Hiya Joudi Nox, thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today. Grab a brew and take a seat.
What made you decide that music is a thing for you?
When I was 11 years old, I wanted to join a poetry competition in school. It was in Lebanon so the competition was in Arabic. I write the poem and translated it to English because at the time I was teaching myself English. When I did, I grabbed a keyboard that my parents got me and started playing a beat and some random notes. I started singing the English poem and rushed to show that to my parents. The next thing I know, they started dancing to my very first song in the living room. That was the moment I knew I wanted to make music for people to enjoy like my parents did.
Introduce us to you all and your musical history.
Hi I’m Joudi Nox, I’m an indie artist from Palestine and Lebanon and I make music about things that piss me off mainly. I don’t think any other emotion has moved me as much as anger. As you can tell by my songs OFF and Empty Boy, anger is the theme but it’s much more than that, this anger is cathartic deriving from heartbreak and pain. Songs like Sunday Nights show that in a more vulnerable tone. And I write songs about the people I love from time to time like the song Christmas is You.
What’s the live music scene like in Toronto, Canada right now? Anyone we should be looking out for (bar you, of course)?
The scene here is much more indie and chill than how it was when I was in California. I like it because I feel like I can grow and learn more from my peers. And yes, you should look out for Nemahsis, a sister Palestinian pop artist who’s incredibly talented and writes about real experiences that actually matter. She’s on tour now and crushing it!
I’ve seen a lot of people struggling for support recently online. What’s your view on the industry?
I think it has always been a scam but today more than ever. Anyone can open a PR company, charge thousands of dollars out of broke and vulnerable artists and that doesn’t guarantee exposure. Anyone can make an online blog or a Spotify playlist and charge to listen to your song and no guarantee they’d post or help promote the song. This is why social media and personal efforts on branding are more valuable than anything else.
Where do you feel you currently sit within the music industry?
I’m rebuilding my career because of setbacks during the genocide on Palestine and the war on Lebanon which affected me and my visa status wherever I went. I’m finding my place again and finding my voice in hopes that the right people find me and find a cathartic escape in my music.
Tell us two truths and a lie about you.
I have a fake dimple due to an accident
I’m dating a hockey player
I’m 5’1
Do you ever worry about people taking things the wrong way or cancel culture? Discuss….
Not really. People love taking things out of context especially with short form content. Coming where I’m from I’m always misunderstood, canceled, and shadow banned due to my citizenship and my place of birth. Therefore, I make music because I want to and I use my music to write about my background and the things I believe in and whoever wants to take it the wrong way can cry about it.
Do you sign up to any conspiracy theories? If not, why not?
There’s truth to anything but some theories are too much. I don’t necessarily subscribe to any specific theory because I think as humans, we are a lot dumber than we think so to believe that somebody out there is conspiring against us would mean that they’re smart enough to do it and that’s far from the truth, especially if it’s a man.
What was your best experience on stage?
It’s been a while since I’ve been on stage but I remember one time I was playing a song called Maybe Not about a situationship I was going through at the time. Apparently, the lyrics resonated with a group of girls who learned the lyrics very quickly and started singing along. After the show, they come up to me and express how much the song made them feel heard and shared their own tea on their situationships lol. I loved the bond we’ve created from my music
What was your worst experience on stage?
One time when I was part of the music club in my university. I told the music supervisor I wanted to perform Back in Black by AC/DC for a coming up event the club was performing at. He thought I said Back to Black by Amy Winehouse and approved it. When the show day came, it’s a calm and intimate space with bunch of elderly people, we performed the song by basically screaming at the audience who was expecting a chill performance!
Tell us something about you that you think people would be surprised about.
I went to Stanford University for my master’s in Music, Science, and Technology. That’s where I shot the music video for my debut single OFF.
What are the next steps you plan to take as a band to reach the next level?
The plan is to rebuild my online presence and music with the next music and potentially an EP. We plan on getting more performances booked by the second half of the year.
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
My new song HOWTOBEAMAN (pt.1) is a bassy pop song about the hypocrisies that make up being a man in this generation. The song satirically calls out the insane and awful things terrible men would do and then they link it to the nature of being a man as if it’s a set of rules. This is what a lot of male podcasts discuss so I thought I make it into a song because it pissed me off and I hope this song pisses off these terrible men as well.
What was the recording process like?
It’s funny because I wrote the song in 2018, and produced it then but it was minimal and no autotune so it felt like another pop song. Last year, I mess around in my studio and accidentally crank up the autotune on my vocals and I’m like ‘wait a minute? This sounds good!’ so that kind of drove the direction of the song to be a mimic of the style of music that “f boys” listen to.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
If it’s stuck in my head, it’ll get stuck in other people’s heads as well. Usually, these melodies come up out of nowhere and I write the whole song in less than 5 minutes. So, I’ve learned to trust my writing instincts more.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
No because it’s been on my shelf for a while and when it comes to creativity, there’s a fine line between fixing things that would make the song better and doubting myself. I believe the version of me who finished that production in a day was right, and after I gave it a few fixes before the release, it’s perfect for now to be released. I improve with every song, I don’t like to be hung up on a release.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
I’d like to tell the world that whoever is reading this, if you have anger issues just listen to my music and you’ll be cured. If you’re pissed off at the current state of the world and being a woman today, HOWTOBEAMAN (pt.1) is for you. Now will there be a part 2? Who knows?
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