London-based artist Jordan Joy opens up to Atwood Magazine about her pivot from CEO to songwriter, her journey of self-discovery through art and social activism, and the inspiration behind her infectious debut single, “Don’t Kill the Vibe.”

Stream: “Don’t Kill the Vibe” – Jordan Joy

Music was probably always where I was going to end up. I think I was always on the road to get here; I just took some detours along the way.

– Jordan Joy

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This past April, Dublin-born singer/songwriter Jordan Joy released her debut single “Don’t Kill the Vibe,”

an ode to her formative adult years as a bright-eyed twenty-something living in New York.

The song, co-produced by Catherine Marks (Wolf Alice) and Jackson Phillips (Day Wave), offers up a nostalgic, dream-pop soundscape reminiscent of Lorde’s Pure Heroine and LCD Sound System’s This Is Happening. It’s relatable, danceable, and self-aware, but most of all, it’s pure fun.

Featuring driving synths that ring throughout the song like sirens, “Don’t Kill the Vibe” sounds like a night out on the bustling streets of New York City. It’s the perfect soundtrack for those nights that you don’t want to end– those nights when you’re determined to go out and have a good time, no matter who or what might try to bring you down.

Send your text, just send it later
Look at me while you’re complaining
Crush the ice, inoculate it

Drink your drink just like you mean it
Faking boredom, I can feel it
Pick a fight, and I’ll dismiss it
(Don’t kill the vibe)

Tell yourself it’s overrated
Look at me, pretend you hate it
Crush the ice, stop your complaining
(Don’t kill the vibe)

– “Don’t Kill the Vibe,” Jordan Joy

It’s hard to believe Jordan Joy hasn’t been making music for a long time. With such a confident debut as “Don’t Kill the Vibe,” you’d think she’s been doing this her whole life. But this is only the beginning for the rising singer/songwriter. From studying political science at Columbia University, to obtaining a masters in poetry, to becoming the founder of Speakable (a tech company aimed at promoting social activism), to now releasing music under her own name for the first time, Jordan Joy’s story is one of personal reinvention and self-exploration. It’s a coming-of-age story that is still being written as she continues growing into the artist she was always meant to be.

Last month, Atwood Magazine sat down with Jordan Joy for a chat from her London flat. In this conversation, we discuss her journey of self-discovery through art and activism, her karmic relationship with New York, and the creative process behind her debut single, “Don’t Kill the Vibe,” available now on all streaming platforms.

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:: stream/purchase Don’t Kill the Vibe here ::

:: connect with Jordan Joy here ::

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Stream: “Don’t Kill the Vibe” – Jordan Joy

A CONVERSATION WITH JORDAN JOY

Jordan Joy: Well, I was kind of always hoping Tenderhooks would be a secret project. I think I really wanted to have some time to develop my own sound and just experiment a little bit, and now I think Tenderhooks is gonna be my electronic side project, so we’ll see what happens with that! But it just gave me an opportunity to really experience what it was like to share music and release it and kind of create characters around it. I think that was really freeing for me creatively. The name “Tenderhooks” was kind of about having an intimacy with sharp edges – I felt like that really related to the music a lot and the feeling I was trying to bring across with the sound. All of the visual world was gonna be about playing with that feeling, and I think the project had a very clearly defined view.

And then, I somehow pivoted and ended up writing guitar music, and I just felt like that was coming from a different place. It felt more like me and who I am, rather than this character I was exploring. I felt like I was ready to just let the music come from me and figure out the different characters that come out through songs, but not necessarily be defined by one. It feels like a different project to me. It feels like it’s coming from a different place.

Jordan Joy: Music definitely came to me later. I grew up playing piano and I was surrounded by music and just really loved it, but I didn’t write songs. I wrote poetry and I worked in social impact, which was still about expression and storytelling, but it was about civic expression and empowering people to take action on stories that they found inspiring when they were reading the news. I think music kind of helped me realize that I wanted a voice for myself as well, you know? I didn’t realize that ‘til later.

I went through this moment in life during the pandemic where everything changed. It was a big rupture to the life that I had built. And in that void, music came. I kind of needed it. It was a big coming-of-age moment for me, like a self-discovery. I met myself in a new way. It just started opening me up. But it also felt vulnerable– it felt like it was coming from a different place. So I didn’t know if I wanted to share it, because I didn’t know how that felt. I kind of just wanted to develop it on my own and make sure it was coming from me and felt authentic. But it was a journey for me to get here for sure, and I’m glad it came this way because I think everything that I’ve lived and done will inform my point of view as an artist in a different way, and I think that’s cool. People with those kinds of stories usually do something a bit different, so I’m really grateful to be doing [music] now.

Jordan Joy: That’s a great question. I think I’ve always had two sides of me that sometimes have felt like they’re competing. One is kind of like the “artist” side, and the other was more engaged in human rights and that kind of thing. I was really interested in that, and I didn’t quite know where I sat between those things. I would get involved in one, and then I would be missing the other, and then be going back and forth.

But I do think music is probably where I was always meant to end up. I think I was always on the road to get here; I just took some detours along the way and followed my passions and took on some pretty big challenges. I like to be stimulated by sort of diving into the deep end. But I think for me, music is probably the thing that’s coming the most from my heart, in a way. It feels the most mine.

Jordan Joy: This song wasn’t super overthought, it was actually an easy one. It was written in a day. I was working with my friend Jackson [Phillips] who was playing around with sounds and different synths and drums and bass lines and things in the studio, and when we got the melodic hook on a synth, we were like “Oh this is cool, this sounds interesting.” I think we were referencing– in terms of sonics– a lot of LCD Soundsystem, and we just got excited to write the song. I think where it even came from in that moment was just something that was totally of the moment and not overthought and just sort of came out easily. I’m excited for you to hear the other music as well, but we felt like that was a good place to start.

Jordan Joy: Yes, but really not very good [laughs]. My cousin’s been trying to teach me some chords, and you know, it’s a learning curve. But I just loved classical music when I was a kid. I really wanted to be able to play classical pieces. Then when I was an adult I kind of stopped playing, so my piano skills aren’t as strong as they were when I was growing up. But it’s my first love as an instrument for sure.

Jordan Joy: That’s an interesting question, ‘cause sometimes I just go off the chords, and it’s kind of like finding three or four chords and then trying to find a vocal shape or a melodic shape that seems to be nice over it. And then other times, I’ve started with a title. Or even if I’m writing in my notebook or I’m writing some poetry or something, I might write a few lines that are weird and think, “I wonder if I can get that into a song,” and I kind of try to get the lyrics first into the song. It’s always harder, but I think it’s more rewarding in the end. I’ve heard songwriters use a technique where they actually sing the melody and the lyrics a cappella and then harmonize the chords underneath. I’ve never tried that, but I think it probably allows you to be super creative lyrically, and it would be a fun thing to try. Maybe that’s gonna be my new writing process.

Jordan Joy: Definitely LCD Soundsystem and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I think there’s just been so many cool people who have come through New York. New York was really that place where I let my imagination run wild. I feel like it has that kind of rebellious imagination to it; it encourages people to explore. I think for whatever reason [“Don’t Kill the Vibe”] really reminds me of New York City, and I think I must’ve been thinking of it the whole time and trying to process my life there. It was a bit of a breakup letter to New York, in a way.

Jordan Joy: Definitely. I think all this music brings me back to living in Brooklyn and being in my 20s there and being in and out of different relationships and friendships. But I think what I’ve learned about songwriting is that your songs are smarter than you. When you’re writing about someone or something, your own conscience knows what’s going on before you do. So I try not to get too specific about what’s coming through or channel a specific thing, I just let it flow a little bit. But I think this song is about a night that you don’t wanna give up-– a night that you want to fight for. I think it’s sort of tied into a relationship and a determination to enjoy the final moment of something. I think it speaks to a lot of what this EP is talking about.

Jordan Joy: I kind of like “Drink your drink / don’t overthink it,” because I think I’m talking to myself there. Sometimes I kind of get in my head and I’m not able to be present and really live and experience the opportunity that’s in front of me. I think I’m calling myself out at that moment. I’m sort of saying, “Get over yourself and have a good time.” [laughs]

Jordan Joy: Very different, in the sense that I have been writing music here and I live a much more creative life. When I was in New York, I was running a company and I was a founder. It was very demanding and a different kind of life. I didn’t really have time during those years to write or be creative or play piano or anything like that. Now I’m really just letting myself live in my creativity. London is a great place for music, there’s a lot of musicians that I know here. It’s a great place for the arts in general. And it’s so nice to be close to Dublin, which is where I’m from. I can go home a good bit to Ireland. I find Ireland really inspiring as a place to write in. My life in New York was hectic and busy and I was on a very specific path, and now I’m on a different path. I’m much more intuitive. I’m listening to myself and giving myself the space to listen to my intuition.

Jordan Joy: Absolutely, and that’s the best thing to have as an artist, just having the time to really go deep on things. There’s just no way I would’ve been able to continue as a founder and be doing this in a serious way, so it worked out really well in terms of timing for me.

Jordan Joy: I love that question. I’m in the chapter right after everything has gone wrong [laughs]. There’s been a massive explosion and you’re sort of in the processing period where the character’s thinking, “What the f*** am I gonna do now?” and they’re re-discovering themselves and about to start a new journey.

Jordan Joy: I’m really looking forward to so many things about this music because we’re right at the start. And I’m excited to get these first few tracks out. I wanna push a lot of it into a weirder place, and I feel creatively I’m already there and I’m thinking about the next thing. And I’m excited about building a visual world that this music can live in. And I’m just really excited to see people interact with the songs and own them and enjoy them. I think that experience would be huge for me and will just change a lot of my writing process as well. There’s a lot that I’m personally excited about, because this is really just the start for me.

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:: stream/purchase Don’t Kill the Vibe here ::

:: connect with Jordan Joy here ::

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Stream: “Don’t Kill the Vibe” – Jordan Joy

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