JOSIE PACE I am myself on stage, even if I feel like I might lookweird or awkward, I am who I am and I own every bit of it. Howwould you describe the music you create? This question is always hard for me but I feel like mymusic is relatable but very new.Most everything I write about, others are going through or have gone through in their lifetime as well.Mymusic is familiar but new and aggressive and strong. I thinkmymusic is a friend to people whodon’t have anyone else to leanon. Josie Pace is a Detroit, Michigan based artist who blends electronic music elements along with rock synthpop and goth/industrial. 'IV0X10V5' is the latest album released this year on Negative Gain Productions. Josie is also preparing to embarkon a NorthAmerican tour in support of Aesthetic Perfection beginning in October. We appreciate her taking time out to talkabout the album,performing and music in general. When and howdid you first get into music? I was intomusic froma very young age.I grewup in amusical family, so music is “in my blood” so to speak. I always knew I wanted to have a career in the music industry. My parents supportedmydecisions very earlyon and pushedme to really polish and work on my talents. I grew up writing my own songs even before I was inguitar lessons. What was your first onstage experience?Howdid you cope with performance anxiety? I have been taking the stage by storm since I was young but my first onstage experience with the music I create now was at Small’s in Detroit. I remember wearing the most uncomfortable shoes ever and I remember my hands and knees shaking before going on. Out of excitement sure but also out of nervousness. Of course, I still get nervous. But I wasn't as seasoned then. I remember just trying to do whatever came natural for me. I also remember reaching for the mic stand and missing it completely but I try to forget about that! I’ve learned a lot in the years after that performance. Being nervous is normal and important! I use that energy to hype myself up and to put on a kickass show. - 24 - You and Ken Roberts work together. Can you give us some insight about howyou two first met? Ken had seen a video I recorded of my cover of “Mad World” by Tears for Fears, he sent me a message on Facebook explaining that he was a music producer and would like to meet with me and possibly work on music together. Unfortunately at the time I was getting a lot of scammers and creeps sending similar messages but they weren't actually producers. I chalked his messages up to be scams for a few months as well until I was doing a photoshoot with a friend of mine, Scott Sprague. And coincidentally Ken has been friends with Scott for years!When he sawI was shootingwith Scott, he called and asked Scott to assure me that he wasn't some creepy fake producer. What is your favourite song off the newalbum andwhy? It’s so hard for me to pick favourites, the songs are like my babies. I put a lot of myself into all of them.But I think the song that still pulls my heart strings is “Vicious”. I wrote “Vicious”after the sudden death of a very close friend ofmine. She died in a car accident one night while I was at a music video shoot. I found out the next day that she had passed. I was wrecked to say the very least. She was one of my best friends and writing this song took everything in me to finish. All of my sleepless nights of clenching my hand over my mouth and sobbing intomypillowuntil I finally fell asleep.All of my confusion and hollowness and anger about how she was taken too young and too violently and howno amount of flowers or beautiful caskets or “she looks so peaceful” made me understand why she was not here anymore. Throughout the song I constantly ask,“Are we not complete without this viciousness?”.Asking if life is only worth living because all of the terrible lows make the happiest moments happier. I still have a hard time performing that song live and I try to dedicate it toher at every show. (Read more on wwww.peek-a-boo-magazine.be) William ZIMMERMAN
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