| JoyCut | |
| Genre: | Electronics, dark wave, post-rock |
| Origin: | Italy |
| Years Active: | 2007–present |
JoyCut are an Italian electronic, dark wave, post-rock band based in Bologna. Their music includes a weaving of powerful sonic moments using a mass of electronics, orchestral breathings, cinematic saturations, tribal drumming and industrial percussion with found objects from the urban landscape.
JoyCut is formed by Pasquale Pezzillo, the founding member (contents, voice, guitar, electronics), Gaël Califano (industrial percussion) and Christian Montanarella (tribal drum).
Having opened and toured with bands such as Arcade Fire, Editors, Art Brut, Modest Mouse and Sebadoh, the trio won over North American fans on their first proper US tour in spring of 2014. On the tour they were introduced to Nic Harcourt of KCSN has become a supporter. The VISA World Cup commercial score was secured through their SXSW International Day Stage Performance. They were MTV Artist of the Week in April 2014 and featured in Under the Radar magazine in the July 2014 issue.[1]
Their 2014 album PiecesOfUsWereLeftOnTheGround was followed by a tour across Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Iceland, USA, Canada and Asia.[2]
JoyCut's music has also been featured on a television series dedicated to famous Italian literature, produced by the company Sky Arts.[3]
In 2016, the band toured and performed with The Chemical Brothers.[4]
In 2017, after a TEDx talk and performance in Verona,[5] JoyCut played a sold out show at the Venice Biennale.[6]
In 2018, following a residency at Clermont- Ferrand's (FR) Coopérative de Mai and IMAGO's studios, JoyCut began work on a new album with a planned release in early 2019.
On the 15 June 2018, JoyCut played at the Purcell Room as part of the Meltdown festival curated by Robert Smith of The Cure.[7]
JoyCut have released three studio albums:
JoyCut has also created tracks through collaborations with producer Jason Halbert (Kelly Clarkson) and young American artist Kennedy Nöel a.k.a. Krigarè.[8]
JoyCut was in the Top 5 of ETEP 2015, Europavox (FR), Monkey Week & MMVV (ES), Copenhagen Festival (DK), SXSW 2014, 2015 (US), CMJ (US), Culture Collide (US), Les Nuits (BE), Eurosonic (NL), Rock For People (CZ), Tallinn Music Week (EE), Reeperbahn Festival (DE), Liverpool Sound City (UK), Galapagai (LT), Festival Indigènes (FR), Chorus Festival (FR), Loftas Fest (LT), and I-Day (IT).[9]
JoyCut has a green philosophy and all of their production is 100% tied to a sustainable future.[10]
Commitment to environmental issues has led JoyCut to participate in many sustainability green projects and campaigns. From recording the anthem Clean Planet, composed as a testament to Mother Nature's rights, to recording at studios completely powered by solar panels, JoyCut recycle and up-cycle all sorts of materials and machines as part of its setup. "We use only mater-bi and biophan for the packaging, and water based inks and vegetable glues for printing." JoyCut works towards reducing its environmental impact as much as possible.
In 2009 all 120,000 copies of the La Repubblica's influential XL magazine were wrapped in "Mater-bi" a bio-plastic made from potato starch.