Meet Joey Blush | BLUSH_RESPONSE – Producer + Sound Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joey Blush and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joey, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Well I always wanted to be a musician, I started making music in my parent’s basement when I was 16 and never stopped. I just simply can’t and don’t want to do anything else with my time. I have been lucky to build a career from my talents!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I work making music under the name BLUSH_RESPONSE. My music stems from a passion for sound manipulation. I love to spend hours in my studio every day just playing with my equipment and discovering where the sounds can take me.

My music is quite aggressive and some umbrella terms it might fall under include Industrial, Techno, EBM, IDM, and Noise. I try not to categorize or stick to one thing for too long, I am on a never ending quest in sound and follow my heart to whatever conclusion I reach within that moment.

As for how I got here – I have been lucky to meet the right people at the right times on several occasions, and to be ready for the opportunities they presented me. Music is a community at the end of the day, so I couldn’t do this without the all of other artists who have recognized me and decided to work with me.

There have definitely been difficult times but the journey is always worth it. I simply need to do this and can’t and don’t want to do anything else. It might sound cheesy but all the challenges are overcome simply with the music itself. Creating music is meditation for me, and can help me get through anything. If i don’t do it for a long time I start to get really upset, so I need to be deep into it to feel right with myself.

In the past year I’ve also started a Youtube channel where I review music gear and also interview artists and equipment makers in depth about their creative process. That’s been a new and exciting avenue for me that I’m hoping to develop more in the coming years.

As for lessons learned, the biggest is probably to stay true to myself. I’ve had situations where people who were interested in financial gain from my work tried to steer my sound in certain directions, very aggressively, and resisting them gave me peace. I believe in purity and indulgence of sound and try to stay true to my vision. In moments when I haven’t, I’ve always regretted the result.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Berghain is probably the biggest tourist attraction in Berlin.

The most famous techno club in the world and for good reason, it’s like partying in every cool club scene you’ve ever seen in a movie. The club scene is really it here and there are lots of other spots.

There is a lot of art in general in Berlin and so there are always cool museums and galleries to check out, as well as all the historical museums.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
So many people have helped me along the way to where I am now in my music career. I have to give big props to Rhys Fulber, most of all. He has taught me so much about every aspect of music from production, songwriting, to how to manage my career and deal with situations.

I would also thank Joey Jordison for taking me on tour with his band Scar the Martyr and showing me one of the greatest experiences of my life. Rest in Peace, old friend.

I couldn’t do what I do without all of the people in the music scene and my creative partners. Sarin, Phase Fatale, Philipp Strobel, Hakai, Thomas P. Heckmann, Ontal, etc to name a few. We are all in this together!

The list could be endless!

Website: http://blushresponse.bandcamp.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/blush_response

Twitter: http://twitter.com/blush_response

Facebook: http://facebook.com/blushresponseofficial

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/wearereplicants

Image Credits
John Rohrer Blush Response Jagoda Nagel