NEW SINGLE FAUX BRITANNIA OUT NOW
1 . Who is ‘BUZZKILL JOY’
im a genre fluid lil punk from the north of England that went from full-blown brainwashed tory working in parliament to a grassroots progressive on a mission: show its never too late to change
2. For someone that is yet to discover you, how would you describe your music?
its eclectic as hell and always will be. i go everywhere from alt-rock and indie synth pop bops, to 5-minute orchestral ballads and 2-minute hyper-pop-punk-ska-hip hop tracks (yeah you read that right)
but the one binding thing is purpose. every song punches you in the face with a meaning. i stew over my lyrics for months if not years so they say exactly what i want
3. What inspired you as an artist?
its become cliche but i was not myself for all of my teenage years. but where most artists in the alternative space fought to be themself and faced the heat from society for it, and that struggle is what they sing about and embody, i was different. i didnt feel that struggle because i capitulated to society before i had even started. i personality-washed myself just as i was starting to develop one because throughout school and college all i wanted was to be popular. so i convinced myself that that was the true me. so convincing that it didnt even feel like a lie. boy how wrong i was.
it took moving to London, discovering alternative music, and learning to detest the people and politics that had made me up to that point. i then went through an chronic identity crisis and popped out the other side as BUZZKILL JOY.
4. What Is Yor Pre-Show Routine? Do you have any Diva demands?
oh no I’m like the antithesis of a diva. all i wanna do is vibe out, talk with and hug the life outta my buzzkill family (or the hive as we call it). I’m very serious when i say that buzzkill joy is a family. its not in name only like 99% of other artists that have ‘a community’. i spend hours a day talking with my community, i have a group chat with them, reply to all their comments and stories, and speak with them on livestreams every week. they make me who i am and till the day i die ill repay them with every drop of love and attention i can give
5. Where do you feel you fit into the music landscape?
i dont, but then why would you want to. its again cliched by that doesnt make it any less right. i just cannot be a mono-genre artist. i literally struggle to write 2 songs that feel similar. my brain gets board and my ADHD creativity engine feels like a fraud
6: What are your favourite musical genres, and are there any you dislike?
literally anything. my core is like a punk/ alternative/ rock vibe but ill branch out in every direction. indie, pop, shoe gaze, 80s electro, classic rock, a bit of EDM and metal tunes, and a handful of classical and ambient stuff. but my real curveball is movie sound tracks. 2 of my top 5 plays on spotify last year were from the soundtrack of Edward Scissorhands and inside out 2. PUNK AF RIGHT
7. Is there a story behind your name ?
i wish it had a cool back story but nah. i just thought it sounded sick, original and stuck out. the fact it sounds like a band even though im a solo artist was also important for scaling it up and world-building down the line. plus it can be shortened to buzz which makes it an actual name and less of a mouthful.
8 What would you say is your greatest strength as a artiest ?
the community. the energy. the meaning and the backstory. the eclecticism of sound. the absolute authenticity. and im northern and dont you forget it.
9. What would you say is your greatest weakness as a artiest ?
at this stage its that my big vision keeps grinding up against the cold hard reality of the cost. i just cant do all things i wanna, like pump out a bunch of music and merch, and tour to different places because i just cant afford it. im a solo artist with no manager, label, agent, financier or anything. its just me and my lil community against the big bad world
10. What can fans expect from your new single ‘FAUX BRITANNIA‘
A level of lyrical truth you wont be used to. it speaks explicitly not implicitly about everything wrong in this country consumed by delusions of grandeur. from rape conviction, the suicide epidemic, votes at 16, women’s safety, knife crime, generational wealth and class inequality, student debt, the broken housing ladder. when i say it speaks i mean it SPEAKS. i really am sick to the back teeth of weak, watery ‘protest’ music in name only.
11. What music artist would you say have influenced your work?
ive obviously got a lot of influences but 3 stick out by a mile: green day, yungblud and my chemical romance.
Green day were the first band i ever saw live and fan-Boyed over. they were my teenage obsession and planted the seed of wanting to be a rockstar one day.
Yungblud i owe the most too. he blew apart my hateful, conservative small-mindedness and replaced it with a loving, progressive, open-mindedness which set into effect a personal revolution that would take me me 30 paragraphs to recount.
And thanks to MCR i wrote a concept album that, if given the resources one day to make it at their level, i hope and think will be one of the most impactful albums ever made. i know how pretentious that is but don’t judge till you hear it
12. Who would you most like to collaborate with artistically?
all of the above lol. and off the top of my head baby queen, master peace, twenty one pilots, Brian Eno, M83, Kennyhoopla, billie eilish, WILLOW, Avril Lavigne, wet leg, MGK, Renforshort … i could go on forever
13. What was your worst performance?
i only started live shows last year so i aint really got a bad one yet. there was one show where their were 4 of us artists on the bill and i was the only one to bring a crowd, and a chuffin small one at that. like the other 3 brought literally zero people between them. the wasted potential was crazy
14: What was the most difficult obstacle you have ever faced and how did you overcome it?
in the early days putting your heart and soul, 1000s of hours and £1000s into releasing music and just getting tumbleweed back. that really tests your mettle man. just put your all into a song or a music video and getting zero response back, and then having the motivation to start it all again from square one. but if you love and believe in your art and your purpose then you will come back every single day because you know in your head its just temporary
15: What is your creative process when making music. Do you work with others or is there just you?
every song ive ever put out was written by me in my living room or bedroom on a 50 quid guitar 🙂
but the creative process itself is slowwwww because 95% of the time i think out and plan everything over months or even years before i start to write.
i initially have to get my album or EP concept down (i only work in concepts). then over time ill think of song titles that i like and that feel they have a story behind them that can fit the concept. then once a rough track list is down and i go to write one of the songs, ill think about how the song can fit into that concept, the mood, the genre mix, and the lyrical style. ill also often have a bunch of lyrics and ideas already jotted too before i start writing. ill then 9/10 start with finding some interesting chords. then through trial and error over days, months or years write the melody and lyrics chronologically. then i take the song to my producer where we collab to bring it out how i envision it. then boom. bobs your uncle fannys your aunt. done.
i very often also get to a full verse, pre chorus and chorus and them stop writing anymore. that way i can finish the rest with my producer in the studio where i can experiment way more
16: Where do you see your musical career in 10 years?
oh baby i already have a proper 10 year plan, but baby steps, a hell of a lot needs to go right for that to happen. lets get through this year first 😉
17: Your Top 3 Overrated Musicians, who when you hear them you think ‘ How The Fk………….. ?
my biggest is drake. honestly the lowest grade music on earth if you can even call it music. zero melody or flare or soul or anything. bland doesnt even cover the production. and it sounds like each song was made in 25 minutes. lowkey actually vexes me that something that soulless and devoid of creativity can be so popular
DONT COME FOR ME here but elton john. this one is fully subjective and not objective because he is one of THE songwriters of the 20th century and i adore him for all hes done for progress and how much of a trailblazer he was. but i find his music so tacky and cheesy man. i just like im at some butlins family sing along fever dream or something. just not my thing at all, soz elton. but youre still an absolute king.
and soz Swifties but Taylor. its the most generic NPC pop ever im sorry. and the extortion of tickets/ merch with a young fanbase is shameful to be frank. the working class may as well forget every having a chance to see her, and that’s kinda the opposite to everything i believe and stand for
