Name: Joy Guidry
Nationality: American
Occupation: Bassoonist, improviser, performance artist, composer
Current event: Joy Guidry is one of the acts appearing at the XJAZZ! 2025 festival in Berlin. For tickets, go here.
Recent release: Joy Guidry's new album Five Prayers is May 31st 2025 out via Jaid.
Recommendation for Brooklyn: Go to ma-n-pop soul food the next time you’re in Brooklyn. It’s my favorite place to order from when I’m missing Texas.
Topic that I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: I’m a pretty chatty person so I usually share my passions very often. What I will say is I hope people can really find a way or different ways to care and listen to their spirits on a deeper level. To let themselves be guided by the wind sometimes, and find a sense of personal freedom, satisfaction, and comfort, especially in times like we are currently living in.

If you enjoyed this Joy Guidry interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram, and bandcamp. 

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Joy Guidry interview.



When it comes to experiencing strong emotions as a listener, which albums, performances, and artists come to mind?

For artists there are quite a few that cause a very deep reaction for me. Cleo Sol, Blood Orange, Getatchew Mekurya, Alice Coltrane, Kirk Franklin, Marvin Sapp, and La Shun Pace.

There can be many different kinds of emotions in art – soft, harsh, healing, aggressive, uplifting and many more. Which do you tend to feel drawn to most?

I tend to go towards uplifting and comforting these days.

The world is quite rough, so the escape I desire at the moment is one of healing, and a cozy environment.

I have had a hard time explaining that listening to death metal calms me down. When you listen to a song or composition, does it tend to fill you with the same emotions – or are there “paradoxical” effects?

For me club mixes that are around 160 bpm and higher help me relax and also helps open a very creative part of my brain.

It’s become my new study music while I finish my PhD.

In as far as it plays a role for the music you like listening to or making, what role do words and the voice of a vocalist play for the transmission of emotions?

I believe that the vocalist has the role of directly sharing the message intended to the listener by the composer.

When it comes to experiencing emotions as as a creator, how would you describe the physical sensation of experiencing them? [Where do you feel them, do you have a visual sensation/representation, is there a sense of release or a build-up of tension etc …]

For me I feel everything in my chest, and the bottoms of my feet.

Oftentimes I get the classic ringing in my left ear when one of my ancestors or the universe is trying to send me a message.  

When it comes to composing / songwriting, are you finding that spontaneity and just a few takes tend to capture emotions best? Or does honing a piece bring you closer to that goal?

I think it depends on what project I’m working on.

For Five Prayers it was mostly done in a few takes. I wanted to keep the spiritual messages I was receiving in my prayers authentic and keep either the first or second take.

How much of the emotions of your own music, would you say, are already part of the composition, how much is the result of the recording process?

For Five Prayers so much of the emotions started showing themselves while recording.

There was a lot of smiling, but even more tears while recording this album.

For Five Prayers, what kind of emotions were you looking to get across?

Each of these five songs focuses on a different perspective of my understanding of my current self and gives gratitude to individuals in my life who have given me a reason to continue on in this world.

How do you capture the emotions you want to get across in the studio?

I create such a comfortable space, and try to be as alone as possible when creating.

I often try to be in the same headspace that I am when I’m cozy in bed to not get nervous while recording.

What role do factors like volume, effects like distortion, amplification, and production in general for in terms of creating the emotions, energies or impressions you want?

I use all of these effects as an extended range of my emotions and self expression in a digital way.

Especially with distortion, it’s probably one of my favourite effects to use in a live show. There's so much beauty in the aggression of the sounds being produced with that effect.

In terms of emotions, what changes when you're performing live on stage, with an audience present, compared to the recording stage?

When I’m on stage I feel like my alter ego Jaid takes over, and a completely different person comes out of me. I feel so free in front of a crowd, and feel almost limitless.

Then when I’m in the studio it can be hard to not get really in my head trying to create the perfect product, and oftentimes that sense of perfectionism can really bring down the energy.

I love recording music for everyone and myself to have, but I really love being on the stage and sharing what I do live.

How does the presence of the audience and your interaction with it change the emotional impact of the music and how would you describe the creative interaction with listeners during a gig?

The energy of the room is so important to me, and how I create music. It’s so much easier to get in the right headspace when the room is filled with warmth, and intention.

Sometimes when I’m playing someone thinks it's the perfect time to have a pointless conversation which can really throw off the vibe.

What kind of feedback have you received from listeners or concert audiences in terms of the experience that your music and/or performances have had on them?

A lot of people have told me my music is very comforting and healing for them or even cathartic. I always love hearing this, because I pour so much love and so much of myself into my work. T

he music I’ve been sharing the last few years has helped me heal so much. So it’s really nice knowing that it is having a similar effect on the listeners.

Would you say that you prefer to stay in control to be able to shape the emotions or do you surrender to them and allow the music to take over? Who, ultimately has control during a live performance?

This is a tough one! I’d say it really depends on the make up of the crowd and the location.

When I’m in a mostly Black space it feels like all of our ancestors are communicating in the room, and I very often get lost in that energy and it guides my music in a very strong and beautiful way. It feels like I become a vessel for the spiritual conversations happening in the room.

I come into the space with the understanding of what I’m going to play, and sometimes the room guides me in a different direction.

The emotions that music is able to generate can be extremely powerful. How, do you think, can artists make use of this power to bring about change in the world?

I think by just being authentic to themselves, their spirit, loved ones, and community. Make art that is from your voice, not art that people want you to make.

I think holding that principle of creating can be used in so many different parts of our lives in and outside of music and art.