We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joey Botello a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joey , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I would say, when I first noticed that I could hear sounds differently than other people. Most people will either say “ i love the beat” or “the lyrics are catchy” but to me it was so much more than that. I could see the sounds through various colors. I could feel every emotion conveyed through both the music and lyrics. That’s when i knew that I wanted to make people feel the way music made me feel. It’s a very powerful thing.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was raised in San Antonio, Texas and grew up on Country, Classic Rock, and BBQ’s every weekend. It wasn’t until a little later that I began to listen to classic r&b. I picked up a guitar at the age of 12 and began to fall in love with the music making process at 15. I remember being much more interested in a full song’s personel list than the actual artist. I’ve always wanted to know who wrote the song, who produced it, and who was involved in the recording process. It even came down to researching what microphones were used on certain song’s and what studios they were recorded in. The act of music making tools being so easily accessible has been such a blessing and a curse. I would say it’s muddied the waters a but for sure. We live in a day and age where it’s quality over quantity. My fans can always expect the opposite. Quality over Quantity. I’ve been personally involved with every aspect of the music making process on every record I make. In fact i’m usually the sole producer, recording engineer, writer, and performer on most of my songs. This is a strict part of my brand and probably the reason why people come back to listen. I believe you can truly hear the effort in every song i release. I would have to say that’s what i’m most proud of, because i’ve had people try to convince me to stop doing it all myself. I look back now, and I’m still here and they aren’t.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

When someone makes my song apart of their daily life. I think that’s why play-listing is so important because that music is the sound track to people’s day, week, month, and even year. I’ve shown up on people’s spotify wrapped and that’s always meant the world to me.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Supporting an artist is really the free-est thing someone can do in life. It cost zero dollars to add a post to your story. It cost zero dollars to give a like or to hit that share button. I guess people don’t realize the power those actions hold and how valuable they can be to an artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joeybotello.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/j0eybotello?igshid=MjEwN2IyYWYwYw==

Image Credits
photos by Ashleigh Botello and Ayssa Cerda