Artist: Joseph
Hometown: Estacada, Oregon
Latest Album: The Sun
Release Date: April 28, 2023
Label: ATO Records
Personal Nicknames: Some people call us Joey as a whole, or Jo Jo’s
Answers provided by Meegan Closner
What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc. — inform your music?
I’m a big reader. I read all kinds of genres of books, but am specifically a lover of fantasy. The general story arcs of good and evil and good winning really resonates with me and inspires me to think about those arcs in my own life and those around me. I’ve considered, as a way to challenge myself in writing, writing songs based solely off some of the books I love. It sounds exciting to give some of the stories I love voices through song.
If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?
Oof that’s a heavy hitter question. On the spot I’d say something like, “We are in this first as sisters who love each other and are for each other no matter what, vowing to communicate and prioritize anything that may get in the way of that. We are in this to dig deep and write honest songs about our human experience in an effort to both tell our story and hope that it connects and makes others feel less alone. We are in it to have fun, enjoy this gift of a job and to make the absolute most of it as long as we have it.”
What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?
Writing our song “Fighter” was maybe one of the toughest songs to write in that we were writing about a subject between the three of us sisters that we’d largely not touched yet in real conversation. We were using my dating relationship I was in at the time to write about what was really about the three of us and our dynamic in that moment. It was like walking on glass as we wrote it.
What has been the best advice you’ve received in your career so far?
“Listen to your gut.” We were told that early on when we were deciding on who we’d choose for management and label. That advice guided us to some of the best people who we are so honored to have worked with now for many years. It’s still the advice we come back to as we continue to navigate challenges and questions that present themselves.
What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?
I had a vision when I was a young kid of myself singing in front of a crowd of thousands of people and in that moment I thought that was what I would end up doing with my life. I pursued other things on my own until late college, though, when my sister Natalie asked Allie and I to be in her band. It was a few years into being in our band that I felt the complete feeling of “This is it! I’m living the dream!”
Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez
