Joey Calderaio starts 2021 fresh with Dub Collection EP release

Photo courtesy of Joey Calderaio.

Dailyreggae.com spoke with Florida-based reggae musician, Joey Calderaio to learn about his new release, Dub Collection EP, and a new album in the works.

What was your background as a musician? Did you start in reggae and if you did what inspired you to be a reggae artist?

My love for music started with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I became obsessed with them and would go through all of their albums listening throughout middle school and high school. That was the start of my passion for music. Through that, I found Sublime and some other similar bands. I found 311, Long Beach Dub Allstars, and bands in that genre. I found out wow there’s this whole American reggae community that is pretty big. I found Pepper, Slightly Stoopid, and all those bands in that community. I liked the positive music. It was different than what I was hearing on the radio.

Growing up by the beach in Florida, that music kind of fit my lifestyle. I got really into it from there and started a band in high school. That fell through but after high school, I was like all right guys, I still want to do something and started a couple of other bands. I wasn’t able to find the right band to be able to record original music with that was on the same page, so eventually, I decided to record at home, and start my one-man-band. And whoever wants to be a part of it can and that’s how it has formed to where it is today. The majority of the songwriting is done on my laptop here at home and sometimes I’ll bring in other guys to do session work. It’s been a cool and liberating experience to be able to put out my work and I recommend it to anyone that has that passion or inner voice that want to do something like this. Just go for it! It feels good.

You’re a one-man-band and when you’re writing songs, where does it normally start? Do you start with chords on the guitar and then putting a melody to it, or is kind of all over the place?

A lot of times the ideas come to me while I’m driving a car (laughs). Weirdly enough. I think maybe because I’m not doing anything else. I’m just sitting there. If I’m at home, my mind is often occupied with something, but when I’m driving, you’ve got nothing but hands on the wheel, staring at the road. Maybe I’ll be listening to the radio or just silence and an idea for a melody in my head are usually how it starts. I’ll take out my phone, go into the voice recorder app on my iPhone, and kind of sing into it.

If anybody ever finds my phone and they hear these audio recordings, it’s going to sound like absolute crap because it’s just acapella and the idea sounds crazy. I can hear the idea in my head. Then I’ll take the idea to the computer, put some chords to it and go from there. Usually from that melody, I’ll come up with some chords, try to write a first progression or chorus progression, put it all together, put some drums behind it, throw some bass behind it and that’s the typical formula. There’s never a formula that fits every time. It’s always changing.

Tell us about your album, Moving Mountains, because that has been a big force for you to expand your audience. I know you worked with Ted Bowne of Passafire on that. Can you tell us a little bit about that project and what the inspiration was?

Moving Mountains is the first official project that I released under Joey Calderaio. I had those songs on my laptop for so long, and I was feeding myself shit because I was like these songs suck. I don’t know, sometimes I get in these negative thought loops, where I just don’t want to release any music. Especially towards the beginning was when it was the hardest. It’s gotten better now that I have more self-confidence in my ability but starting, I did not have any confidence with wanting to release this stuff.

Eventually, I was like enough is enough. I want to get this out. I’m doing this for me because I want to do it. How else can this be more exciting for me? Oh, I’m going to reach out to Ted Browne on Facebook because we were friends on Facebook. I knew that he had done some mixing work in the past for other bands, so I was like I’m just going to take a shot in the dark and reach out to him on Facebook to see what he says. I said, “Hey, would you be interested in mixing up a few songs for me? Blah blah blah.” I don’t think he got back to me at first, but maybe a couple of weeks later he was finally like, “Hey, I just saw this. Definitely down to work on this,” and I was like, “Yes, this is a sign. I have to do this now!” That’s what it felt like for me and the name Moving Mountains came about because this was my first project, and I was like I want a strong name. Through my music, I’m hoping to reach some people who are taking a positive experience from it, and together we’re creating something bigger than just ourselves. Moving Mountains is our way to sometimes make a change by ourselves. It can be tough, but you have a whole group behind you.

When did you release Dub Collection EP and what was the creative process like?

Dub Collection EP came out on January 1st. I wanted to start 2021 fresh. Dub Collection is a five-song EP. I love all the mixes that Ted did but wanted a different take on some of the songs that originally came out on Moving Mountains, especially since I’ve kind of developed a different style over time. I don’t even know if that’s accurate, but I wanted a different mix. I’ve always been enthralled by dub mixes because you get a producer’s take on some of the editing. Big G Productions is who I’m currently working with. He’s always had a great ear for adding some cool reverbs and delays. The Dub EP was kind of to get his take on some of the songs and to change it up with his style.

If you listen to the dub collection, the bass is a lot heavier in the dub EP, it has a different snare that Big G put on there and some of the different effects with the reverbs and delays. Some of the inspiration came from Rebelution’s dub album that they put out recently too.

I’m in the middle of working on a full album and felt like doing a dub EP was an easy way for me to continue working on creating original content, while not having to do as much (laughs). I’m not as involved, since it’s more on the producer’s side. I’m able to spend more time creating on my own and working on the full album because I want to create consistent material in the meantime. My goal is to release the new album this year.

You mentioned that your sound as an artist is evolving and I imagine that will be reflected on this new album. As you’re working on these new songs, are there any new or stronger inspirations now that are reflecting your music? Is it more from within, or maybe from your live shows that are creating that?

I think that with Moving Mountains and some of the songs coming after that. Some of the songs were four or five years old and were on my laptop for a long time. I was hesitant to release them. A lot of those songs are older material, and I think my sound had kind of matured in some way over time with the consistency of doing it over and over again. With the new album, people will hear a more mature version of some of that style. I think developed is an accurate word, because it’s the same Joey, but with a more mature sound. I’m excited for people to hear what’s to come. I’m learning more about home recording and how to put sparkles on certain instruments. It’s a journey of constantly learning.

What can fans expect when they see you play live?

I’ve recently started playing out again after a six- or seven-month hiatus with some solo duo and band shows and there are not as many people out right now. I’ve just been trying to keep it safe, always wear my mask, and bring some hand sanitizer. It feels good to be playing out again.  

It’s different from a cover show or original show because the covers I love playing is more for the restaurant and bar scene. I have those types of gigs and then I have actual shows with the full band, where I’m playing our original songs. They are both good for their own reasons.

What’s a good way for fans to follow and support your music?

I’m on Instagram, Facebook, all the socials kids are using these days (laughs). I’ve got a Facebook Fan Page called Joey’s Bag of Donuts that started earlier this year, and we’ve got a nice community built on there. I’ll share some behind-the-scenes stuff and do some giveaways.

You’ve done a very good job creating a community around your music. That fan page, Joey’s Bag of Donuts, has great engagement and it’s hard for any musician to build a following as you have. Did you set out to do that, or did it happen organically?

I’d say a little bit of both. I had some inspiration from the other band’s fan pages. I love how it gives people access to have a personal relationship with the artist. Most people are just listening through their Spotify, or wherever they are streaming their music, but for the diehard fans, they are going to find more out about the artist somehow. A group like that is a good way for people to stay connected. It also happened naturally, because I started giving away some of my stickers for free earlier this year. I posted on Instagram and Facebook, “Hey, I have these new stickers. If you guys are interested hit me up, send me your address and I’ll send you one with a note”. I would send them with handwritten letters to people with these free stickers and a lot of people were messaging me back saying thank you and that means a lot that took the time to write a handwritten letter. A lot of people were saying that, and I thought that is nice that so many people are being appreciative and maybe I can put together a little community, where all these people can come together and that’s kind of how that Facebook group came about. It’s been fun and a good way to stay in contact with those people.