Today we’d like to introduce you to Joey Ferber.
Hi Joey, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was raised in U-City, Missouri, and now I live there again. My parents are originally from Kansas on my mom’s side, and New York on my dad’s. I’ve been making music for a long time now… shoot I’ve been creating for a long time. Every week in school I looked forward to Fridays when we’d have art class. Before I started playing, music always helped me get through my emotional challenges. I was really into sports and wasn’t dedicating time to playing music but I knew it was something that I’d commit to later in my life. A few years earlier I had taken up the violin and had some decent abilities but didn’t really have the discipline to keep it up. I had a hard time with the classical training and only wanted to learn fiddle tunes. It was Something about those melodies that gripped me. My family is full of musicians. My dad, mom, sister, aunts, uncles…it’s deeply ingrained into who I am.
I have vivid memories of a recital where I walked out of my bedroom dressed in jeans and a T-shirt for the concert at my teacher’s house. My mom wasn’t pleased at my outfit but I hated to dress up. At the recital, I botched up one of my songs and was so embarrassed. After all the other students had performed, my teacher made a request that I come back up at the end of the concert to try my tune again…but this time twice as fast. I nailed it. Maybe his bet that I could do that was a make-or-break moment…
I didn’t stick to the violin and it must have been after a couple years of not playing anything that I wrote a note to myself on my bedside table, “don’t let music get away”. Like most, I was an angsty preteen. I always felt like songs were what I used to deal with my most intense emotions. I loved heartfelt country songs. Maybe it’s because I grew up listening to my dad play bluegrass music. The sound and even smell of his guitar has a permanent imprint on my brain. The way he sang some of those traditional songs still feels like a musical home for me.
Long story longer, in middle school I remember watching the school jazz band perform at a Christmas concert and being blown away at how my friend Sam played the saxophone. Then I’d watch him and other friends in the band skip school to rehearse and go on weekend trips to play at competitions and I knew I had to find a way in. My dad had this gorgeous guitar in the basement that had been under repair for years from a flood. I felt some sort of responsibility to play it and still have the same feelings towards instruments… I never really feel like I really own them, more like I am responsible for bringing music out of them while they happen to be passin through my stewardship.
So, I chose the guitar to learn for the band the next year. I took a few lessons and learned enough to get a spot and to this day I still play with some of my friends from that middle school band in what is now LOOPRAT. Y’all got our scoop a few months back in our interview so definitely refer back to that to check out what we’re up to now.
Fast forward so many life chapters… two high schools, studying poetry in college, doses of love and heartbreak, milestones and breakdowns, all stocked with life lessons learned the hard way. “The only way out is thru…” or something like that…
I’m in a place now where I can already look back and be grateful for the incredible range of artistic projects I’ve been a part of. I spent years trying to fit into boxes as a guitar player, and as an artist in general, and now I feel like I’m giving up the attempt to meet others’ validation, standards of success, and definition of genre. I feel like an active part of a thriving, wide-ranging creative ecosystem and I hope to continue to grow with my peers. I love that the landscape is always changing and it’s a nice perspective to embrace rather than thinking I have to fit into existing conventions. I feel like I’ve accepted the lifelong commitment to the practice.
I’ve been based in St Louis since 2016 and have been work work workin…gettin it wherever I can…most people probably know my work as a guitarist… and more recently also as a solo singer-songwriter. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to “get in where you fit in” and that mentality keeps finding me work and opportunities for evolution.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Committing one’s life to an unconventional way of moving throughout the world has inevitably brought upon many challenges. Oftentimes we have to be our own bosses, our own engines. It’s a ‘people don’t believe it ‘till they see it’ type of thing so there is so much work behind the scenes that comes before stepping into the public eye. The flip side is that there are people who’ve believed in me when I haven’t believed in myself and in moments where I feel like “quitting” I also feel a duty to those individuals in my life who have faith in me to trust the process and see this thing through.
It’s like taking a machete through the thicket. No path has been set for the life of an artist who, like their work, must create their life from what is available and oftentimes re-imagine and repurpose what already exists. It’s been hard to take left turns in the face of convention and expectation but it’s a practice I think I’m getting better at with experience.
To be real, some of my hardest struggles involved battles with mental health. I’ve done a lot of work to get to this place where I’m at now. I feel like I know more about my needs and how to address my health on a comprehensive level which helps me navigate the day-to-day. It’s another lifelong process and set of practices that I’m constantly learning about.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
While most folks know me publicly for playing music, I think of myself as a writer first and foremost. I never like to be far from a pen and paper. My journal is mostly scribbles, with lots of words and phrases broken down, repeated, or tried out in different fonts. Whether i’m playing a guitar solo or singing a song I’m always thinking about what my message is and how it’s being delivered.
Music is and will always be a main artery in my artistic life. Lately I’ve really loved diving into photography and design. They’ve been great outlets while music continues to be a job as well as a lifelong passion…I’m not sure if I should say I’m into fashion…but I know what I like in terms of functionality and style and am having more and more ideas that I feel I need to express to the world. The more I express the more I see others resonate too which is cool to experience that connection. I really hope to keep building as a “designer” and overall creative.
To be honest I have huge dreams and I feel closer than ever to being able to integrate the different ideas and pieces of life into projects and experiences that blend disciplines and meld genres. I’m constantly amazed by the people i find myself around and I am just trying to find the answers to how to properly connect the dots and play my role.
I want to see, build, and experience an environment that nurtures creativity and health of all sorts for me and my peers. And i think it’s very possible. It’s difficult when the different pieces have to be fleshed out independently…and work well within their given industries…but I do feel like if the proper foundation can be laid, with good business in all the independent disciplines there will be a time when art and life can be free-flowing. The vision is to have spaces that are integrated with the natural world that nourish our bodies and minds so as creators we are healthy and able to do what we do best which is make art that moves the soul. I feel like we have the right pieces, it’s just a matter of organization.
Right now I’m staying focused on my crafts. Working a batch of raw music towards completion..practicing my instruments. I’m designing and budgeting. Trying my best to organize my projects and ideas in efforts to effectively convey them to the world.
I’m focused on the collaborative projects I’m involved with…including LOOPRAT, Farshid Etniko, the Mosaic Trio, the MaDMAn my own solo work and Blvck Spvde’s new ensemble, the Cosmos. I have a few shows lined up under the moniker, City Slicker, which will be a new trio experiment i’m leading so i’m curious to see how that goes.
I’m focusing on trusting my intuition, building external spaces and an internal world that allows my spirit to work freely. I’m focusing on giving myself grace. On prioritizing joy. On pacing myself.
While most folks know me publicly for playing music, I think of myself as a writer first and foremost. I never like to be far from a pen and paper. My journal is mostly scribbles, with lots of words and phrases broken down, repeated, or tried out in different fonts. Whether i’m playing a guitar solo or singing a song I’m always thinking about what my message is and how it’s being delivered.
Music is and will always be a main artery in my artistic life. Lately I’ve really loved diving into photography and design. They’ve been great outlets while music continues to be a job as well as a lifelong passion…I’m not sure if I should say I’m into fashion…but I know what I like in terms of functionality and style and am having more and more ideas that I feel I need to express to the world. The more I express the more I see others resonate too which is cool to experience that connection. I really hope to keep building as a “designer” and overall creative.
To be honest I have huge dreams and I feel closer than ever to being able to integrate the different ideas and pieces of life into projects and experiences that blend disciplines and meld genres. I’m constantly amazed by the people i find myself around and I am just trying to find the answers to how to properly connect the dots and play my role.
I want to see, build, and experience an environment that nurtures creativity and health of all sorts for me and my peers. And i think it’s very possible. It’s difficult when the different pieces have to be fleshed out independently…and work well within their given industries…but I do feel like if the proper foundation can be laid, with good business in all the independent disciplines there will be a time when art and life can be free-flowing. The vision is to have spaces that are integrated with the natural world that nourish our bodies and minds so as creators we are healthy and able to do what we do best which is make art that moves the soul. I feel like we have the right pieces, it’s just a matter of organization.
Right now I’m staying focused on my crafts. Working a batch of raw music towards completion..practicing my instruments. I’m designing and budgeting. Trying my best to organize my projects and ideas in efforts to effectively convey them to the world.
I’m focused on the collaborative projects I’m involved with…including LOOPRAT, Farshid Etniko, the Mosaic Trio, the MaDMAn my own solo work and Blvck Spvde’s new ensemble, the Cosmos. I have a few shows lined up under the moniker, City Slicker, which will be a new trio experiment i’m leading so i’m curious to see how that goes.
I’m focusing on trusting my intuition, building external spaces and an internal world that allows my spirit to work freely. I’m focusing on giving myself grace. On prioritizing joy. On pacing myself.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
If you resonate with what I put out, tell a friend you think would enjoy as well. The organic way has worked the best for me so far. Seriously, if you know music lovers or fellow artists anywhere in the world who you think of when experiencing what I do, put us in touch with each other! Those word-of-mouth relationships have helped sustain me especially when I’m out traveling.
My album “Country Gone Wrong” is out on all platforms for sale and streaming and I would love for more people to have their ears on that if they are feeling the music.
Also, I’m expanding my line of hats, apparel, and designs and am going to be dropping a second season this summer…the support on my season one “fire dad hats” and winter beanies was huge and I never thought I’d continue on but it’s truly part of my expression at this point in time. So please do check up on my IG page for drops and cop some merch if you like what you see.
Otherwise, I would ask folks to check out all the projects I named above…follow on the internet…come out to a show…let us know what moves you! The feedback and energy is always fuel. My email is ferbworks@gmail.com for inquiries about booking/recording/collabs etc. but most folks know how to get at me if they need me.
Contact Info:
- Email: ferbworks@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ferbworks/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ferbworks/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ferbworks
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYdg57YjgTh_n6tev9_ZGfA
- Other: https://linktr.ee/ferbworks?fbclid=IwAR16ZQXryGWZuEktk0iYsVvF1b8bxY9GtrahaM8X1OfbMMjowjRAtzPIbcA
Image Credits
Harry Boston
Joseph Ferber
