Joyzine to the world...
2016 - "More opportunities than ever to be creative"
(Paul Maps of Joyzine http://JoyZine.org talks bands, labels, venues, DIY, events and ideas with TheZineUK in an in-depth interview to kick off what promises to be a landmark year for the next music industry.
Celebrating "40 years of punk" has GOT to include the impact that a combination of DIY activisim and affordable communication technology has had on the independent music world. One of the great cases in point has to be transmedia star turn, Joyzine. A radio show, live music promoter, mini festival event, podcast, creative collective and a highly respected taste maker. A genuine recommendation for fans of alternative music, new and classic.
Head honcho, writer and photographer, Paul Maps is also the presenter of the weekly, internationally available radio show, so our “tell me more” chat starts there;
Paul : “The Joyzine Radio Show is broadcast live on http://croydonradio.com every Wednesday from 7-9pm GMT, and is also available as a weekly podcast. Each week we play our favourite new independent music along with gig recommendations, news, interviews and live sessions. 2015's guest list included CuT, Chris T-T, Desperate Journalist, Eighteen Nightmares At The Lux, Tankus The Henge, Arrows of Love and Art Brut's Eddie Argos, amongst many more.
We've got plenty of top bands appearing in the new year. 2016 is already looking pretty sweet. Joyzine Radio Show, January 2016 Wednesdays; 6th - Joyzine Best Of 2015 featuring guests, The West Midlands, 13th - Joey Herzfeld & His So Called Friends, 20th - Love Buzzard, 27th - Fire Records."
Get involved with Joyzine, which became the top show on Croydon Radio within months of starting, via https://facebook.com/joyzineradio/ Find new favourites by tuning in. There's a “Shout Out” box too, for live reactions.
TheZineUK : “What have been some of your highlights for Joyzine during 2015?”
Paul “Having looked back through my diary and the site archives, it's been a busier one than I realised! I suppose one of the big things for us was giving the Joyzine website a complete overhaul with a new (hopefully) improved layout, logo and colour scheme.
The relaunch of the site also coincided with us celebrating three years of broadcasting The Joyzine Radio Show on Croydon Radio and we had loads of fantastic guests on the show this year - I was especially pleased to finally get long-term Joyzine faves Vienna Ditto into the studio after illnesses and travel problems had thwarted two previous attempts to get them on the show.
We also did our first trans-Atlantic interview, through the wonders of modern technology, with Cleveland rockabilly duo Archie & The Bunkers. Of course we ended the year with our 12th annual Joyzine Advent Calendar, giving away more than 50 tracks by some of our favourite artists. You can still get them at http://joyzine.org if you're quick, though you may have to scroll through the site a bit to find them by now.
We were involved with some great gigs too, with our annual Joyfest at the ever wonderful Brixton Windmill in March which saw excellent sets from deux furieuses, Vienna Ditto, Poeticat, Marksmen, Rhiannon The Nightmare, The Bridport Dagger, Stephen Evens and Port Erin.
We're very excited about our new collaboration with local post-hardcore heroes, Frauds, to bring a bit more life to the new music scene in our home town of Croydon. The first show was in December with Love Buzzard, Mystified, The Jonbarr Hinge and Stephen Evens joining Frauds on the bill. I was also lucky enough to cover some amazing shows throughout the year; Deerhoof at The Dome in Tufnell Park was a particular highlight, I've rarely danced as hard as I did at The Hot Eight Brass Band's show at The Garage. Fluffer Records' Pit Party with God Damn, Baby In Vain, Eighteen Nightmares at The Lux, and Dressmaker was a riot from start to finish.
On record there were great albums by Vienna Ditto, The Indelicates, Here Are The Young Men & Uncle Peanut, Joanna Gruesome and loads more.
Away from the music, Alice Anderson's amazing Memory Movement Memory Objects installation at The Wellcome Collection was inspirational, as was Lucas Moodyson's film We Are The Best (watch it, it'll make you want to form a band) and we even managed to drag ourselves onto a football pitch for the annual Soccer Six music and football festival, which was great fun despite our lack of success on the pitch. "
TheZineUK : It's early in the year, but are there any moments in 2016 that you are already looking forward to?
Paul : “From a Joyzine point of view, we've got our next Croydon show booked for Friday 4th March at Hoodoo's with Frauds, Happy Meal Ltd, Dym and local band Electric Trees all playing. It's looking like another fantastic line-up and we're very excited to see if we can build on the success of the first night. We've also got our Joyfest all-dayer at The Windmill on 26th March, so keep an eye out for announcements on that in the next few weeks.
Aside from our own stuff, the main thing I'm looking forward to is being surprised - the highlights are rarely what I expect them to be on 1st January and I'm sure there'll be an amazing new band, a new and unusual festival or something else entirely that I'll have fallen in love with by this time next year. Oh, and hopefully to finding out about a Mclusky gig in time to actually get tickets as I was too late every time this year, much to my frustration."
Obviously Spring is The Brits, NME tour, SXSW etc on the mainstream music industry calendar, but are there any career worthy recording/gigging artists that you would like to see get some attention as future festival favourite/respected musicians?
Paul: "Hundreds.
This is always one of those questions that I struggle with because there are too many to choose from"
(yes, we totally hear that!)
Paul: "I've always thought that Vienna Ditto could be huge with the right break and their debut album Circle only served to further that belief.
Arrows of Love have their second album due this year, they're such a great live band too - along with the likes of Eighteen Nightmares at The Lux and Love Buzzard they've been responsible for making me fall back in love with loud, grungey garage punk.
Then there's a whole host of bands on Fortuna Pop; Chorusgirl and Martha in particular who make the most charming and wonderful twisted pop music.
Add to that the bands I've already mentioned in the previous answers, Saint Agnes (pictured below rocking TheZineUK stage at The Great Escape Festival 2015), Cassels, Cosmo House, How To Swim, The Lost Film Foundation, Bridport Dagger, Kagoule, The Midnight Barbers, Mirel Wagner, Poeticat, Wand, Vodun, Youth Man...
I could go on and on and on."
TheZineUK feels that Joyzine are really on to something.
Not only is this a 40th Year Of Punk celebration, but 2016 feels like the perfect mix of raving and rocking as escapism from austerity after a 2015 of (r)Evolution -v- the corruption eruption. Get in a small venue and join in.
TheZineUK : As previously mentioned, Joyzine Radio Show is referenced by (sussed) scouts and bookers as a tipping tastemaker alongside the usual gurus on bigger stations. Does it take you a lot of time to put together as, guests aside, it's very DIY.
Paul : "Thankfully it fits in quite well with the Joyzine website, so it's not too much extra work. We run Joyzine completely in our spare time and it (deliberately) generates no money, so it has to fit around the day job. I like it that way though, it means we can focus on music that we're truly enthused by and cover it in the way that we choose without any external pressure from advertisers and the like.
We get a few hundred emails from bands, labels and PR agencies looking for coverage on the site and/or station every week, so the bulk of the work is sifting through all of those to find the gems. We're always happy to receive more though - drop us an email to paul@joyzine.org if you're looking for a review or radio play."
TheZineUK : There seems to be quite a lot going on in Croydon at the moment, like your recent co-pro gig and the sessions in the Clock Tower gallery. Is it a receptive locality for musicians to be exploring, gig wise?
Paul : "It's not quite there yet, but there are definitely promising signs. The visual arts scene is a few steps ahead, with the RISE, Turf Projects, Click Clock and Descart.es galleries putting on interesting shows and lots of great street art appearing all over the place.
The live music scene had been in decline for a while and with The Cartoon closing and Scream Lounge downsizing there weren't many places to play, but over the past couple of years The Oval has been putting on quality acoustic nights and Matthews' Yard has become a real creative hub - as well as having a great cafe/bar and being home to Croydon Radio it now houses an art gallery, theatre space and Hoodoo's music venue. Our first To Hell With Good Intentions gig at Hoodoo's in December was fantastic with a brilliant and we can't wait for the next one in March. "
TheZineUK WildeLifeAwards recommends a spectrum of Arts, high in Music and Word, that have made a mark on the UK's DIY cottage industry network as a potential alternative economy. Are there organisations/calendar events/labels/media/venues that you feel are helping to create the future?
Paul : "Pretty much everywhere you look there are people getting together to create amazing work and events, pretty much every niche is catered for these days - it's not all to my personal taste and nor should it be, the variety and the opportunity for cross-pollination is a big part of what makes it exciting. I've already mentioned Matthews' Yard, who've done so much to bring the arts to life in all manner of forms in Croydon and I've also loved going to Off The Cuff in Herne Hill for a completley different atmosphere to your average music venue.
Out East, the Fluffer Records and Heavy Leather crews have been doing their bit to spread some dirty rock & roll loving and The Indelicates ,with their own Corporate Records imprint ,have continued to push the boundaries of what we should expect from an album in the modern era.
There are more opportunities than ever to be creative and do something strange and wonderful, so get out there and do it yourself."
Paul Maps
Editor – Joyzine socialise; @joyzineuk facebook.com/joyzine
The #WildeLifeAwards winner for music passion power; Joyzine