Meet Nashville’s Rising Stars: Joeyglo

Always stretch and have good posture while playing. It should be a priority over trying to look cool. It won’t be cool if you wake up one day with carpal tunnel or back problems. Asa part of our series about Nashville’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Joeyglo.

Joey is a artist, performer, songwriter, drummer, and audio engineer from Sacramento, CA and is currently based out of Nashville, TN, where he writes, records, and produces his own music from his home studio. He has been a professional drummer for 21 years, playing festival circuits internationally, performing with various projects, most notably as the drummer for the band NAWAS, who he toured with for five years. Having started writing songs at an early age, Joey is now combining his experience as a touring musician and drummer, his ear for rhythm, understanding of connecting with people, and his education in audio engineering at The Blackbird Academy, to now create his own catalog as an independent artist. He is finally releasing his own music. Now, his songs are breaking down boundaries and demanding attention.

As a self produced artist, performer, songwriter, drummer, and audio engineer, Joeyglo truly brings something unique to the music scene. It hardly takes any time to see that he has created something special and memorable with his music. He combines modern recording techniques, creating new and interesting sonic colors and textures, with a classic flair and approach to songwriting that is unique to him. There is something so authentic and familiar about the feelings his songs create. He innovatively honors nostalgia while always pushing the envelope with his creative production, teasing the ear with fun and playful musical elements. Catchy melodic hooks, riffs, musical motives, and lyrics make you want to sing along. Anything from his catalog is just easy to play on repeat. Peers, collaborators, and fellow artists celebrate his music as the next evolution in pop.

Joeyglo represents the positive voice, the silver lining, the glow within each and every color of the complicated human experience. His songs have a way of reaching the intricacies of the heart, while staying light and filling the airways with hope. His songs make people want to dance, laugh, and celebrate even the hardest of times. This may be the artist that pop music fans everywhere have been waiting for. Thank you so much for joining us in this series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up? Igrew up in Northern California and took to music at an early age. I have been completely fascinated and enthralled by music and drums since the age of 3 years old. Music was always in my household. My mom taught violin, piano, and voice. All my siblings played music as well.

I was only allowed to listen to Christian music, but I couldn’t take “no” for an answer, so I used to bring home burned cd’s that were labeled as different Christian artists, but were really Michael Jackson, Muse, Incubus, and many more of my favorite artists.

I started writing songs and playing drums professionally at age 13. From then on, I made the decision that I wanted to be involved in music, and I have been ever since.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path? At an early age, I just remember being in church, and my Uncle David would play drums for the praise and worship team. I was completely obsessed and bewildered by the drums. It seemed like magic to me. Without my parents’ knowledge, I bought my first drum set. I thought, “Maybe they won’t notice.” ha. Well, they noticed about 4 blocks away as they were getting home. The next year, I was playing paid gigs.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career? Music is universal and inclusive. It brings people together from all walks of life. I’ve met thousands of people because of music. That’s what I like best about it. There was one time I was on tour playing drums for an artist. We were in Houston, TX, and after one of the songs in the set, the entire crowd started shouting and chanting my name. I was completely humbled by this experience.

Can you share with us an interesting story about living in Nashville? A few years ago, I was bartending part-time at a bar in Nashville. We had our usual regulars who’d come in, and I got to know a lot of them. One guy in particular would ask me a lot about my experience bartending, especially in a downtown, high-volume environment. I finally asked him if he was in the business. Well, it turns out he was a famous country singer who owned a bar downtown and wanted an insider’s opinion on different things in the service industry. You just never know who you are talking to in Nashville.

Can you share with us a few of the best parts of living in Nashville? We’d love to hear some specific examples or stories about that. I really love the community surrounding the music business in Nashville. Like I said above, you might not always realize who you are talking to. I’ve been fortunate enough to build an awesome community of friends as well as like minded musicians and artists that I collaborate with on my own music as well as with other projects that I’m producing. There’s just really nothing like it. My friend Bobby Tomlinson is an artist that performs downtown at different bars and venues. I meant him one night bartending and now we work together often. In fact, he played guitar on my new single “Lovely Lady”.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that? I was about 13 and starting to experiment with some different drum techniques that were a little more complicated. I just wanted to be the best drummer I could be. Ambitiously, I thought I’d try them out during a praise and worship set at church before I had them down perfectly. TOTAL FAIL! I got so off from the band that we had to stop and start over, ha. Never try out new licks or techniques before you’ve practiced them long enough to make your hands bleed. Not to mention, knowing what the gig wants from you as a player is going to be the best way to ensure getting a call back.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that? My wife, Angela, is my rock. I met her when I was leaving the last group I was playing with so that I could pursue what I’m doing now with Joeyglo. I was struggling to find my voice as an artist while self-teaching and learning about music production. She always believed in me. I didn’t even know at the time she was in music. When I found out she was a writer a while after we started dating, I begged her for months to write with me. She finally agreed, and the first song we wrote together is a song called “Indigo,” which will be released in the near future. She is the best songwriter I’ve ever worked with. We write together all the time now, and she played a huge role in me finding my voice as an artist.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? I love what I’m doing now with Joeyglo. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to collaborate with so many different players and writers. One project in particular is very exciting. My friend Bobby Tomlinson will be releasing a cover of Tina Turner’s “What’s love got to do with it” that I produced for him. I can’t wait for y’all to hear it.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. If you choose drums, remember you have to get the drums to the gig, set them up, tear them down, and get them home, typically all by yourself. The flute would’ve been way easier ;)

2. Never burn any bridges. You never know who might need a gig filled.

3. Always perform every gig like it’s your last gig. Again, you never know who might be watching and who may see you perform. If you do a sloppy job, that could be an opportunity lost out on.

4. When you practice rudimentary techniques, always start slow and speed it up. This corrects sloppy technique.

5. Always stretch and have good posture while playing. It should be a priority over trying to look cool. It won’t be cool if you wake up one day with carpal tunnel or back problems.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”? Always surround yourself with positive and like-minded people. The music industry can be overwhelming at times, and if both of those qualities are there, it makes it more fun and tolerable, and creativity can flow much more easily.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-) I believe if we can all take a step back and learn to respect each other despite our differences, we will learn more about ourselves and how our actions and things we say affect not only ourselves but everyone around us. We will then be able to accomplish so much positivity and growth in our lifetime as a human race.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life? “What a caterpillar calls the end of the world we call a butterfly” - Eckhart Tolle At times throughout my life, I may have felt unseen or misunderstood, just as the caterpillar represents. However, the butterfly represents our ability as people to change how we view things and our life situations.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-) Off the top of my head, three people come to mind. Pharrell Williams, Eckhart Tolle, and Oprah Winfrey. What they all have in common is respect for others and a high capacity for empathy. If I’m forced to choose just one, it would have to be Oprah. Let’s face it. She would be a total blast! ;)

How can our readers follow you online? All streaming platforms. Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube etc. https://www.facebook.com/joeyagonzales/ Instagram: @joeyglomusic

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

https://medium.com/authority-magazine/meet-nashvilles-rising-stars-joeyglo-3e2fd4a46493