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A-Trak at U Hall Ticket Giveaway // Interview: Catching up with WILLY JOY

Morgan Tepper·
InterviewsNew music

This week Blisspop caught up with DJ, producer, hype man and U Street Music Hall best friend, Willy Joy — in the midst of his touring with A-Trak, Kid Sister and The Gaslamp Killer!

Blisspop: In addition to touring the world as Kid Sister’s hype man & DJ, you have many of your own projects going on — several releases with Rob Threezy for Trouble & Bass, remixes for Kastle, Dev79 and Zinc — and the newly released ‘Woman Like Me’ on Plant Music. How would you describe the ‘Willy Joy’ sound? Who & what are your biggest musical influences?

Willy Joy: It’s hard to describe my sound because it’s always evolving, but there are definite elements you can trace through all of it – I love jacking percussion and weird rhythms, I tend to have a pop sensibility when it comes to synths and melodies, I love face-melters, and I’m also like a 5-year old – I really love simple things repeated over and over. As far as influences go, 90s pop music is huge, as is 90s metal and rave music. The 90s in general. I’m also hugely influenced by my friends and peers who are making dance music right now – they push me to be better constantly.

Blisspop: You’ve worked alongside DJ Benzi on remixes for Gucci Mane, Wale and Mansions On The Moon — how did you form that relationship? How do your differing creative visions compliment each other?

Willy Joy: Benzi is my DUDE. On paper, we couldn’t be more different, but we have similar outlooks and goals on and for the music world. I don’t remember how we met originally – probably at a gig. Benzi comes from the rap & pop world with a discerning ear for weird dance music, and I’m more or less the flip of that. We actually work really, really well together. Our livers cower in fear when we actually perform together though.

Willy Joy: Last year you released the Me So Corny mixtape (for Mad Decent) with DJ Autobot of Flosstradamus, under the moniker – Laugh Factory. Can you tell us a little bit about Laugh Factory? Can we look forward to more Laugh Factory projects/mixes?

Willy Joy: Autobot is a close friend of mine, and it was an absolute pleasure to be able to work on that project with him. We both love jokes – you could say that we’re “in it for the LULZ”, and we sort of coincidentally sent each other joke songs at the same time, both of which were really good. From there, we wondered if we could turn it into a whole mixtape – and we did! It got such a great reaction (including huge support from the ACTUAL Laugh Factory in LA, whose logo we stole for the cover) that we are definitely going to do another one. There are already several tracks made, with more concepts being formed now. Shout out to Hood Internet who will also be a contributor this time around!

Blisspop: Let’s talk about the video for ‘Woman Like Me‘ — what was the concept of the video, how much creative control did you have over the concept of the video — & most importantly, how did the idea of strippers with animal faces come about?

Willy Joy: I’m really, really proud of that video. It was a collaborative effort between me, the director Mark Newman, and our close creative friend Dylan Reiff of the DJ duo Capcom. I think the concept pretty much is self-explanatory when you watch the video – a hapless guy goes into a strip club and more or less gets caught up in something much bigger than him. There’s a lot of underlying themes that I draw from it, but I’d rather hear what other people think about it. The strippers with animal faces came out of wanting strippers in my video, but also wanting animals.

Blisspop: You’re also gearing up to release a ‘Woman Like Me Remix EP’ — can you give us a heads up on the release date & what remixers are featured on the EP?

Willy Joy: It should be out in about a month or so. The remixes are INCREDIBLE and I’m very lucky to have this lineup: Flosstradamus, Dillon Francis, Bird Peterson, Flinch and Cousin Cole.

Blisspop: What Willy Joy projects can we look forward to in the year ahead?

Willy Joy: Tons of remixes coming up for Nightshifters, Top Billin, Plant Music and more, a new original EP in the Summer, mixtapes galore – I’m trying to do everything all at once – which I hear always works out perfectly!

Blisspop: You’ve had some fun times with us in Washington D.C. — Last July you DJed Kid Sister’s D.C. debut, in August you went on a romantic date with another man (before your show with Trouble & Bass), Halloween weekend you DJed in a Cookie Monster costume (and surprised us with a Sesame Street-style tagteam set alongside Will Eastman — who dressed up as Elmo). What can we expect this time around with the Magic 8-Ball Tour feat. A-Trak, Kid Sister and The Gaslamp Killer?

Willy Joy: When I see it listed like that, it seems like it’s gonna be hard to top what’s come before. But we’re going to do it. I don’t want to give too much away. But a motorized scooter is involved.

Blisspop: If you could ask the Magic 8-Ball any question — what would it be, and what kind of answer would you hope for?

Willy Joy: Will I stay sober during my performance at U Street Music Hall?

Outlook not so good.

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TICKET GIVEAWAY:

Win tickets to see A-Trak, Kid Sister/Willy Joy, The Gaslamp Killer and Harry Hotter at U Street Music Hall on Tuesday, April 26th by replying with your most creative answer to this question —

If YOU could ask the Magic 8-Ball any question — what would it be, and what kind of answer would you hope for (see list of responses here)?

**Contest ends Monday, April 25th at 11:00 a.m. — winner will be notified via email. GOOD LUCK!