Fever Joy Done Dreaming Interview

Animated Alt Pop

Regularly found singing into a tape recorder from the age of three, singer/songwriter Avery Robitaille grew up in the jungles of Indonesia as a missionary kid. Isolated from western and pop culture she spent most of her time writing lyrics and journaling about her dreams of touring the world. At the age of 18, Robitaille made the decision to relocate to Los Angeles to pursue that dream. While performing at an open mic night, Robitaille met Sean Baker and the two quickly realized their aligned visions and ability to translate each other's experiences into music.

Following the release of their successful single 'Shots', mastered by Joe LaPorta (Imagine Dragons, X Ambassadors), alt pop duo Fever Joy is dropping their highly anticipated five-track EP, Reflections. Inspired by real life events and crafted specifically to focus on experiences that aid in you finding who you truly are, Robitaille shares, "This EP is about empowerment, removing a 'filter' and just being open about how certain life experiences made us feel".

The two set out with the mission to create a space which encourages you to stand up for what you believe in, regardless of what others think. Baker confides, "Music is one of the only things that allows us to see into other people's experiences from a distance and connect with them. With that insight, and connection we can learn to be more understanding and helpful with each others circumstances". Fever Joy aims to bring that narrative to the forefront of their music, creating honest and authentic releases. The EP was produced by Adam Castilla of The Colourist and mastered by Brian Lucey (Cage the Elephant, Arctic Monkeys).

Fever Joy have seen success selling out shows across Los Angeles, performing at SXSW, as well as receiving airplay on tastemakers KCRW and KROQ. Reflections is set for release late fall 2019.

Interview with Fever Joy

Question: How would you describe your music?

Fever Joy: A juxtaposition of the in-your-face timbre of rock and the more empathetic side of the pop. The yin and yang of pop and rock.


Question: What inspired the track Done Dreaming?

Fever Joy: Done Dreaming refers to the refusal of simply dreaming about something that will never come, and the action of actually doing it. The feeling of being fed up with constantly chasing dreams and never feeling like you're getting where you want to be. We need to realise that the most important moment of our lives is the present moment and what we do right now matters. Stop waiting for that dream to "happen" and start living like you're living your dream now!


Question: What message do you hope your music spreads?

Fever Joy: That we should love people for who they are, and not who we want them to be. More so that whatever brings you happiness is something you should do, and not be afraid of unless it actively encroaches on other people's happiness.

Awareness, healing, love, human emotional, physical, and spiritual connections.

Question: Can you tell us about Reflections?

Fever Joy: Reflections is the documentation of events that transpired leading up to creating this first EP. We wanted to use the things that were troubling us in our lives and make them into something people could relate to. Every song is a page out of our personal journals and encompasses five different experiences / moments / situations that, after intense moments of reflecting, shaped who we are right now. Our desire is that others will be inspired as well by our experiences.


Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Tean: I would say that my favorite is Crazy Love; when I came up with the intro riff for it, everyone was skeptical about it, and didn't want to have it in the song. I knew there was something to it though, and I fought to keep it, now every time we play it means that much more to me because I stood by my intuition.

Avery: Mine is Crazy Love, I still relate to this song, even today, and that influences the amount of emotion I pour into it while performing and it just gives it a whole different level of intensity to sing it to the audience. I literally get to jam out to my favorite song and sing my heart out words that are very important to who I am.


Question: If you could have anyone, in the world, attend a show, who would it be?

Tean: Either Duff man, Keanu Reeves, or Jimmy Paige. I love free beer, John Wick Quotes and Led Zeppelin.

Avery: Someone who feels alone, because the way we go about our performance, I think that they'll be able to walk away and know that they aren't alone, we're all going through similar shit and now we can go through it together.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?
Tean: I really honestly love them both pretty equally for different reasons, but if I had a gun to my head I would have to say recording. I love creating a story not only lyrically, but also sonically, and figuring out how the two can interact with each other.

Avery: Ah they're such different experiences! Live is so fun because we can let loose, connect with others, and feel free. Being in the studio is also magic because we are creating the music, and experimenting with sounds and notes and lyrics in order to form the best combination of them all.


Question: What is the story behind the band name?

Fever Joy: Fever Joy is meant to be seen as a binary. We were thinking that there needed to be two opposing words put together. Because that is how we view life. There is good and bad. We try to understand that both are temporary, and not dwell on the bad, and soak up the good while it is here.


Question: How did the band come together?

Avery: We met randomly at an open-mic night in Orange County. I had been playing open mics for a while was sick of performing solo, and Tean just so happened to want to start a band with a female as vocalist. We jammed one day and it was obvious that we had the same vision for music, and we were easily able to translate each other's feelings and experiences into that music.

Tean: One of my friends at the time had told me to go to an open-mic to check out this girl who he had seen a few times. I didn't really think anything of it because I had been to a lot of open-mics and never really expected anything. I went, and Avery was playing. I heard her sing and thought she had a great voice, and had a lot of raw talent. On my drive back from the open-mic I looked up her music and listened for a while until I came across a cover she did of "All I Want" by Kodaline. That was the moment I realised I needed to make music with her. Her voice had so much emotion that I heard the song in a way I had never heard before. It made me feel all the words in a different way. I contacted her after that, and the rest is history.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Tean: Music has always brought me an immense amount of joy, connectedness, and understanding. Because of that I have always wanted to contribute to that feeling and connectedness for others. That's what primarily motivates me.

Avery: Personal emotional release. I write when I'm upset, angry, inspired...I have to let my feelings out. Also the hope that I can connect with someone else that is having similar feelings towards things. Not feeling alone is one of the best feelings in the world.

Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Avery: Pink Floyd, Halsey and Alt J.

Tean: Cream, Anderson Paak, Veers and Hozier.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Avery: I knew I could write lyrics, and I knew my voice was able to emote the emotion I wanted to put into the lyrics. It's one of the hardest industries in the world to be in, but I knew I had a life-long message to give, and this is the way I am going to do it. I've never questioned or doubted my decision. I've always known this is what I wanted to do.

Tean: My dad was always my inspiration to start playing music. All my earliest memories in life are those of him playing artists like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath and B.B. King for me. When he died when I was 19 it made the reality of death really apparent to me. I decided I didn't want to spend my life doing anything else other than playing music.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Avery: Halsey; that collab would be so intense. We need more female collaborations in the pop/rock/alt-pop world.

Tean: Gary Clark Jr. - I am such a fan of his guitar playing. I would love to be a part of anything he is creating.


Question: Can you share your socials?

Fever Joy: https://feverjoymusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/feverjoymusic
@feverjoy/
Spotify
iTunes
YouTube


Interview by Brooke Hunter