Q&A with R&B Music Artist Joney

[00:00:06] It's a Jacked Up Review Show, It's a Jacked Up Review Show It's a Jacked Up Review Show, It's a Jacked Up Review Show So we get right to it. Here for another exclusive Dallas Fort Worth Music Artist Spotlight. I'm your host, Soli. And with me tonight is Joni.

[00:00:55] Hello, hello. R&B soul singer. So thank you. Yeah, you've already got the Spotify figured out. You just wrapped up a local concert through Starcons. Congratulations. Anyone who can symbol any kind of concert venue. That's awesome. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:01:15] I'm like that concert, it inspired, it was literally a dream come true because I honestly never would have thought my music or even this EP would have gotten me even that far. And I want to say a lot of that in putting it together,

[00:01:40] it brought me back to my KD training, which is why when you mentioned it earlier, I was like, yes, we can talk about it. Yes, thank you. It was like it helped me

[00:01:56] remember what KD taught me and most specifically what Miss Paula taught me from KD. So I really owe all of that to KD and her. And it was just an amazing dream come true experience for me.

[00:02:11] So for those who don't know, yeah, KD College, pretty good at just getting people into acting and music, famous people, including George Ides from CSI have even gone there. So that was around 2012 you started there?

[00:02:31] 2012 is when I graduated from high school. So yes, that was I started October 2012 and graduated January 2014. Nice. And Miss Paula, would that be Paula Morolin? Yes, yes, sir. The one and only legendary.

[00:02:52] Yeah, she had previously managed in the 70s the Rosela School of Ballet and Ballet Arts Center. I have many other pals who go there on a common basis, Carrie McCormack and a bunch

[00:03:02] of other pals. What was acting kind of a side passion or was it kind of just any kind of entertainment? Well, my my main passion had always been singing and it stemmed from the Cheetah Girls coming out in. Oh, there's a callback.

[00:03:22] This is the second time I have heard that come up. And I think it's a must be making a comeback. Aren't they making like a sequel or something? It's like I pray, I pray that they do. I would I would prefer an album

[00:03:37] from them over a movie. I really would because they they kind of sparked me wanting to be an entertainer just performing with my friends on the playground. That sparked that. But when

[00:03:52] it comes to acting, I guess that kind of all tied in with me being an only child and like just acting out Disney movies. My favorite Disney movie to act out was Lion King 2,

[00:04:04] Simba's Pride and I played Kiara and you know it was just me running around on all fours in my room and I was like that's kind of where the acting jumping off a couch is a dream come true.

[00:04:16] I used to jump off a bunk bed. See, I was an only child with a bunk bed. You know that spoiled right there but I used to jump off the top of the bunk bed. Plus you

[00:04:27] can't blame anyone if anything happens. You're like yeah I did that on my own. But yeah that's where the acting comes in as well. Kind of just me you know entertaining and

[00:04:41] just going to KD that kind of you know brought that out to life because a lot of that stuff I kind of just did on my own or did at school you know. Sweet. Go back a bit. You were class

[00:04:55] of 2012 at Lake Highlands High School. Altogether when did you start believing you could bring your own voice to the table? Research. Yes I did graduate from Lake Highlands. Actually I was kind of shocked about that.

[00:05:15] Did you know that? What was the question again? No it's all good. When did you when did you find your voice to build on that and then when did you believe you can contribute your own narrative to the table?

[00:05:30] Definitely I found my voice at KD for sure. In high school that's kind of where I kind of explored my voice a little bit. I got back into choir when I was in high school

[00:05:50] and with being in choir you know you're with a whole bunch of other people, a whole bunch of other voices, a whole bunch of other people who want to do the same thing you want to do.

[00:06:02] And with being in choir I had like kind of that quiet singing voice and you know it wasn't that powerful but I always knew it was something I wanted to do.

[00:06:17] It wasn't until I got to KD and you know me as a person I'm kind of like shy and timid to myself. Yeah and so like whenever I'm performing that's when I feel the most confident but

[00:06:36] with high school you know I initially had the voice with the shyness so I didn't know how to fully develop it and it wasn't until my second semester in Mark Malino's class

[00:06:53] and I sang I Won't Say I'm In Love from Hercules. And yeah and so I used to sing it like the she's no way and we'll say no no but he kind of like forced that belt out of me and told

[00:07:11] me to like take an imaginary piece of paper and just like throw it across the room while I sang and that was the first time I realized I could belt. And from that point on I kind of wanted to challenge my voice and challenge myself

[00:07:30] and that whole KD experience just brought that out of me and it turned me the person I didn't know I could be. Much like speeches have you ever heard the phrase make those butterflies in your stomach work? No. Okay yeah it makes sense though. Right because it just

[00:07:49] I've done it when I've left a voicemail when I realized oh there is no take two. Right that's why I try not to do voicemails because I'm like I can't go back. Exactly.

[00:08:02] Go back. Yeah go back in time. Growing up did you have a lot of good support from family who were like oh you're should go do a talent show you should do improv you should do

[00:08:12] a music show. Oh I definitely had the support for sure it wasn't really until I actually put myself kind of out there to do like performances and shows where you know

[00:08:29] my family would be like oh I'll come out and see it oh I'll do this and then I'll do that. I always felt kind of like self like conscious to have like family or so around at like

[00:08:41] performance or anything that is very distracting because they know you. Yeah it's like you know you kind of get a little bit in your head about certain things or it's like oh there's some stuff I can't do because my mom's here my dad's here but they really

[00:08:57] they really show out and they they support me whenever you know it is an event that they can come to and especially with this concert that I had this past Saturday they helped provide

[00:09:13] snacks they helped provide the food my I would tell my dad you know I don't it's like thank you for helping me I don't need this much but he's like yeah he's like this is my you're

[00:09:22] my baby we can do this this this so it's um I get a lot of the support from them and this EP really brought out how much my family supports me. That's lovely

[00:09:38] all together well that actually does open a lot uh I was able to cheat I take my glasses off so I can't see anyone grinning in the audience it's a little harder when you don't

[00:09:50] have that barrier um oh so I gotta I would be criminal if I did not ask you this uh who were some of your icons growing up who were your inspirations?

[00:10:02] Ah if you can well first and foremost it I don't know if this will be visually seen or but you can just just audio oh gosh I respect you oh thank you thank you um Michael Jackson for sure he has been um entertainment wise musically harmony he's

[00:10:27] been one of my influences um another influence has been Aaliyah. I just was gonna ask you that yes Aaliyah she okay growing up I always wanted to look and be just like her because I was like

[00:10:48] she is fine she is sexy um she always I always wanted like my hair bone straight like hers I started wearing my uh whenever my hair is down I part it this way because she used to

[00:11:02] part it that way sunglasses help performance wise so those are some really rocking glasses I love how you it's like a dark flame thank you I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to hook

[00:11:14] up with that same uh five below um so Aaliyah Kushner yes that's the best place good stuff it is uh Tony Braxton? Tony Braxton? Vocal wise yes okay I love it's rare that I get to

[00:11:38] explore my lower lower range and like just recently um with getting back into music and stuff I realized like oh I like singing down here this feels good to be down here

[00:11:51] and I'm like my everyday speaking voice is like you know up higher or at least when I'm outside but when I'm like to myself it's like lower and I love exploring that low range so

[00:12:03] yes I do accredit Tony Braxton and one of my other uh main idols icons is Janet Jackson there we go now we are talking you got the uh I really did enjoy a lot of these listens

[00:12:20] yeah I'm not here to bullshit I really do this you know I can't sing to save my life so I do want to give everyone uh I believe everybody has musically rhythmic whatever okay

[00:12:32] so I can do sarcastic music but I'm tenacious tenacity has not come knocking yet um but uh just coming back and your newest single All To You both felt like a proper 90s throwback

[00:12:46] like something I would have totally have heard at a mall so I really applaud the mixing on that uh Lies was a favorite of mine and the electronic layering didn't hurt at all

[00:12:55] another round was also a noble r&b effort I think that was thank you uh but where did you uh why did you choose the scorpion symbol it was just very kind of cool how that's kind of your

[00:13:09] your logo and you know something we all fear but when we see in the movies it's kind of cool yeah so um my birthday is October 30th so I am definitely a Scorpio and I kind of

[00:13:27] have loved the the thought of the scorpion symbolizing not only like mysterious loyalty they also symbolize transformation and with my music I've been experiencing growth through you know being an only child trying to um be away from the world

[00:13:54] and myself I haven't had or haven't given myself permission to grow and so now I'm trying to put myself out there to you know grow and explore and expand myself so it all ties in

[00:14:12] with the Scorpio and the reason why I kind of have it in that bluish greenish looking style is because I'm very very into like neon black light nighttime type of stuff and I read somewhere

[00:14:29] that scorpions like are very like how do I put it fluorescent or bio-illuminescent I don't know the right word but like if you put them under a black light they glow and oh wow yeah and so

[00:14:49] it all ties into everything that I like the neon black light and and just being that light within the dark for myself so you know guys check your pillows before you go to bed at night

[00:15:04] yeah it all I just love being a Scorpio too so it all oh there you go okay wow so human I do Scorpio um here's looking at you kid uh first time I met a scorpion we had just

[00:15:19] moved into a new house it was miniature I screamed and dropped a plate on it by accident and that killed it see I've never seen and I've never I mean I've only seen like scorpions like

[00:15:34] I've never seen one in real life to where I are out in the open so I'm like if I ever were to meet one I'd probably either have to suck it up or or I might run I don't know

[00:15:50] and so I'm like I'm like having the scorpion as my symbol and all that and like one day I might come across they're very cool especially when my favorite rock band is the scorpions but

[00:16:03] I don't know too much of their music but I have heard of them so all I know is they're going to rock you like a hurricane that's one of their songs those damn Germans they know how

[00:16:14] to rock I'm gonna have to listen to that one though I'm gonna have to listen to it I like exploring new music so sweet um but uh what was your favorite music genre in general

[00:16:27] um 90s r&b no that's fine I think a lot more people do love it more than they give themselves credit for it's just I don't know if you see this I see people kind of in denial oh I never

[00:16:43] like that yes you did I was there there's no it's not a contest it's not I can't deny it it's like no need come on yeah I have I have like co-workers like till this day who

[00:17:01] like still listen to um like rap from the 90s like um well I know nwa was kind of sort of like in and out of like 90s 80s but um still listen to that um I I also credit early

[00:17:17] 2000s music as well we'll return after these messages if you like small town mystery crazy news and wild history then the Florida men on Florida man podcast is for you each week Josh Mills and Wayne McCarty bring you the absolute best Florida has to offer so if you're

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[00:18:36] check them out like you know us sure I almost called him usher I mean I know he'd say that's our sure whatever your name is sure that's that's the has been knockoff group is that usher baby but yes

[00:19:01] perfect but yeah so 90s rmb early 2000s all of all that it's a very j blige in there yeah he was kind of the first voice I realized but kind of like many of these rock and

[00:19:19] pop groups I didn't know their name because my father was the music guy and my mother only listened to what was on the radio so I had a very mixed upbringing yeah you were talking

[00:19:31] to a guy who was raised on the pointer sisters rick ashley and zz top so there you go but I love everything and I know that sounds just so wide of me it was like oh I love

[00:19:45] everything no I legit I that it wouldn't be a genre if it didn't have any relevance of any sort you know yeah I'm like music should I mean no matter what genre I'm like if it makes

[00:19:57] you feel good if it's something that you enjoy listening to just listen to it no it's also having to kind of find a way to kind of compromise if it's a music that you're not necessarily crazy

[00:20:07] about like my brother is my younger brother is actually bigger than me is in the country I'm not in the country but I will have a you know I'll compromise and say uh no I'll

[00:20:22] listen to hootie in the blowfish Darius Rucker he's good but yeah I was like I'll give something to try you know he's more folk rock but he just happens to do country side gigs but

[00:20:34] good news to anyone who can wear that many hats and I'm you apparently have because you got an acting background then you decided music is where my efforts mainly lie uh so getting back to you enough about stupid me uh so where do you find

[00:20:54] uh how did you assemble your producing team so this is what happened okay so I was on I was on good old Instagram right and this was around the time you know

[00:21:12] COVID was starting and yes I was just going through Instagram and I don't know if you know Brian blanks uh he also went to KD and I seen that you know he was making music and I really

[00:21:28] liked better better thing the hot love football guy yeah the former football player no he he he um he went to KD uh I I don't think he played football but uh he was he was a class

[00:21:46] underneath me and he was making music and so I went to see you know where he went to make music or who he wanted to make music with it yeah and I saw that it was a sound alarm studio

[00:22:04] so I instantly just followed it nice and didn't think anything of it I just followed next thing I know Mitch who is the producer from um sound alarm studio he is the one that

[00:22:20] actually hit me up yeah on um excuse me he actually hit me up on Instagram saying like if I had any music or if there's something that you know I could send him that I you know have

[00:22:33] done and so I did and he was like wow you have nice voice and stuff you want to work on something and that's how that all began I started working with him and I was

[00:22:49] and I had been working with him for that with that EP for three whole years and so what went from a simple follow on Instagram ended up becoming this um work collab and it turned out to be great lovely lovely yes for those who don't know uh

[00:23:13] uh the producing studio she's with uh is uh uh yeah uh just had the link in front of me uh uh yeah uh Mitch uh Mitchell Beats uh how are you liking sound alarm studios sound alarm studios it was pretty good um we

[00:23:42] funny story is he went he traveled to three different locations he had three different locations as we were working and I followed to each one because this project was something

[00:23:57] that I I wanted to continue working on and I knew it was going to be something good one day I just didn't know exactly when to put it out or when I was predicting is hard yeah but

[00:24:12] you know working with Mitch he helped me out in a lot of um a lot of ways he's also helped me out in um trying to know like what goes down and what goes on in the music industry and at

[00:24:27] at one point you know I was just kind of like yeah yeah yeah I'm like we'll cross that bridge when we get there but it turned out that some of it was very helpful

[00:24:40] lovely uh one of your co-writers is Dominique uh Mitchell senior uh how is he oh that's actually that's actually Mitch we all got stage names we all know that we go by but for the longest time I'm sorry should I edit that out oh um

[00:25:01] um I mean probably for him okay I mean yeah I don't I don't know but I'll still tell you like for uh the longest time I thought his name was Mitch Mitch that was his real name

[00:25:17] Mitch Mitchell yeah until we started putting things in he's like my name is Dominique I was like who is Dominique who are you that's an elegant name right like who have I been working

[00:25:32] with but it kind of just lets you know right there everybody has a stage name everybody you know creates their own creates their own person who like who they are in the industry

[00:25:45] and you know it's just you kind of get used to it you love it you know lovely okay so um now that you know Spotify has evolved and Deezer and Apple are making it easier for people

[00:26:02] to submit their own music how have you embraced the these multiple platforms to get your material out uh well I'm just very happy that I even have things on all of these um like Spotify which I never would have thought would be on there you know yeah

[00:26:25] um it all still kind of feels like it's unreal like it's still I didn't do it I thought it was going to go the way of SoundCloud where it's used but not all that much yeah and it's like

[00:26:37] I never thought that it would really like pick up or it just still seems like every now and again it's like I've been playing the song off my phone for the longest time and it hasn't even

[00:26:51] you know even when it wasn't out it I've been hearing it and so it just sounds normal to me but like now I'm hearing it in people's cars or I'm hearing my mom and dad listen to it in

[00:27:04] the other room you know to where it's kind of like it's exciting and so with that excitement I've been like putting it on different posts just to get it out there I've been boosting it

[00:27:19] I've been um sharing different links to people whether the link is from YouTube whether the link is from Spotify whether it's from iTunes I've been yeah I've been sharing it from different platforms because I also realize they kind of sound different if you listen to them

[00:27:35] from different platforms as well like it is well the playback and you're like that's how you hear it what's going on here yeah it's like you when you listen to it from Spotify there's like some subtle differences than he listening to it from YouTube or there's subtle differences

[00:27:53] listening to it from Apple so it's kind of like you're getting different experience from different um streaming sites but they're all the same song I don't know how to explain that but no no I totally understand what you mean hopefully this makes better sense for everyone

[00:28:08] kind of just you're you're hearing more on this speaker versus that format and you kind of see it even with video games and I mean if you want to even look at DVD versus Blu-ray you're seeing more detail than you sometimes more than you want to see

[00:28:23] and speakers you're hearing more uh when I was listening to the radio still I would sometimes hear some deep cuts on some of those more contemporary channels and I was like is

[00:28:34] that a it sounds like a studio edit because I've never heard it in the various radio edits it's the weirdest thing and it's like you know you listen to a song on the radio

[00:28:44] and then it has like that scratchy tiny static to it and then it's like I want to listen to this I want to listen to the song but I want to hear it clearer so you like go to

[00:28:55] like Spotify or something and it's like it sounds so much 10 times better so yeah like just sharing different links with people to get the different different sounds it's one of the ways I

[00:29:10] distribute my music out to people too so it's been good no that's lovely uh uh all together uh when you go into uh what do you recommend in terms of just planning lyrics uh writing

[00:29:30] the notes for those who have to do that and uh just coming up with a concept that you even want to sing about what do you think you spend the most time on um I think I spend the most

[00:29:45] time on because I can come up with like melodies and stuff on the spot I'm the type that can like if I hear something in my head I'll go with that flow and if the words come with that

[00:30:01] then cool I got something that I can put down or I can instantly like record it on my phone when it comes to some words or just like trying to write a song um

[00:30:17] um I start by writing as if I'm writing a journal entry like don't I don't worry about a beat I don't worry about like timing or worry about rhythm I just write as if I'm writing in a journal

[00:30:34] and if it's meant to be a song it'll it'll make its way to finding a rhythm like I can find a rhythm that'll go with it or if I find like if someone like provides a beat that just

[00:30:48] sounds good and then I have like these book of journal entries or words or whatever that I have I can try and melodically fit it in fit the words into the beat to make it into a song and

[00:31:02] if I need to alter the words for it to make more sense or to sound more like rhythmic then yeah I can do that I mean that's um that's probably an easier thing to do for me um but those are

[00:31:21] like two ways I would say that I like like to create the the songs and the music hmm no that that actually sums it up better for me because not it's kind of like how some people can read a foreign language better than they can speaking

[00:31:40] it like I can recognize certain Spanish words but I'm terrible at the conjugation and annunciation low loan enunciating it then sorry no I was about to say um that that that that is one of the reasons why I feel like I'm not fluent in Spanish because

[00:31:59] the conjugations I could not get those and I took like four years you say a certain same yeah I even worse in college uh yeah it's interesting how if you slanted a certain way in terms of how you're stating it it sounds past tense versus present tense

[00:32:17] yeah and I'm like I ain't got time for the confusion I just want to speak just want to say so you guys are like some of my grandparents who were like beer pointing

[00:32:29] I can't I can't that's all I can say um uh so yeah some people can perform music and other people just want to write it probably uh when you were embracing this how did you think

[00:32:45] you were going to fit in with this like did you just kind of want to just sing and then found out you also wanted to write the lyrics I I wanted to do both

[00:32:58] sweet I I always knew I could sing I always knew that I wanted to perform but for me it was the struggle was writing because I never really thought of myself for the longest time as a good lyricist um for the longest yeah for the longest time I

[00:33:22] anytime I thought about writing songs or did write songs they just seemed so simplistic like that's the one for me I love you this is fantasy this is where we're meant to be

[00:33:34] instead of like some like deeper like words to um fabricate everything or to make it not so simple I like songs that kind of have like um like metaphors analogies all the type

[00:33:52] of literary stuff but you know I wasn't really that good in English in class but you know it I just always assumed I was not the best lyricist because my words seemed so simplistic

[00:34:07] um but I did try I tried a class with uh Brie um who is yes an amazing songwriter for those who don't know she is pals with other local Dallas Fort Worth music pop artists uh Brie McKay

[00:34:22] and Danny Renee we've previously had on here both of them shout out to both of them um and I kind of realized like you know you you just gotta find words to kind of replace those simplistic

[00:34:37] words but that mean the same like you can always use a thesaurus you can always there's always google there yes google is your friend sometimes um so that that really helped in helping me be a better songwriter and now I'm like I can write anything you know I

[00:35:05] thank you yeah so I I've gotten better at being a songwriter over the years but I want to I always knew I could be I was good with singing it's kind of also opens up

[00:35:20] subtext have you ever heard of that format where you're saying something but you're kind of using a stylistic choice like instead of saying I love you I adore you you say I can't live the world

[00:35:31] without you like yes screenwriters will use that and I really does the screenwriting and it is so frustrating and I salute anyone else who can pull it off sometimes even a generic

[00:35:43] line of dialogue actually works it's just kind of how it's delivered kind of and yes but like you say it's hard to tell on just the page before it comes together yeah so that's I that

[00:35:55] that right there what you just said speaks exactly what I'm talking about you've fabricated what I said I stole uh but yeah it is like you say it's both creatively intriguing but also a

[00:36:13] little frustrating because it's like I know what I want to say but I don't want to say it any of these ways right that part right there and you get it you get it at least you're not

[00:36:24] like Billy Joel where you're like I'm I got to play it a totally different way and they're like no no it's working right you can just play piano man this way

[00:36:34] ah man but it's hard and it's hard to know when to even kind of let it speak on its own terms before too many chefs are in the kitchen and have you ever had anything like that where

[00:36:48] you're like I got to sleep on this and come back to it tomorrow yeah all the time all the time like I I get in so much of a creative mode to where sometimes I just I'm like I need to take

[00:37:08] a step back from this if I can't continue this right now I I need to do I need to focus on something else I'll restructure it uh when do you kind of just feel like you are finally at

[00:37:19] the end of the tunnel you're like I have said what I've said I like how it sounds on the playback I think this will find a crowd okay so with that um it takes a lot for me to say

[00:37:34] it's done it takes a lot because I always feel like there's always something missing there's always more that can be done I can sound better I could write better I could make

[00:37:47] this sound better and it took a minute to be to just be like the more you do to it the more you're going to feel like you have more to do to it because you keep changing it

[00:38:03] just just stop if it gets to a point to where it sounds good but the only thing you have to say about it is that it could be better maybe you just need to stop right there

[00:38:19] it's like maybe maybe right now this is where you need to either stop or you meet you need to come back to it later because it's you don't want to do too much to it to where people

[00:38:35] won't understand it or you don't want to do too too too much to where it's confusing um you want to do have right just the right amount and if it comes to a point to where you

[00:38:48] you should have added more I did need more okay now you know that you know that now so bingo apply that to the next song you know so I yeah definitely have those problems sometimes it's not easy trust me

[00:39:05] and it's not easy being a creative just like eric abadou says I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my shit she is awesome um and yes she doesn't know how to announce that I'm done with your shit um you have the most awesome 90s themed hat um

[00:39:33] how would you how would you describe your fashion um I would definitely uh say that my fashion comes from the 90s era I am a 90s baby um 93 in the house

[00:39:51] so I always feel like I was I was meant to be in the 90s for some reason I'm like even though I was born in it I kind of wish I was like a teenager in it or an adult in it you

[00:40:05] know to kind of it really truly experienced the 90s vibe but since that since I can't I kind of am bringing it to the 2024 2020s era um and so and in the 90s also has had a

[00:40:29] big influence on me musically for sure so why not pay tribute to my inner child or me back then and you know bring that 90s back to to now to me as an adult um and also I would like to say

[00:40:51] I get it I give a little bit of like some 80s here and there and even some 70s here and there granted I haven't like like put it out there like that as much as the 90s 90s era vibe but um those

[00:41:07] that era also has influenced my style too um the soul and funk um type error as well that that's all my style right there there you go nice very cool very cool uh all together um

[00:41:28] uh have you always kind of been into tattoos and other abstract art designs also yes I've been obsessed with tattoos um I've I want to get more so as of right now I have 11

[00:41:45] tattoos you're a big harley quinn fan I can see yes I love I love her um she's one of my favorite villains um as well as the joker she's holding the joker in one hand and batman in the

[00:41:59] other yes so that's good that was kind of my way of also getting a joker in a batman tattoo I was like I don't want to get full joker batman tattoos but I at least want to incorporate

[00:42:11] them right but tattoos for me it's like I'm an artist too I like to draw and paint and sketch and so I like to think of my body as a canvas as well and so if and with things that mean a lot

[00:42:30] to me like for instance I have not only this Michael Jackson tattoo on my arm I have a crown and his signature underneath the crown on my ankle um I'm planning yeah I'm planning to get

[00:42:45] Janet Jackson on the other side like one of her album covers on there the um the Janet album you know the one where the guy's holding her boobs but just gonna get from here up

[00:42:59] um I have a whole bunch of inspirations on me um I have a memorial of my my pop ball on my leg who died in 2017 um I'm sorry yeah it's all good um he I mean he also he didn't get to see

[00:43:20] my music become what it is but he's always with me I have this little heart it was a necklace but the chain broke sadly and this heart it has this picture on it and I

[00:43:34] carry it almost everywhere with me and he was he was in my pocket at my concert um he couldn't fit he couldn't fit on this um chain which I wanted him to fit on this chain so I could

[00:43:48] have him close to my heart during the performance but he was still there he was in my pocket so um I carried him with me he got front row seat he got front row seats

[00:44:01] you got a free ticket too exactly right smack dab like in my face but um yeah and I have other tattoos that kind of um either express my creativity express things that I like

[00:44:23] um a tattoo that tells me to keep thriving so tattoos are just the way of being creative and keeping myself lifted and inspired and they look good they make me especially if you go work out

[00:44:43] and like you have like arm tattoos or tattoos on your stomach and then you just look at how they just pop it makes you really want to go even harder in the gym so I'm like nice

[00:44:53] get you some tattoos they'll help you work out got some inspiration nice yeah I know I've always been subjective about what I put on my body but I always like looking

[00:45:06] at it because there are just some people who I do feel like it speaks to them as a person and like they look good with it if that makes sense but I see what you mean I mean we are

[00:45:18] artists so it makes sense to kind of be walking our pieces yeah and it can and it helps like you know you you can have memories with the tattoos um like you may not remember

[00:45:33] like with certain tattoos you remember who you would you who you were with at the time why you got it that time and you can just remember certain memories with the specific tattoo so

[00:45:45] tattoos also bring good memories or bad ones they they're monuments on your body as if you're a walking museum in some way that makes sense I mean it's also just what's the right word

[00:46:01] I guess you could say people I mean I listen to a lot of mental health and fitness podcasts and do you know the main source of like everything bad whether it's bullying or naysayers

[00:46:20] tends to be insecurity so you already know I'm sure you already do in this case but most people seem to forget hey if someone's telling me you know to do this do that they're already

[00:46:37] insecure in their own body I'm already know what I should be doing you don't have to tell me what to do it's like I know what I'm doing thank you and I'm doing something wrong okay

[00:46:52] I'll figure it out you don't like me that doesn't have anything to do with me it's like it's like you do you and I'll stay over here I'll do me and it's just something to know so like next time you're actually at the gym and someone's

[00:47:15] like hey you know you got to make us look good I'm like I don't have to do anything I'm doing what I should be doing I'm doing what I came here to do and thank you I appreciate

[00:47:25] it but no I'm sorry you have nothing better to do except pick on people who you think are weak like stay in your lane yes I've had to do that at my security job I saw someone who was finding

[00:47:43] out that I was reporting a house on the market that had squatters in it and they wanted to see oh you're gonna arrest him like they do on tv please go back inside and mind your business and no exactly that'd be a nosy

[00:48:01] it's like well and that's another source of where we kind of are as a toxic society people like to see other people fail they seem to get off on it and I never understood it ever since 9-11

[00:48:13] when I saw middle eastern guys getting picked on just because they didn't look like they didn't look like other typical crowds it's just like yeah I no one should have to

[00:48:25] be in a battle to fit in and that's the thing and that's why I feel like a lot of us are afraid to be ourselves too because we're and I know from experience from my experience at least

[00:48:40] I'm like I feel like I'm two different people when I'm when I'm right oh my word yes yeah so me being in it's we do it at work yeah it's kind of hard

[00:48:53] I'm this see myself yes it's like I'm I'm I'm it's like you don't get me wrong I would love to get to know people and be more socially interactive and stuff but there's that fear

[00:49:09] of like oh what if what if you don't like me yeah yeah what if you don't like me what if this is the what if I say the wrong thing when I don't mean to say the wrong thing especially at work when

[00:49:20] I'm just here I'm just trying to do my job and go home that's all I want to do but if I make friends along the way great but at the same time I'm like I'm also afraid but it's

[00:49:33] it's one of those like that's why people are so scared to be themselves just because of the judgment or because of I feel yeah I used to work valet and I met all kinds of personas

[00:49:46] and one guy not only was bad at paying attention he must he was either a real big narcissist or just wasn't even interested in listening to anybody but he thought he was listening and he wanted to know everything about us I'm like well first off that is

[00:50:02] complete wrong sauce don't force me to be your friend and talk to you and he would even do stuff like that oh he doesn't want to talk to me I'm like well I don't think anyone else here wants to talk to you you're you're forcing

[00:50:16] the scene to happen like if I had come up to you and said really good review now you'd be like fuck you camp don't talk to me that way is people don't have a personal space bubble

[00:50:26] they like to kind of ambush you and this is like yeah you don't want in there and I'll decide if this takes place yeah at times when you don't want to be ambushed too and it's one of those

[00:50:42] you I just like stay over there and it's mystifying yeah but also you know that it apparently that's the way you you gotta you gotta if you want to get to know people you gotta you gotta say something no that's true I mean instead of just sitting

[00:51:06] silently I think I learned that from bullying just sitting in the corner not saying anything only encourages them more I should have actually if I had a you know or I'd be like

[00:51:14] over I'd be like please I have nothing to share please leave me alone so I can go home right exactly that's all I wanted is lay in the bed with my dog and watch

[00:51:27] watch tv or just listen to music I once got told I sucked because I was doing extra credit like okay so I want to get out of the prison that's cool okay yeah sure I suck

[00:51:38] oh man speaking of extra credit this one time I did I had to be in solitary confinement for some extra credit in it what but yeah that I actually was it just a non-stop research or

[00:51:54] no here's the thing I actually enjoyed this extra credit because it gave me a chance to kind of just be alone yet write about being alone oh wow yeah that is kind of poetic

[00:52:10] yeah it was in my junior year of high school um in order to get extra credit for the class my teacher was like all right you need to be you need to isolate yourself for about

[00:52:26] I think it was I can't remember how many hours I think it was like three hours oh man that's the tension like no tv is like no tv isolation no clock like nothing

[00:52:41] literally isolated all you can do is twiddle your thumbs for three hours yeah well you had you had to write the experience down too but I know you'll be inspired but no that's a while

[00:52:53] to adjust to at first especially at that age I actually enjoyed it though because I'm like I'm an only child so I was like okay bet um high school yeah and I just sat in my closet

[00:53:06] I sat in my closet because my tv was outside of the room so I sat in my closet teacher's gonna know for sure whether you did it or not if it's just I sat I sat I sat uh that tells me

[00:53:19] nothing yes I sat and I just drove man I still have the I still have the music in frames I still have the book in my in my room and I wrote gosh I can't remember how many pages

[00:53:35] I wrote but whenever I turned it in it's it's like basically almost half the composition notebook I did that and I had to do that for like a week I can't remember how many days

[00:53:46] I ended that I had to do yes five days I remember had to do it for five days and I was in the closet for several hours just writing my hand would get tired I was the least allowed to eat

[00:53:59] I could still eat so I did bring food in the closet with me but I had to write you know I'm like I'm eating right now I even like drew picture on my drew a picture in my closet

[00:54:14] and I'm writing the story about the doodle that I did in my closet you kind of realize like you you kind of go a little crazy but I liked writing a writing my crazy it was like you know

[00:54:25] allegory in the cave type stuff okay so that that is meta that is as that might be the start of your creativity um did you do any uh but before we go uh did you do any uh poetry by

[00:54:41] chance uh growing up also you seem kind of I don't know why you just kind of seem like the type oh it's just a wag poetry but you know I've always like kind of like the whole

[00:54:54] like spoken word vibe uh I've never done it personally but I love the vibe of it it's not easy because it's not even necessarily about rhyming it's kind of about I got a C in

[00:55:06] college so I knew I wasn't cut out for it but at least I tried basically you just like you were saying earlier on how open you are and that is definitely the kind of the

[00:55:18] key to it how deep do I want to get with it I'm not saying you got to be blunt or explicit but like how vivid are you with your descriptions and I must have been just creatively bankrupt

[00:55:31] that finally I just couldn't ever just leave the teacher I'm like I I come up with a homeless man looking for work and a musician and uh man uh putting all this random stuff together

[00:55:47] I that's not good enough for you I don't know what you want from me so maybe I needed to push but I can kudos to anyone who can just be inspired and just say I want to draw that I

[00:55:56] want to sing about that I want to make up something about that like spoken word though that's something I never thought to want to do but it but the

[00:56:08] vibe of it just seems like that I could do maybe you could be one of the voices I use a lot of meditating gear for sleep maybe you could be one of those mystical voices saying go to sleep

[00:56:19] I thought about that the other day it was funny you mentioned that get a contact Joni yeah I'm like randomly out of nowhere I can't remember I think I was at work

[00:56:29] when I was like I'm feeling calm Joni and you are welcome to yeah welcome to your meditation space I am Joni she's Joni there's no doubt she said it herself she is Joni

[00:56:48] right I'm like what watch me going from uh like little Jon one moment saying yeah to the next moment I'm little Jon and this is your morning meditation maybe you could even be one of those bumpers that you hear on satellite radio now

[00:57:07] oh you're listening to the morning show is like don't switch the chat yeah there you go quiet storm you are listening to smooth rmb and classic there you go yeah 104.5 classic hip-hop queso 106.1

[00:57:33] oh we need a featuring music on kiss i found that would be great yes uh one day one day instead of calling into the station here you know you're hearing me like and I'm playing my

[00:57:45] music in the background playing it right just call just call the radio station as if I'm going to answer the question and then just put my music on who's music is it they'll just have to hang up on me right you're just gonna have to hang up

[00:58:04] wonderful Joni it's been a blessing I might need you to score an audio drum I got coming up in the future um yes I'm interested in working with anybody and like I'm interested

[00:58:15] I haven't gotten to like collab very much so I would really really enjoy like to say post-covid kind of made everyone reconsider their life like hit your girl up but no God speed to you out there yeah thank you I really I really enjoyed this interview

[00:58:38] this is my first podcast interview well I guess second if you want to count uh Cameron Martin back and when COVID first started there's another time out there Cameron yes I like to call him Cameron but his name is his name is Cameron Martin

[00:58:57] I'm a real pause drag race fan too I got that from BB Saharo Bonet from Cameron Martin but yes I I appreciate you for inviting me I appreciate you you were a very vivid

[00:59:11] storyteller so I try I try to be decorative you don't try it's second nature baby the second nature right God speed to you and you'll be safe out there I'll keep you updated

[00:59:24] I we should get this out by summer all right thank you Godspeed and we'll see you at a network event very soon yes yes you will follow us on the web on Facebook Twitter and Instagram

[00:59:45] the podcast is available on pod B Spotify I heart radio anchor Apple and anywhere else podcasts are available feel free to review our show and leave comments on any of those sites thanks a million for listening