name's Joey. I'm a singer, songwriter, mixed engineer, master engineer, recording engineer, artist, rapper… all the good stuff. 


Pressman: So, Joey, I know we met at Fonda Fest. Tell me all about your experience there, just how that sort of materialized.

Joey!: Yeah. So, shout out Luce, shout out Seb for getting me that spot at Fonda Fest. We talked about doing that show briefly, and then when everything was set in motion, they reached out to me and obviously I was on board the whole way. I'm always on board pretty much with anything that they do. They're super influential and what-not. I mean, just being at Fonda Fest, the energy was infectious. There were so many people that I've never met before that came up to me and they were like, “Yo, I've been following your stuff, I’ve been listening to the music, the album was fire, your set was crazy,” and I'm like, “What is happening?” 

Pressman: You really got the crowd going in—I love that. How does that tie into your music?

Joey!: I feel like I try to make songs that just have their own vibe, but I also try to make an effort to make songs that I can perform at concerts. Y’know? [Songs] that have easily repeatable hooks or catchy refrains and what-not and really just can enhance everything at a show and bring up the energy by, like, 10 levels.

Pressman: And that really showed when you were at Fonda Fest, you really got the crowd going. One of my friends kind of pulled me to the side afterwards. He's just like, "You need to get him.” That was, honestly, one of the major performances at Fonda Fest. And one of the songs there, “Tell Me I'm Pretty,” that really got the crowd going. Is that one of your more recent songs? 

Joey!: Yeah, that is definitely one of the most recent that I've dropped. It's the most recent single that I've dropped. We filmed a music video for that, too. That was the whole reason I shaved my head [for] that music video. 

Pressman: Yeah, because I know when the image gallery is posted, if you want to go look at that, you had your long hair. 

Joey!: Yeah. I used to have long blonde hair, and now I got a fricking buzz cut going on. 


Pressman: So take us through the thought process behind that. “Tell Me I'm Pretty,” and then the whole recording of the music video – you shaving your head for it.

Joey!: So the thought process behind, “Tell Me I'm Pretty,” is a song about letting other people dictate what you do in your life. Throughout the song this person that I'm singing as, they're changing. How they dress, what they drink, the way that they act, what they smoke, and it changes their whole life to the point where they don't like themselves anymore. All because they wanted someone to like them even more. But the person that they wanted that validation from doesn't actually love them anymore, or less than they did in the start.
So then at the end, it's kind of like a realization of, I don't need you to tell me I'm pretty. I just need to be myself. I kind of took from “real life” so-to-speak because I've kind of always wanted to shave my head, [but] I remember my girlfriend and my parents said, “Don't do it. Just don't do it. Please don't do it.” And I'm like, “Oh, but I want to do it so bad.” And so I was listening to them, and then I guess I kind of realized I was giving into them.

Pressman: You don't want people to tell you what to do. You want to be able to tell yourself you’re pretty.

Joey!: Exactly. And I kind of realized I don't need anybody to tell me that I look good or this or that. As long as I think it, that's all that matters. So I went for it, and when we were doing the music video, you can't tell it in the video, but when I was getting my hair cut before I got it buzzed,
we had to change locations. So I got my hair cut in the worst way possible. It is like the ugliest haircut that I've ever had. I still have the long sides and my front came to like an inch above my eyebrows. 

Pressman: So you had like a proto bowl cut. 

Joey!: It was like the worst thing in the world. 


Pressman: So, “Tell Me I'm Pretty,” the whole thing you described, that was kind of the lead up to Reconnected Deluxe – your new album that just came out. 

Joey!: Yes, the deluxe edition. So that album, the Reconnected album, was a pretty big step because I had some songs that I was working on and I always wanted to drop them, but I didn't know [if] I should just start a new album. Should I put them out as just singles? And then [after] talking with my creative director we kind of figured that a deluxe edition is probably the best way to go.

Pressman: And I think it definitely was the best way to go. One of the songs that really stood out to me was “Hometown Hero.” That was one that took me by surprise. I just want to talk about “Hometown Hero,” what that song means to you, and just your whole network of collaborations. The edition has Serendipity on there. You got Lexi, almost every other song, right? How much do your collaborations play into who you are? 

Joey!: I think they play a really big role because I like to create stories and different experiences with music. 
And I think that sometimes I'm not able to produce the characters that I want to, so I have to reach out to another source to get what I want. Specifically, going back to “Hometown Hero,” we wrote that song about being the underdog—like, who really thinks that a kid from Long Island, my hometown, is gonna make it worldwide? 

Pressman: Yeah, and that's one thing I know I've noticed—in Long Island, there's not really much of a pulse here with music other than Billy Joel. Sure, you have some other bands who kind of came from Long Island, but they claim mostly to be [from] Manhattan. 

Joey!:
Yeah, it's usually the city. So, the first part of that song, “Hometown Hero,” was when me and Lexi are going back and forth. I'll never forget that recording session. We had two microphones and we stood at opposite ends of my dorm room, and we literally just argued [with] each other across the room with a script. It's supposed to be a couple fighting because the kids are like, “I'm going to chase my dreams and you're holding me back. You're stopping me!” And we kind of just went all in on that. I think that was probably one of the most fun songs to record.

Pressman: I think that really shows with the recording. You can feel the emotion, you can hear the argument, and it's a really nice start to the song. It's nice when songs get to have that character. With Reconnected Deluxe, I really think there's a lot of emotion to it. There's a lot of you. We really get to see who you are and see the characters you want to be.

Joey!: I love how you brought up the emotion because when I was making the deluxe, I made a couple different songs that didn't make the album, and my creative director, Lexi Gibaldi, was like “Listen, these are good songs, but they're not Reconnected.” Reconnected has such a story and an outline. It's very structured in a way that I liked [while] I was making [it]. 

Pressman: It's like a concept story album. 


Joey!: Yeah, what I was making wasn't fitting inside that concept. So we had to scrap those songs, move forward, and take a different [direction]. 

Pressman: I know that's that sound you're trying to emulate. Do you want to be more of a story driven artist, or do you want to release a story album every now and then? 

Joey!:
I think I want to just be all over the place because I have confidence in myself that I can produce a good, high quality album, no matter what the genre is. So for right now, this is my reconnected era. It is kind of at its end and I'm going to move into a collab album with my roommate and producer M Flowers. It's so many songs that I've never thought I could make before. So many different genres, so many different styles, and we're just going for it. 


Pressman: When do you think that'll be coming out?

Joey: Before 2026 actually, so pretty soon.

Pressman: Have you finished all the songwriting you're going to do for the recording? 

Joey!: We're going song by song just because it's such a different vibe for each one. But my favorite part about that album so far is that everything pretty much flows into itself. So the opening track goes into the second one, fifth goes to the sixth, [etc].

Pressman: I love when albums do that, so you can just listen to it straight. 

Joey!: Yeah, pretty much. That's one of my favorite things that musicians do. So many different vibes and different songs that it's like an album mixtape. It's going to be crazy. I can't wait. 

Pressman: So is there a certain sound or is it just like a combination of different things? There's no set genre with it? 


Joey!: Yeah, it's just one big combination of music, pretty much. 

Pressman: And from where you started out, what kind of venues have been there to support you with? 'Cause you know, people say The Cave, Fonda Fest. Who in the local scene has really helped you? 


Joey!: I would definitely say Suite 208 really gave me my first big jump. The first show I did at Suite 208, I opened for a band, and It was the first I ever met of them, and Ciro, I don't know if you know Ciro. 


Pressman: I think I’ve heard of him.

Joey!: Yeah, so this guy Ciro, he was working there and he just randomly got in the crowd. And I was like, wait…I remember you. You helped me do my sound check and now you're in the crowd and you're going crazy with everybody else to the set that I'm performing? I was like “What is happening?” And he came up to me afterwards [and] was like, “Dude, your shit was so fire.” This was two years ago at this point, and then they kind of just kept reaching out to me. And now, since they've kind of not gone anywhere really, they don't have the venue that they used to. But they're still a huge part of the Long Island scene. And where else, let me see … Shakaker's Pub. That's where I did my Reconnected album release party. Fonda Fest and Suite 208 [have also] honestly been there for all of that. 

Pressman: So now that you're two or three years into this, you have your new album coming out and you have another one in the works. What do you want to bring into the Long Island scene now that you've released Reconnected? You've got your new look, you're ready to just storm out there. What do you want to bring to this new era of your music? 

Joey!: I think I've showcased with Reconnected the transition that I'm going to switch my name, I'm going to switch my genre, I'm going to start putting some more effort in. I think now I've laid that ground level, and I think now it's just time to showcase what I can do, when I'm not being boxed into a story. I think that's kind of what I'm going for, showcasing my talent. 

Pressman: I think you definitely can showcase that. And right before we wrap up, there's a tradition with these interviews that we do at The Setlist —we ask our most famous question, what is your favorite Subway order? Or any sandwich order.

Joey!: Dang. So, I'm going to give you a little plot twist here. I actually can't have Subway. 


Pressman: Really?

Joey!: Yeah, because I have a dairy allergy. So I can't have Subway. But I'll tell you that the grilled chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-a, that's my go to. 

Pressman: Thank you for your time, Joey! 

Joey!: Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me. This is awesome. 


Pressman: This has been The Setlist UD interviewing with Joey!