Joyzu Talks "Famous", SnowGlobe, Favorite Memories From 2017, & More

From the Sierra Stage to the Main Stage, Joyzu made huge moves last year at SnowGlobe and other festivals around the country!

On our second day up in South Lake Tahoe, we were lucky enough to talk with Quinton Pope & Carson Willms of Joyzu, along with their frequent featured vocalist Lilianna Wilde! These two were ecstatic to be back at SnowGlobe in their hometown of Northern California, especially considering their exciting slot at the Main Stage this year.

From releasing hugely popular remixes of tracks like Post Malone’s “Rockstar” to sharing the stage with industry giants like Zeds Dead, Joyzu has had a monumental year in 2017 and is going nowhere but up. They absolutely killed their set at SnowGlobe, pulling a significant crowd despite their opening slot and rocking it with an awesome live set.

More than anything, Quinton and Carson were extremely down to earth guys, passionate about making music and bringing it to their fans live. Read on below for more on Joyzu’s new track with Lilianna Wilde, “Famous,” their most memorable moments of 2017, and their plans to make 2018 the best one yet.

Stream Joyzu & Lilianna Wilde – Famous on SoundCloud:

Welcome back to SnowGlobe! You played SG last year and had a busy 2017, what’s it like being back and playing in your home of Nor Cal?

Carson Willms: It’s great. We love playing shows here and we’re honored to be asked to come back for round 2. We never thought we’d get asked to come back. It was our goal in 2016 to play SnowGlobe 2017 and now we get to play the main stage. We’re doing a whole new show with live elements, vocalists, etc.

Have you guys had a chance to catch any other artists sets at SnowGlobe, or is there anyone you’re looking forward to?

Quinton Pope: Yesterday we caught some of Khalid and almost all of Travis Scott’s set. We saw Luca Lash earlier in the day for most of his set. We’ll probably see Dillon, Porter, and Madeon today.

C: Luca Lush was pretty hype! Really bouncy.

You mentioned that you used to attend SnowGlobe a few years ago before you had the opportunity to play it, what is one of your favorite festivals that you’ve attended and what made that experience so special?

C: This is probably our favorite festival, but I’ve been to a bunch and we’ve played a bunch. Outside Lands is also one of my favorites. I’ve gone the past 2 years. It’s similar vibes, but not in the snow. Even though there is no snow this year just the art, people, and music is so good.

Q: I haven’t been to a lot of other ones so as far as attending SnowGlobe has been my favorite because their lineups are so diverse. Yesterday they had Travis Scott and Zedd on the main stage. Not a lot of festivals do that. Usually, a festival will stick to EDM or it’s not EDM. It’s really cool how they bring out a lot of different styles.

You mentioned via Twitter that “Famous” was based on a true story. Can you talk about the production of the track from that point of view and the experience working with Liliana Wilde again?

Liliana Wilde: Yea! I was working with someone I was really close to and they got a little bit of fame and started acting really famous. You know, let some of the good stuff get the best of them and that’s where the lyrics came from. Then I handed it off to these guys and they made it so much better than I could have on my own. It was a really cool collaboration.

C & Q: We just fell in love with the lyrics and her voice.

L: This is also the first festival I have played so I am so excited! I’m really happy they asked me to come along.

How did the collaboration come about?

Q: We were working with a mutual friend/artist and just got to talking. We produced “Falling” with Liliana and had “Famous” going for a long time before we released it. We have another song that’s not even out yet with her we might save for next year sometime.

We’ve been loving your remix of Post Malone’s “Rockstar”! What’s your creative process like when remixing tracks?

C: We love Post Malone and going into 2018 we want to make more hype stuff. We’ll still produce the melodic stuff but that remix, for example, it’s the biggest song in the world right now. We saw it as an opportunity to get our name out there and potentially get other artists to play it in their sets because no one has a really good remix for it. Then I threw the idea to Quinton and in about a week or two we busted it out. There are a few different versions, but it’s our most played song on SoundCloud. At least it gets the most attention.

Q: We didn’t even think about it, but Shazam. We finally registered and got our artist profile and “Rockstar” has gotten about 40,000 Shazams. That was kind of the goal with it, but it’s still crazy!

Having shared the stage with Zeds Dead, Big Wild, and NERO, what has been one of your most memorable opening sets or events this year?

Q: For me, it’s Zeds Dead. We got to play with them in Mexico and the whole trip was nuts. It was a college Spring Break trip so it got pretty crazy.

C: We’ve actually played with them twice and we stay in contact to chat about music and they’re super supportive of us. Big Wild is one of the most genuine guys you’ll ever meet. We’ve played a handful of festivals with him and supported his show one time. Every time we see him at a festival he comes up to us and knows us which makes it a really cool experience and his music is amazing.

You’ve begun playing a new live set, what has gone into the new set compared to your previous sets?

Q: The live show is definitely where we want to head. We want to to be more involved with our show. DJing is really fun, but we are playing all of our original music and some unreleased stuff. We want it to be more involved than just spinning it all on CDJs. Incorporating more live elements because it feels more special to play your own music that way.

C: The crowd gets more involved, too, instead of just twisting knobs. Which we still love to do. The live performance just brings a whole new element to the show, more energy, and more artistic freedom.

What has been one of your most memorable moments of 2017, music wise/life wise?

C: We’re an independent artist and have played over 100+ shows by our name and music. It’s been pretty crazy and kind of unheard of. How much we’ve grown our brand since the last SnowGlobe is amazing especially since we’re both in school too.

What can fans expect from Joyzu in the future?

Q: We’re not releasing any EPs or albums this year. We’re pushing a new style in 2018. Like, more energy in our music that can rock festivals and clubs, etc. We have a couple of tracks lined up for the start of the year that are kind of a new experiment, but it’s still got that Joyzu sound.

C: We’re going to push out a lot of music every month whether its a remix or original and hopefully we’re playing shows every weekend or so.

You mentioned the Grinch and Elf as classic holiday movies, what is your favorite (holiday) movie and why?

C: “The Grinch”. I could quote that whole damn movie.

Q: Mine has to be “Jingle All The Way” with Arnold Schwarzenegger. We watched it every year. The Postman, his whole character is amazing. It’s an awesome Christmas movie.