Edited by Gabrielle
On Thursday, July 16 I attended a Joey Contreras concert and it was so much fun. The first song he performed was “Love Wildly,” which is so upbeat and catchy that I can’t get it out of my head. “Ohio,” was another highlight of the evening; both songs are so wonderful and are repeated on my iPod.
I feel all of Joey’s songs are so fantastic because they can connect with so many people from all over. They speak to experiences most people have; he makes it easy to be a fan of his music. Joey had so many great singers accompany him on stage, like Ben Fankhauser and Adam Kaplan from Newsies. It was great to see those two share a stage again. Brad Greer, who sang “Love Wildly”, was spectacular (he’s also really cute). Amanda Lopez, the grand prize winner of the Joey Shine contest sang “Love Me, Love Me Not”. She was good and I can’t wait to see her on stage again.
Let’s not forget the start of the show, Joey himself! He has so much spunk and fun when he’s on stage jamming to his songs on his keyboard, but when he sings it’s amazing. I can’t wait to attend his next concert. Alex Newell, Zak Resnick, Kerri George, Krystina Alabado, Diana Huey, Jules Braverman, Spencer Kiely, and Tatina Lofton also made appearances. It was so nice to see all of them on stage supporting Joey and helping to bring his music to new heights.
Part 2: of interview
Joy: What would you say so far is your biggest accomplishment and that you’re most proud of?
Joey: I’m really proud of my last album to be honest. I’m kind in love with the name of it. I worked really hard on it, and I had so many collaborators that gave their time and talent and energy and passion to it, and it’s such a beautiful thing at the end of the day to see how it came together and it took a year to record, and I am just really proud of how it all came together. But another accomplishment that’s like blowing my mind is when I see kids all over the country and the world singing my music, that’s a huge accomplishment. It’s just a touching thing to see people using my music to help them either get their training or in their talent shows or a girl won a scholarship to college singing one of my songs.
Joy: That’s amazing.
Joey: Just so incredible.
Joy: When I was asking my friend if they ever heard of you he’s like yeah, my friend just sang his songs in 54 below. I was like that’s so cool!
Joey: Yes, it’s a really cool thing. I’m very lucky in that people are singing my music.
Joy: When I was trying to listen to your song last time I was trying to keep up with the words, and I couldn’t. It’s so fast.
Joey: You will work your way up there. I promise.
Joy: What is the most played song on your iphone or ipod and what is your go-to karaoke song?
Joey: My most played song is probably Crazy in Love by Beyonce and We Found Love by Rihanna, and probably, I don’t know why this song is, but Womanizer by Britney. And my go to karaoke song is always something by N’Sync like Bye Bye Bye Bye or It’s Gonna Be Me.
Joy: It’s Gonna Be Me, that’s my favorite song from them.
Joey: I can give you every single JustinTimberlake lyric.
Joy: How do you feel social media has affected your music? Do you feel it helps you? And which platform do you like the most?
Joey: I think social media has definitely helped the independent artists. I think it helps in general, but I think it’s a tool that independent artists definitely should embrace because it really helps cultivate an audience and engages with your audience and your fans getting your music out there. I am definitely very connected with social media and I enjoy it and I like being able to connect with people, and a lot of my success and work because has been from Facebook and Youtube and all of that. I think Instagram is my favorite at the moment.
Joy: At what age did you want to become an entertainer and how early did you start performing?
Joey: Well, when I was five I wanted to performer.
Joy: As a performer, what stands out in your mind when you realized that you wanted to continue doing this, performing?
Joey: It’s a hard question. Well, I guess so many performances. I want to say there were three exciting big ones for me. Actually two things that stand out really quickly. One being when I got to play boy Caroler in A Christmas Carol at American Theater in San Francisco. It was, I think it was playing two years in a row and the second year in a row I got to be the boy Caroler and I opened the show, and I really wanted that role so badly in the first year I did it and when I got to do it in the second year it was just one of those aha moments that I got to be able to do that at such a young age like twelve, eleven years.
Joy: That’s cool.
Joey: But in another performance that stands out in my mind was when we did this modeling and talent convention In New Yor when I was younger. The convention itself was kind of whatever, but it was my first time in New York and I did this singing audition and I ended up taking the top prize and I was like preteen singer of the year or something like that, and that was a pretty magical moment.
Joy: Which do you like better: California or New York?
Joey: You can’t make me choose, that’s not nice. It’s not an awful thing. I’ve been on the east coast now for almost ten years, and so I just feel lot more charged in New York. I love California and I like, you know, nothing beats that weather and that space and all of that, but there is something very energizing and exhausting about New York, but I feel like that pulse is already in my body and I don’t really know how to get pulse out of my body. So yes it’s probably New York right now, but you know, you never know, the hot sticky summers and the subway trains.
Joy: What advice would you give to someone who wants to do what you’re doing?
Joey: I would say just to be disciplined, and to do it because you never know how it’s going to go unless you commit yourself to do it but you do havet o be disciplined, because there is a long time where people will not be giving you deadlines, and will not be giving you that structure, and, you know, you need to be your own champion and you need to be your own cheerleader and make sure that you set deadlines for yourself and be disciplined and do it.
Joy: Good advice. What is your motto for your life? Do you have like a “Hakuna Matata” from like Lion King?
Joey: Right now it’s just being open to whatever adventures may come, just I’m trying to say yes to any adventures that come my way.
Thank Joey for answering all my questions I can’t wait to see what you do next.