Music Tuesday Spotlight:Joel Armstrong

This week I have the privilege of sharing my interview with Vancouver’s Joel Armstrong. I’ve known Joel for a few years now and have always enjoyed his music. I hope you will too!

Real Name: Joel Armstrong

Band/DJ/Artist Name: Joel Armstrong

Genre of Music: House Music (electronic)

How/Why You Became a Musician: I first heard electronic music in 1994 and to this day it never fails to excite me.  I love how depending on the melody or groove of each track, the experience can be different each time.  I appreciate the complexity of writing music and when I hear music that has been written with care and an understanding of the audience, there’s just something amazing about it to me.  I started messing around with writing music in 2002 when I was lonely in a new city, it seemed natural to me and one of the only things that could keep my attention for more than a half-hour at a time haha.

Is There a Purpose/Vision to your music? Explain: The purpose has evolved slowly over time from more of a fun hobby to a vocational goal.  There’s a lot of risk but for some reason I get energized by the challenge to do well and succeed.  I feel there’s a place for me in the whole mess of club nightlife, I get a lot of chances to talk about my faith even though at times I fail.  People warm up to me, are much more open when they see that having faith in Jesus doesn’t make me more important or better than them.

Best/Favorite Music-related Experience (doesn’t have to be related to your music): I think my favorite music-related experience is actually coming next month when I’ve been asked to play a couple festivals down in New Zealand, one for New Years Eve called Rhythm & Vines, and the other a festival called Parachute.

What did you grow up listening to? I grew up listening to John Michael Talbot, Richard Clayderman, John Denver, Nicolas de Angelis and Michael Card.

Your music sounds like (ie: other bands/DJs people might like): Um, I dunno.  It changes all the time haha.  Um, artists/DJs I love though: Butch, Nima Gorji, DJ PP, Reboot, Ramon Tapia, John Digweed

Links to your music/Contact you:
http://www.myspace.com/joelarmstrong
http://www.joel-armstrong.com
http://www.facebook.com/joelarmstrongmusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/joelarmstrongmusic

Anything else you want my readers to know: Shortlist of my all time favorite movies: UP, WALL-E, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Fall, The Mission, Star Wars: A New Hope, Return of the Jedi, The Empire Strikes Back, Little Miss Sunshine, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Royal Tenenbaums, Slumdog Millionaire, Princess Bride, The Life Aquatic, Rushmore, This is Spinal Tap, Snatch, Lock Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels, Pride & Prejudice (Colin Firth version)