We got a chance to catch up with Joey Ca$h a Penn State student and rapper who’s been hard at work producing songs every month.
Here’s his chat with The LION 90.7fm‘s DJ StoneAge:
SITR: Hey DJ StoneAge here at the Hub hanging out with the Penn State artist Joey Cash. How’s it going Joey?
Ca$h: Real good. How you doin’?
SITR: Not bad! I’m here to talk to you about your career as a rapper and a Penn State student. First off how were you inspired to be a rapper?
Ca$h: I mean I’ve been into rap music my whole life, I just always liked the messages people had. I just like the style of music, it’s just different. I like all music but I was just always a fan of the hip-hop, RnB, you know rap scene and I used to always just write down lyrics just randomly and just started free-stylin’ at parties or with friends and people started saying they liked it and just kept askin’ me to like, you know, to record over an actual beat and see what I could do with it and once I actually did that a couple times people said they really like it so I decided to take it seriously. From there I’ve bee recording ever since.
SITR: Cool, so you would say you were inspired kind of by getting in front of people first.
Ca$h: Yeah, like I mean I used to just do it as a hobby, like I didn’t really take it that seriously just kind of something I did here and there to add you know to a party, you know do it when I was bored or when I was in class. I know I should be taking notes but a lot of times I would just right lyrics.
[Laughs]
Ca$h: And then when people said they really liked it every time, you know when people start singing your own songs, like actually know all the lyrics to your songs, It’s a feeling you really can’t explain. It’s actually like ‘yeah, I gotta make a better song now that takes over their old favorite song’
SITR: How is it balancing your school work and your music?
Ca$h: I mean it’s definitely tough, like you definitely have to balance it real quick and you gotta realize when you can fit each one into your schedule. Me being a senior here at Penn State I definitely know my priority is to get my education and finish out to get my degree. That’s definitely my main priority but at the same time I don’t let that take away from my music. So you know, I make sure I’ll get my school work done. Then I just try to use the other free time I have once that’s done to put it into my music. Having all that extra stress and having that extra work sometimes actually helps me. Like get out more emotions and sometimes helps me really push myself to get it done knowing that I have other work to do besides just my school work or besides my music.
SITR: That’s what I was gonna ask you next, How has Penn State helped your energy and inspirations as well as your fan base?
Ca$h: Oh man it’s great because you know, Penn State, I love the people out here, everyones here to have a good time, everyone loves having a good time and that’s the time of music I make. I want people to party to my songs, I want people to know my songs and be able to enjoy and relate to my songs, so having everybody recognize you and walking out side to have people say ‘Hey that’s Joey Cash’ or having someone talk to you about the newest song you put out and just know that people are listening to it and helping push it out definitely encourages me to continue to work hard and try to satisfy all the fans.
SITR: And we were talking about that earlier how Penn State is a great opportunity to network for all that. Now where do you come up with your tracks and your beats?
Ca$h: A couple different places. A lot of people will get ahold of me and be like ‘hey have you heard this song? Did you hear this beat? I think you could do something big with that, you should see what you could do with it’ and other times… Like I got a couple producers I’ve been in contact with the last couple months actually, that have been sending me beats asking if I was willing to work with them or if I needed any beats. I’m always down for more original beats, I can always use something different because you know after a while using the industry beats, people wanna see what you can do on your own. So I wanna start getting as many original beats as I can, you know, producing all my own music and seeing what I can make out of that.
SITR: Where do you do most of your production then?
Ca$h: I mean it’s a couple different things. I’ve been recording a couple different places. There is definitely place on campus I go that have little booths and recording equipment that I use and I take advantage of that while i’m up here in State College. I’ve made trips out to Pittsburgh to get in an actual studio with a real producer to have them engineer and produce my stuff professionally and back in Williamsport, my hometown, I recorded a couple things down there but mainly just using the equipment I have in State College while I’m up here, taking advantage of what I have.
SITR: Of course, you definitely need to take advantage of all the great things you can do with a large school like Penn State. So talk to us about your recent mix tape Starr Studded. How has the reception been so far?
Ca$h: Starr Studded went great, I really can’t complain at all. I mean people have been wanting to hear a mix tape before that came out and I promised I would give it to them by a certain time. So I got it released. You know, I had people telling me that was some of my best work I got other people saying they had other material they liked better. I mean I’m down to hear all opinions but as far as all the comments overall, like I can’t complain. I had a ton of people hit me up about it, I had a ton of people ask me for physical copies of the CD. I hear people drive by playing the songs in their car and that’s always encouraging to hear. I just like to give people music, in their ears for them to judge. Whether its good or bad criticism I like to hear it but so far overall its been a lot of good criticism.
SITR: Where can our subscribers find your mix tape?
Ca$h: The mix tape can be found on datpiff.com, Its up for free download or you can stream it whenever. You can listen to it whenever, if not you can keep up with me on Facebook. I’m on Twitter @JoeyCash570. I always continue to keep my fans updated on what I’m doing and what to expect. Plus I’m always posting links to my stuff on there too.
SITR: How long did it take you to record Starr Studded and where did the inspiration come from for the whole mix tape?
Ca$h: Starr Studded took me about 2 and half months. I released a mix tape before that which was The New Cash Era. After that my brother, who manages me, told me like ‘Yo this got good reviews’ but he was saying ‘don’t sit on it, you need to come out with something better and soon’. So I didn’t waste any time really trying to get all new beats, trying to get a couple features on there to get people a different sound. So I got a couple people that I like working with and a lot of people that help me out with advice and tips on my music. So I got that done and put it out in a little over too months. It got the name Starr Studded cause we had a lot of different features on it and the way we looked at it was if you’re trying to live beyond the average life. You know, you’re constantly working to improve yourself then we look at you as being “Starr Studded.”
SITR: You do have a lot of features on this mix tape, some singers, some rappers. How did you find these people and what made you want to work with them?
Ca$h: A lot of them are just from talking to people. I like to go out and connect with people. When it comes to networking, a lot of people will be interested in what you’re doing and give you respect for what you’re doing. The ones that I put on my mix tape are the ones that hit me up, gave me real advice and credit for what I’m doing. They’ve helped get me shows or have had me perform with them. So I wanted to have a way to give back to them.
SITR: So these people have been very influential on your career as an artist?
Ca$h: Oh yeah, cause they’re all different styles of music and I listen to their music. I mean I listen to the people I record music with just as much as I listen to the newest hip-hop artists like Lil Wayne and Jay-Z. I like to see how other people work and they can influence me to work even harder than was working.
SITR: Besides Starr Studded you have another project you’ve been working on. For the past few months now you’ve been working on Til The World Ends can you tell us about that?
Ca$h: The project is called Til The World Ends because you know how everyone says the world’s ending in 2012 so what I decided to do was, I’m gonna keep music in your ear for this entire year and I guaranteed my fans and everybody that I’ll give you at least two songs a month of the entire year of 2012 or until the world ends.
SITR: [Laughs] That’s a lot of work.
Ca$h: Yeah, you know it helps push me to continue to work and it helps keep me focused on what I need to do and you know what I need to do to help my fans appreciate what I’m doing. So I’ve been doing that, we had two songs come out in January, and we got two songs coming out this month. One is about to come out real soon so be looking out for that. Pretty much the deal is I don’t want people to have to wait for when the next mix tape is coming out. I’m gonna have another mix tape coming out soon but in the mean time while I’m working on that I want everyone to still have songs to listen to. I don’t want you guys to have the little dry spells in between. So you’re gonna have music all the way up until my next mix tape and continue to have music even after that comes out and this way I’ll just have all new music the whole year.
SITR: So these songs that are coming out for Til The World Ends are they available for download or do you plan on compiling them on a mix tape at a later date?
Ca$h: The way I’m doing it is: I post all my stuff on YouTube, there might be other links that I’m starting to work with that I’ll put ’em on but like I said if you follow me on Twitter/Facebook all those links will be posted. In the mean time, come about, probably June is when I’m looking to release my next mix tape. It’s gonna have some of the songs on it that have been released to everybody that got the best reviews over the last six months but it’s gonna have other songs on it too and that will be Til The World Ends Part 1 and then come you know November or December I’m gonna release Til The World Ends Part 2 with some of the songs that got the best reviews in the second half of the year along with other songs that no ones ever heard that never got released. By the end of it, it’ll be a two disk mix tape.
SITR: Killer! Alright so with the direction of Til The World Ends, which is over the course of a whole year, are you going to be writing these songs for what you’re feeling at the time or is there an overall direction you have already in mind?
Ca$h: No, I mean I have a direction, you know it’s called Til The World Ends everyone wants to live it up they say you know what I mean, like if this is the last year it’s ‘do whatever you can’ so I want people to feel good when they listen to my music and be able to relate to it. Being at Penn State we’re college students, you know, I like to make party songs that people can turn the speakers up for and party to it but at the same time the reason why I came out with material every month is so people can relate to me as an artist. I can express how I’m feeling at that time that month or I can walk you through a point in my life to help you relate to what’s going on now without me even sitting down and talking to you.
SITR: The big news of the week is you’re playing Cafe 210 this Thursday February 9th, starting at 9:30pm. How’d you get into Cafe 210 and what are your future plans for playing in the surrounding area?
Ca$h: I talk with everyone, including a lot of bars, fraternities and even just a lot of students. I like to try to find places where like a lot of people are interested in coming to watch a show. I like to go to places that are interested in having me. I know when I talk to people, I see what their interest level is like when I talk to them and if they’re serious about it then I continue you to approach them, you know I’ll give them demos and I’ll see who wants to have me play there. I’m not gonna ever like beg to have someone let me play somewhere. I wanna perform for people who want me to perform there. Lately people have been reaching out telling me ‘Oh we need to get you in here for a show, I heard you performed around here’ a couple times. I talked to the owners of Cafe and they set something up and I appreciate them for that and in the mean time we’ve been talking to a couple of other places. I’m not gonna throw any names out there because nothings set in stone yet, but we are working with several different places to try to get as many shows as possible throughout the semester, the summer and for as long as I’m here. I just wanna put on shows as much as possible for all my fans. So whoever gets the chance I wanna see everybody out at Cafe 210 Thursday night!
SITR: Any other events or big news you’d like to share?
Ca$h: Actually you know, I’ll be dropping my new song “For My City” this Monday exclusively on State In The Real’s Music Monday.
So you heard it! Tune in to The LION 90.7FM this Monday to hear his new song “For My City” exclusively on State In The Real’s Music Monday (#SITRMusicMonday). Keep an eye out for Joey Ca$h Penn State artist, throwing down raps for you every month or until the world ends anyway! That’s his promise and he assured me he does not go back on his promises.
