Today we’d like to introduce you to Joey Anderson.
Hi Joey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I grew up in a housing project in North Memphis and loved music as a kid. I especially loved Pop, R&B, Michael Jackson, and Prince but I enjoyed every genre. I went to a church where I watched the drummer’s every move and wanted to play so badly. I’d stay after church when everyone left and play the drums and their beautiful baby grand piano.
As I mentioned, we lived in a government-funded apartment complex and didn’t have two nickels to rub together. I had a song idea in my head and was trying to figure out how to record it so that it would sound like what’s on the radio. This was way before recording software and I didn’t even know what a recording studio was or how a record was made. I came up with a way I thought I could do it.
I saved every penny from birthdays and Christmas to buy a couple of these little portable cassette records from Walgreens. I played the drum section of a Run DMC song on one tape player and recorded on the other. Then I played that one and played a little keyboard part along with it while recording it on the other tape recorder. I kept doing this back and forth until I had all my instrument parts, background, and lead vocals recorded.
I guess I was always sort of an entrepreneur, even at 12 years old because I duplicated them and sold copies for $2 each to a bunch of folks in my apartments and school. To make an already long story a little less long, I became a strong drummer and keyboard player and eventually started working at the now-closed Strings and Things Music Store on Union Avenue in Mid-Town Memphis.
I met lots of musicians and a fantastic drummer and studio owner named Chuck Reynolds. Chuck is who I hired to record my first full solo album of original songs. I learned tons from him and developed my ear for audio in his studio Tubbs Audio on South Cooper.
I went on to start my own commercial recording studio a few years later. My then business partner and I purchased a 5000 square foot commercial building on North Watkins. It was there that I was blessed to be able to produce a huge number of great artists ranging from independent to established.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yeah, smooth like jagged rocks. Most of the rough times were due to really serious problems with my health like the “c-word”, heart problems, and a stroke. Currently, I am dealing with vision problems and almost total blindness in my right eye due to a detached retina.
Health has slowed me down, to say the least.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
In the music business you kind of need to be a jack of all trades. People come to you for one service and you end up providing ten. I set out to just make my own music but people heard it and wanted me to produce their stuff. Artists would come to me for production but then I’d end up writing all or half the album.
Word of mouth lead to me becoming known as the guy you go to for the stuff that you hear on the radio, almost every genre. It’s crazy because I produced an album on a band from Mexico who didn’t speak a word of English and I didn’t speak a word of Spanish, well except food.
So, I suppose what I “specialize in” is the song. I believe it all starts with the song and ends with the song. I produce aiming for a commercially viable end product but I also don’t put what that is or can be in any type of box.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
People can feel free to just send me a couple million. I have PayPal and Cash App, lol.
My website is joeyanderson.com. There is a contact form on there and I would love to hear about their music and see if I am someone that can provide what they need.
I offer pretty much anything someone needs to make a radio-ready song or album.
Contact Info:
- Email: joey@joeyanderson.com
- Website: joeyanderson.com
- Instagram: @joeyandersonproductions.com
- Facebook: Facebook.com/joeyandersonproductions
- Youtube: YouTube.com/joeyandersontv
