Katie Joy

Heya, I’m Katie Joy. Currently juggling songwriting and releasing an album, horse riding, surfing, and travel. Music is my constant… here’s a bit about me and my story. 

My Dad is the frontman of Red Box, so I grew up around backstage corridors, rehearsals, musicians, late nights, songs being written and played over and over again. And cables everywhere. Music wasn't something I ever went searching for meaning in. It was the meaning. It was home.

With a family life wound by music, and growing up wandering in and out of the studio, I suppose it was inevitable that songwriting is absolutely central to who I am. And the power of songs that make you really feel something. So creating music, with a strong atmosphere and personality, feels by far the most natural way for me to express myself.  My foundation also lies in travelling, constant movement from place to place, life on the water, and life with horses. So my music is shaped by adventure, possibility and a love for storytelling. As well as long road trips, the draw of the sea, and a constant search for love and freedom - whatever it looks like. 

My first memory of picking up a guitar and really playing it was when I was sailing and living on a little boat. It was dusk, on a medditareanian island called Ithaca after a long crossing and we had just put the anchor down in a bay as the wind was starting to drop. It had been hectic. I was around 10 years old, and my Dad taught me the beginning of a song called ‘Hurricane’, that he wrote about my Mum in the year I was born. That moment is filled with warmth and nostalgia for those moments of freedom, relief and unconditional love. And that is still the place that feels most like home, and where I write a large portion of my material. 

Music to me is varied, and it can be a soundtrack to every and any part of life - it broadens our thoughts and deepens our emotions. And it's just really cool. My songs are also shaped by the edge and excitement I think life can have. Living on the road, unexpected nights, charismatic people, and a lust for a beautiful life. As well as a fair bit of heartbreak. I'm inspired by adversity too, the things that change you whether you wanted them to or not.

My sound is a contemporary amalgamation of blues rock, country rock, and indie folk. Its charactersed by my deep, rich and wistful voice, and it's catchy and compelling. 

I'm inspired by music with attitude and warmth, that feeling you get when you listen to stuff from the 60s and 70s. That pure authenticity, with equal love, anger, and effortless coolness. Enough to bring together a whole generation. Bands that were part of every step of the creative process. Good players, proper recordings, unpolished human sounds, and an analog quality. Songs that can capture a feeling and really lay it on people.

Expect brand new singles to be released soon, as well as UK gig dates. 

Sign up to my mailing list so you don't miss them! But also for conversational updates on life and my time in the studio behind the scenes - in my blogs. Straight to your mailbox :)