| Joey B. |
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A brief biography of Joey Belville, from Echocentral. 
Joey at Cornerstone. |
You would be hard pressed to find a more relentlessly cheerful individual
in Christian music than Joey Belville, the creative force behind The Echoing
Green. His motto is "Defend Your Joy" and Joey describes his
music as "aggressive smile-pop." He's been cranking out his unique
brand of electronic music since 1992, gaining The Echoing Green an extremely
large and devout following.
But for Joey Belville, his relentlessly cheerful demeanor did not always come easy. His mother passed away when Joey was seven years old, and his father moved around a lot to find work. Joey spent weeks at a time with family friends, and wound up living on a boys' ranch for his junior high and high school years. "This was hard for me," Joey recalls, "because I thought the things that I was going through weren't supposed to happen to 'normal' people. I resented God for taking my mother away. But, the angrier I was, the more He revealed Himself to me." Joey says he had to hit rock bottom before he could recognize that God wanted to help and not hurt him. "I realized that only Christ could quench my insatiable thirst for purpose in life, as well as provide a reprieve from the aches of my past. I had some incredible people praying everyday for me to get right with God. One night I went to a Foursquare Church in Albuquerque and laid it all down. It was rad." During these difficult years, Joey says his love for pop music was a source of solace. "I first discovered pop music at about age 10 or 11. I grew up on MTV. My classmates were into John Cougar Mellencamp while I was into Flock of Seagulls. I was always fascinated with electronic music. I would spend hours trying to figure out how they made those cool sounds and beats. (But at the same time I thought Duran Duran had the coolest hair!)." From the age of twelve through college, Belville received a classical training in both voice and trombone. "But I kinda had to chuck the training out the door to do the kind of music I do now, although it definitely comes in handy when arranging. I was a legit musician who had to learn to program what I wanted as opposed to just playing it. I always knew what I wanted the keyboards to do, but getting them to do it was sometimes a hair-pulling experience. I immediately started recording stuff in my dorm room on a keyboard and a 4 track, which later got played on the college radio station." The Christian audience will always be a primary target for The Echoing Green. "But I would be stoked if we had a 12" release to club DJs" says Joey. "How many times have you heard a song once or twice yet it stuck in your head for weeks after! I think our music will be effective due to the simple fact that the Word never returns void. My Christianity shows up plain as day in most of my music." - by Bruce A. Brown |
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