Joy Villa: Exactly. It’s wonderful. For Fashion Week, I’m happy to show my fans more sides of Joy Villa. I’ll be performing Vagabonds, my new single, so that’s going to be really fun. I’ll be doing some stuff with Puma, and a lot of exciting things in the works that I’m looking forward to showcasing.
Urban Grandstand Digital: I think it’s awesome. Your album that’s out now, talk to me about the album, and what you wanted to get out with it.
Joy Villa: Well, it’s an EP. 5 tracks. I flew to outside of London, to a big farm like a house from the 1880s. This farm has 4 horses, 8 cats, and a beautiful studio above a barn. I recorded with Barry Glutten, out of the UK. We just dove in, and it was nonstop. All of these tracks, I wrote myself, and worked on the arrangement with Barry. We knocked down acoustic guitar first, made sure it hit the melody structures, we cooperated together. One of the songs, The Darkness, I actually wrote 5 years ago when I was living in Los Angeles. It was about going through a lot of pain and suffering at the time. Every artists, every person, every human being, I’ve been through these moments where I say why bother. It feels so heartbreaking, to even be myself. I’ve been through a lot of moments where I say if only I could just get to the next level. It was a lot of pressure. I felt like I just want to shine. I want my music to be out there, and I want to reach people. I want to communicate with people above all.
I wrote this track and it just came out. It sat in my laptop with all my recordings and rough drafts for about 5 years, until I was able to produce it with Barry. He could hear how it was going and he really put the track and instruments behind it. All the artists who worked on it were so talented Each track is very different from the other. It’s my introduction. I have two other songs out on iTunes. These 5 songs, 5 handcrafted songs. I go through heartbreak, different struggles, like Surrender is about the struggle for power, surrendering to the fact that you are an artist, and give up the day job and just go for it. If you have to shop at the .99 store then that’s what you have to do. I have designer clothes in my closet, but I also have a lot of thrift store fashions in my closet. I have no problem with saving money. As an artist, you have to. Even when I “made it”, I would be the same person. When you talk to people who are successful, they are real people. The kind ones are the ones who last. I treat everyone with respect. You never know, the assistant you talk to today will be the CEO tomorrow. You have to treat everybody with respect. I will say it all the time. I’ve done small parts, sang backup, and studio time where I’m just in the background. I always remember the people who treat me well, and of course you remember the ones who don’t. You can’t wait until you’re famous to be nice to someone. That’s not how it works.
Urban Grandstand Digital: Sad thing though is a lot of times when people become famous, they get mean-er!
Joy Villa: Yea, that’s when character flaws show up. They are there, but fame, attention, money, power, all these things will magnify you as a person. If you are a little bit of an asshole, you become a big asshole. If you’re a little bit of a nice person, you become a very nice person. My parents taught me to respect everyone. It doesn’t mean I have to be around everyone. No is a powerful word. I’ve turned down projects because I don’t feel it’s right. I have to listen to my intuition and work with people who are working just as hard as I am. This album is 5 tracks and a lot of hard work. I put in elements of my tour, about hitting the road and traveling, and I’m working on some new music which is really exciting. That’ll be before summer.
Urban Grandstand Digital: EPs are usually better anyway. It’s fewer songs, so you usually get the best tracks.
Joy Villa: Yea, there’s no filler tracks. You can’t afford to have those. It’s fun, and I have a lot of songs, a few songs that I sing LIVE, that I want to offer everybody. A big part of my line is fashion, freedom, and music, and it’s all tied together. It’s all the message to be free and be allowed to be yourself. A lot of things tell you not to be yourself. I’ve heard those messages as a young girl.