This week's spotlight is a little different from the rest. We were able to catch and interview with songwriter/singer Joey Delaney, an up and coming artist in the Chicago area. Continue to learn more about his work and his interesting creative processes.

Ashley: Where did your music start?

Joey: My dad had me playing guitar by the time I was 4. I’ve been doing it forever, ever since I could remember. When I was six, I got enrolled in this thing call The School of Rock and I learned to perform there. I spent a bunch of years playing bass and guitar there and then I just wanted to learn every instrument that I could. So in middle school I spent three years learning everything; tuba, trumpet, drums, guitar, piano. Ever since then I kept going.

In high school I started and joined a bunch of different bands. I had an indie band, a metal band, which was instrumental so that was really cool. And then I auditioned for school of rocks tour group, which is like an elite and when you get on it, they send you on a tour for 2 weeks and I got on it. WE toured around the Midwest and we played at the Kansas City Royal Stadium before a baseball game which was really cool. Then we played Summerfest in Milwaukee and we finished off back in Minnesota, opening for Smash Mouth, which was the craziest show of my life. That was just wild. That was 20,000 people and I was just 16.

Then when I got to college I took a bunch of time off. I still played but I hadn’t done anything with music until this summer. I was really mad at myself for taking 2 years off, so I just released two singles. Candy is the instrumental which is just all fast guitar stuff. Then the one I released on 9/23 was a full blown instrumental and vocals, it’s called I’m Coming Home.

A: So your dad inspired you to start, but what artists or individuals keep inspiring you to play? What genres do you lean more toward sometimes?

J: Forever, as a kid growing up, it was Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, great blue and rock and roll was how I grew up. My first concert was Eric Clapton in 5th grade and then I got the blues in there too.

I found this instrumental metal genre called prouge, and it’s like a form of metal where a lot of the guys are formally educated in jazz and they love metal so it’s really a difficult genre to play. So bands like Polyphia and then the band I was in Sky Haven, which I quit in high school, just toured on the final Wrap Tour which was cool. They’re making a name for themselves in that. Animals as Leaders is probably the biggest one right now, Tosin Abasi is just an unbelievable guitarist so he is probably my biggest inspiration right now.

A: What inspirations have you found in Chicago that differentiate from the inspirations and influences that you had back home in Minnesota?

J: Minnesota has a really cool jazz and metal scene so it’s like a splitworld. There’s the really cool raging underground metal scene, but then there’s the technicality of jazz and its very sophisticated and hard to learn. SO those where what I started off with. But in Chicago theres this cool R&B, more hip-hop style vibe to it where I’ve met a lot of bands that are incorporating those into their rock. SO its rock and rool in a weird way and it’s all modernizing my sound. I grew up playing the 70s and 80s high game rock and roll stuff, so it’s very different. It’s very clean and vibey and not so in your face.

A: Are there any Chicago artists that you have taken notice of and have used them for inspiration for your sound?

J: Divmond, they have that vibery-modern sound that I’m really digging here in Chicago.

A: And how about your trip to Australia last semester? Did you find any artists there that have come to inspire you?

J: Two artists that have become massive inspirations for me from Aussie are Matt Corby and Tash Sultana. Matt has a song writing style accompanied by one of the most unique voices I've ever heard. He puts such a cool and creative spin on alternative music which I really try to apply to my own music. Tash is one of the most impressive artists in our generation. Her ability to make so much sound with so little is like nothing I've ever seen before. She's an inspiration because she proves that you don't need a band of 4 or 5 elite musicians to make huge, spectacular music

A: Is Candy the first piece that you’ve released without a band?

J: No, I actually have one on iTunes, called Moving On, that is going to come down soon. It was a high school project that I did on my own without recording equipment. And it was cool at the time but I have learned so much about producing and recording equipment. That was my senior year but the quality is nowhere near my new stuff.

I’m going to be starting two different projects soon because Candy doesn’t really fit with my latest single in the sense that it’s strictly instrumental and the other one has vocals and instrumental to it.

A: You’ve mentioned in the past that music helped your social anxiety, would you like to brush on that at all?

J: Yeah! When I was a kid, I had a weird social anxiety where I could talk to people and it wouldn’t show but I was absolutely terrified. Like teachers scared me, new kids in class scared me, everything kind of freaked me out. But getting on stage for the first time and having people there for me, the feeling about it just changed, like a switch in my brain went and it’s not simply that I’m not afraid of people anymore, its that I love people now. I just did a complete 180 and I just can’t get enough of it, I love it.

A: Is it easier when you have an instrument in your hand than not having one?

J: Totally, 100%. I’m in an acapella group and so when we’re doing performances and I don’t have anything to do with my hands and I’m up front and center with a mic, I am super uncomfortable. But if you give me a guitar, I’ll love it.

A: So it’s the difference between when you have a guitar is performing, but when you’re singing it’s almost more like an acting roll?

J: Yeah exactly, the guitar makes me a performer. There’s something about guitar… I’m a finance major and

I had this weird thing happen when I was in Australia though last semester. It was the first time in my entire life where all I had with me was this janky little travel, three-quarter sized guitar and, it worked, I mean I couldn’t play anything special and if that’s all that I could have, that’s how it is. But it made me realize that if there was anything in life that I would sacrifice for a successful career in Finance, it would be having guitar in my life. Like I would give up and drop so much for it. And I always knew I loved guitar but it wasn’t until when I didn’t have any of my gear and I didn’t have an outlet to play. Like when I was growing up I wasn’t allowed to be too loud, so I would have to go out of my way in order to play. I would give up everything for this.

A: Are there any places in Chicago that you love to go to for inspiration?

J: The Chicago Music Exchange, like I’m a huge music and gear dork. I could talk about guitar gear and production gear and recording equipment for days on end, which is why I’m always broke because every time I get $100 I go out and buy more equipment or gear. The Chicago Music Exchange is one of the coolest guitar store I have ever been to in my entire life and sitting in there, it’s a really serious shop. Everyone in there knows what they are doing and its so motivating. Like listening to some random guy off the street, plug in and just let it rip, I’m just sitting there like damn this is so cool and just being around that many musicians who just really know what they are doing is inspiring in itself.

The other thing is that I play tuba and wind ensemble, and just sitting in a group of 45 people, making an entire 12 minute piece come together is so inspiring for whatever music I am doing, whether its metal or jazz or anything. So just being around music and constantly listening to music is it for me.

A: What is your instrument of choice right now?

J: So I had a travel budget when I went to Australia, and I blew half of it on a guitar that I’ve wanted ever since I was a little kid. They are custom hand made in Australia and they’re so hard to get anywhere around the world. It’s called an Ormsby Goliath and it’s a seven string instead of a six string, so its an extended range and it goes down into a much lower range than a standard guitar does which it gives me the ability to make a lot more noise and sound. It’s a headless model, so the front and back of the guitar cut off which makes it super ergonomic, and then it has fanned frets on it, so they frets are spread apart in an interesting way and it just doesn’t look like a normal guitar. And it’s a very technical guitar so its really really meant for flying and doing some weird stuff, not so much power chords and rock-n-roll stuff. It’s a very technical instrument and it’s made me forget about all of my other guitars, because it’s a machine, it’s fun and I love it. (Editors noted: Check out his Instagram @joey_delaney see check out what it looks like. He has pictures of it posted everywhere like it’s a new born baby and we love it)

A: Any shows or releases that are coming up soon or throughout the year?

J: I’m setting up some shows right now. A girl and I just did a cover of Valerie, by Amy Winehouse on YouTube and Facebook that we released today. We’re going to start playing around town, just some acoustic singer song writer stuff, but over the next year I’m going to be dropping singles here and there instead of doing an album. And they’re all going to be a little different. I have a thing for writing in like 15 different genres and I’m going to see what takes. I like writing anything and so I’m going to see what takes the most traction and then I’ll pursue an album to whatever style that is. I’ve always found it tough because every time, it’s something so different than the last thing. None of the songs I’ve ever written should belong on an album together so I kind of what to see where it all ends up taking me.