Location: Weehawken, NJ, United States Of America
Member since: December 26, 2010
Tracks in portfolio on MusicRevolution.com: 144 (click here to hear all tracks)
It is the song that drives this artist. Never bound by “formula,” Joi’s style has exploded through his gravitation to the guitar as his main songwriting tool. His drumming background has given him a keen awareness of rhythm and percussion which bubbles beneath his signature vocals delivering waves of fluid melody. A splash of “world beat” flavor complements the ever-present electric and acoustic guitars.
–Background–
1) High profile projects or clients you have worked for?
For the 2006 Winter Olympics, Torino, I was very fortunate to get 28 music cues, many of them 3-5 minutes in length, which spanned across my first 2 collections of music. Felt really good. Also, 7 of my tracks were placed on the Late Show with David Letterman, and it was especially fun to hear how they had been used. My new CD “Present Day” is becoming a bit high profile and is getting some great reviews and attention which, being a composer/recording artist of music for TV who is mainly behind-the-scenes, is quite pleasing. I put a tremendous amount of work into this collection.
2) Primary instrument?
Though I began as a drummer and still play drums on my recordings, nowadays, I’d say my main instrument is guitar. However, I don’t consider myself a “chopster.”
3) Favorite music-making piece of gear or software you currently use?
Again, guitar, because when I’m not writing in my head while I’m out and about, I’m writing on guitar. I approach playing it as a songwriting tool with a “play for the song” mindset to find the right parts when I’m arranging and recording a track, and not as a wild soloing kind of thing. Frenetic playing is not my sensibility.
4) Piece of gear or software you wish you owned?
I’d love to have one of the smaller bodied acoustic guitars like the Taylor Grand Concert models. I also wouldn’t mind having a cool vintage Fender Stratocaster.
5) Film score or song you admire? Why?
There are a lot of film scores that I love, and infinitely more songs, but a few that come to mind are Elliot Goldenthal’s score for the movie “Heat” because it was so effective and moving, yet very minimalistic. Also, James Horner’s score for “A Beautiful Mind” because so much of it was unbelievably tasteful versions of the main theme song, and he managed to get a lot of mileage out of that. And lastly, I’ve always loved Bernard Herrmann’s wonderful scores for all those great Alfred Hitchcock suspense movies. These films probably wouldn’t have had half the success they had without these remarkable scores.
6) Music education background?
Mostly self taught in many ways as far as drums and guitar go. Early on, I studied a bit of Jazz drumming for a short time, but then continued with Rock and Pop which was what I was really interested in. I had taken guitar lessons with 2 different teachers, mostly for technique and to break some of the bad habits that were holding me back. Vocally, I studied privately for 4 ½ years with a wonderful teacher, thank you tons Jane Odin, who really took me from non-singer to singer, not to mention the conceptual training and advice on surviving the music business she taught me.
7) Memorable “Aha!” moment during your musical education?
That’s actually a pretty easy question to answer. Back when I was studying vocal training, eventually my singing range had started to increase considerably, and I was “getting it right.” I had become so obsessed and was practicing so much that I started to “not get it right.” Jane told me that “I had hit the point when the obsessive was not working for me, and to just let it go, not sing for a week or so, and trust that it would all be there when I returned to vocalizing.” Well, aha! That worked like a charm and got me over the hump to the next level. I never forgot that valuable lesson, and it’s applicable in many areas of life as well.
8) If you had a time machine and could record or perform once with any artist, who would it be?
I’d have to really have a work horse of a time machine because there are 3 artists: Peter Gabriel (during his “So” album phase), Graham Parker (when The Rumour was his backing band), and David Bowie (mostly in the 70s, but some 80’s too.) So, where is this time machine, I ask you?!
9) Moment you first knew you would be a musician?
I probably knew it was in my blood when I first started playing drums at age 15. Kind of a late start, I had thought, but I loved it and seemed to pick it up pretty quickly.
10) Advice you would give to a younger family member interested in a music career?
Well, that advice would be to my 2 finest collaborative creations, my 9 year old twins, (girl and boy) and it would be to know your goals and what you’re getting in to. And then most importantly, only thru sacrifice and discipline will any success be achieved. This is not an easy profession, so the sooner they get over any pipe dreams, the better.
11) Five songs or albums you’d take with you to a desert island?
Definitely the following albums: Peter Gabriel “So”, Graham Parker “Squeezing Out Sparks”, Jeff Buckley “Grace”, U2 “The Joshua Tree”, and lastly either David Bowie “Young Americans” or Dave Matthews “Some Devil” solo album.
12) If you could master another instrument, what would it be?
I play very basic piano/keys, so it would be cool to become more proficient in that instead of just the chordal things I can currently do. Wouldn’t mind learning some harmonica as well, but I have yet to write a song that needs it to get me going.14) Favorite time of day to work in your studio?
I’d say typically, late afternoon/early evening up to about 10pm. I find I’m loosened up from the day and feel relaxed to summon up whatever energy and concentration I need.
13) What are your best, or even favorite tracks? Why?
It’s a bit hard for me to say exactly which tracks are my best to date or favs. There’s quite a few from my new CD “Present Day” which I honestly think are among my best songs ever, and I feel like the recordings sound even beyond what I had in my head. Some that stand out for me from this collection and are doing quite well are:
“So Much Further Than Far Away”
“I Go”
“Fade to Black”
“Dear Life”
“Sick”
“The Last Thing I Remember”
Some from my previous collections that have been very successful and still get placed in television quite often are:
“Somewhere In Your Soul” (from the “On” album)
“The Perfect Match” (from the “Pearl Diving” album)
“Cherry Punch” (from the “Unsung” album)
“Recharge” (from the “Undertones” album)
As to why my music does well placing in TV, I can only guess that since I don’t try to emulate whatever the latest production trends are, perhaps there’s a timelessness to my songs. At least, that’s what I’ve been told, but I try not to over-think it too much and just keep writing.
We thank Joi Veer for sharing some of his musical background with us and for contributing his tracks to MusicRevolution.com, the Royalty-Free Music Marketplace. The next time you need music songs that are conceptually, lyrically and musically engaging in their dynamics, check out Joi Veer’s music on MusicRevolution.com.
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Mike Bielenberg is a professional musician and co-founder of http://www.musicrevolution.com, a production music marketplace with over 30,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music from an online community of musicians mbielenberg@musicrevolution.com. 
