sharp darts
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Joy has inhabited a number of music scenes over the past decade or so—he cut his teeth spinning records at underground raves as a teen in Minneapolis before moving on to clubs in Providence, Boston, and now Chicago—and all of them have influenced his style as a DJ and producer. “At this point a lot of DJs would look at you crazy if you said, ‘I’m a something DJ,’” Joy says. “It used to be so accepted that you could say, ‘Oh, I spin house,’ but now it’s like, ‘And what else?’”
For some insight into the breadth of Joy’s taste, check out last year’s mix tape Fly by Night Vol. 1 (mashit.com/2007/11/19/willy-joy-mixtape), where Pitbull’s reggaeton jam “Ay Chico” segues improbably into They Might Be Giants’ “Don’t Let’s Start” and Dirty South MC Petey Pablo and dancehall maniac Elephant Man bookend dour 90s rockers Live. “I’m definitely trying not to be ironic,” he notes. “Pretty much everything I play or put on a mix is something that I really like.”
It’s a good time to be here, with people all over the world taking their cues from artists like Flosstradamus and Million Dollar Mano, who’ve stayed in Chicago and are happy to turn the spotlight on their friends. Though he hasn’t toured much and has barely any product, Willy Joy was included in a 2007 Urb feature on the Chicago scene and then made the magazine’s 2008 “Next 100” list. “Everyone in the scene here is supportive, and we’re all working towards more or less the same goal, but it’s not as cutthroat as it is in other places,” he says. “I think for the most part we’re legitimately happy to see people do well, and the people who do well are trying to look back and help more people.”
Thu 9/18, 10 PM, Debonair Social Club, 1574 N. Milwaukee, 773-227-7990 or debonairsocialclub.com, $5, 21+.
