“As I started to reflect back on these nights, I quickly realized that the event this week actually marks the 2-year anniversary of the A Joyful Noise series at Public Records! We started this night with the intention of bringing together DJ-oriented and live-performed music together in a club setting, hearkening back to the aughts-era of NYC that was really formative for me and felt needed in the current nightlife scene. It’s been really exciting to see the way the night has grown, both in its concept and in terms of public support.
These nights are not your typical club night. They start early with a DJ warming up the room, and continue with two interlocking live band and DJ sets. The way we present the music is key; the DJ sets – whether residents or guests – and the live performances by the A Joyful Noise house band are all given equal weight in the night, both sonically and energetically. The creative musical baton passed is forth between the band and the DJs and sparks new energy. The audience gets to hear it all delivered on the exemplary boutique 4-point system. It’s a rare experience, especially for live dance music.
The A Joyful Noise band, which began as a collective of independent talent, has really grown into a cohesive ensemble with a focused and defined sound. A majority of our repertoire is from my catalog of originals and remixes which have been arranged for the group, but each member is a vital contributor in the overall aesthetic, and the AJN band has a way of making songs its own over time.
JKriv ft. Toribio – Shoulda Been Me [Live]
We’ve had some incredible guest performers join us over the course of the series, and it’s been a special way of presenting new music from Razor-N-Tape-affiliated or adjacent artists like Cor.ece, Adi Oasis, Toribio, Amy Douglas, Phenomenal Handclap Band, Illustrious Blacks, Underground System and more. Guest DJs have also been an important ingredient, from NYC local community Timo Lee, 4AM NYC, Renata do Valle, Miss Hap, Dee Diggs, Eli Soul Clap to international guests like Tigerbalm, Megatronic and others.
There’s also a really special community of people who have been supporting these nights. Our Razor-N-Tape team spends a lot of time conceptualizing, marketing, and DJing on these nights, bringing a real sense of our label’s musicality to each session. My partner at RNT Aaron Dae & our label manager Disgonuts have been staples of musicality on the DJ side, and A Joyful Noise has been one of our signature label events where we can showcase new music and the sonically deeper side of our aesthetic at Razor-N-Tape.
Each event brings familiar faces from our community and it’s always a very warm familial environment. I love chatting with friends and fielding questions from newcomers to the night between the live sets. It clearly is an event that brings people actual JOY.
As we continue to develop this night, another project on the horizon is an official release from the A Joyful Noise band. We have an archive of recordings from every event we’ve produced for this series, so the raw material is already there…it just needs to be excavated a bit. With nights booked through 2024 expect to see an even further refinement of the band’s sound and honing of the overall concept, as well as some fantastic DJ and performer guests.”
Grab your tickets + we’ll see you In The Sound Room,
Thursday [11.16], for the next historic evening of A JOYFUL NOISE
