LongBeachCulture.org CenterStage Blog

With a background in dance and musical theater, Joy Pearson is a natural and dynamic performer on stage. Her band, Neverwonder, has received critical acclaim, winning OCMA and SBMA awards, honors from Rockwired, and was included in Music Connection’s “Hot 100 Unsigned Artist” list. They’ve self-produced and released two full length CDs, and play ceaselessly. Not bad for a group that’s only been together for three years.

Joy: I really started to sing in college. I was a dancer growing up, but had injured my back touring in China and was looking for an option of performance that wouldn’t be as hard core on my body. I liked to sing in general and did a few musicals, so I started taking voice lessons and wound up getting a scholarship for college in musical theatre.

LBC: What were you doing exactly to tour in china?

Joy: I was a ballet dancer. I had been all my life. When I was 16 I auditioned for a tour that went to China, and was the youngest member to perform, along with some of the best dancers around the world. [It was a] very cool experience but, as I said, I fell and permanently injured my back.

LBC: That must have been devastating.

Joy: At the time, it was! I took Pilates for years to try to fix the damage, but my body was having a tough time. Everything happens for a reason, even terrible things.

LBC: Right, but at 16 one doesn’t always have that kind of clarity and perspective.

Joy: Exactly. I didn’t at the time either. I just fought as best as I could.

LBC: So, by the time you got to college, you were ready for something else.

Joy: I wasn’t ready to give up dancing! No way! But I was ready to perform in a style that wasn’t as hard on my body. Musical theatre was perfect.

LBC: What were some of the first shows you performed in?

Joy: Grease, My Favorite Year, West Side Story…. I actually toured in the middle of my college years with the Broadway show “Crazy for you.”

LBC: Wow! So you made an amazingly rapid transition, from being top in your field in dance to working professionally in musical theater.

Joy: Yes, because I had the skills and the discipline to work on where I was weak… and just improve and improve and improve. there’s no point in doing anything “half assed.”

LBC: Are you still involved in musical theater now?

Joy: No. I did a cabaret type show when I first moved to LA about four years ago but, after that, the band stuff really started to take off and my time became very limited.

LBC: Where did you move from?

Joy: Philadelphia, PA

LBC: So, what brought you to LA?

Joy: That still remains a slight mystery… I came out here to rehearse for a show on a cruise ship line and fell in love with LA. While I was here, I met a producer and started recording some tracks for the fun of it, and I became HOOKED on writing. He had ideas and we started to develop them together.

LBC: So, once you opened the floodgates…

Joy: It kept pouring through! Yes! I was instantly drawn into this “whole new world” of creating and performance.

LBC: How long did it take to put a band together?

Joy: My first band was called “Lotus Sun”. I actually auditioned for them (they were already a band out together). The producer that began everything with me started a project that didn’t fit me vocally, so him and I kind of went in different directions creatively.

LBC: Did he want you to scat?

Joy: [laughs] No! He went in the direction of EXTREME heavy music. I sing heavy… but not death metal.

LBC: So, entering into the existing framework of Lotus Sun, how did that feel? Did they embrace you as a writer, or did they just want a front person?

Joy: They just wanted a front person. That band did not last long. The guitar player had a HUGE ego that really got in the way of everyone’s relationship. [So] I started on a new project that Peter Distefano produced (guitar player from Porno for Pyros). That project recorded a demo.

LBC: Was that project with Peter using your original songs?

Joy: It was equal writing with all members of the band. Everyone had a piece of the writing.

LBC: Did you like that?

Joy: I liked it, because these guys were GREAT musicians. They brought ideas to the table that I NEVER would have come up with, but half of the players lived on the East Coast. They were beyond talented, but it made things extremely difficult, [and] it dissolved. It just couldn’t work no matter how hard we tried.

[After that,] I had some ads out in Music Connection Magazine stating that I was looking for a band. I had auditioned with MANY bands and was about to give up, and then I get a call from Vincent (bass player of Neverwonder). Just from our phone conversation, could tell that this guy knew what he was talking about. I agreed to do one last audition with them. The second we starting playing together, everything clicked. It had chemistry, and they didn’t even have the guitar player yet. I auditioned with bass and drums alone, so it was kind of a reverse scenario: We found the guitar player LAST.

LBC: Did they have a bunch of material, or did you immediately start working on your songs?

Joy: In Neverwonder, everything has been new, fresh, and equal when it comes to writing songs. We didn’t dip into their old material. We immediately started creating, and it basically just came out of jamming together at first. No one was really the ultimate “song writer” but I must admit [that] Flint brings a lot of amazing song writing ideas to the table. He’s an extremely talented player, one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.

LBC: Musical ideas, or lyrics, or both?

Joy: I write all of the lyrics and melodic lines. The guys write a lot of the music.

LBC: So how long did it take before you started playing out?

Joy: A couple of months. Our first show was actually a showcase for the Orange County Music Awards.

LBC: When was that?

Joy: hmmmm…. around two and a half years ago I believe.

LBC: When you hit the stage as a band, how did it feel?

Joy: There were a couple of small little things that we muffed up but, all together, it was a decent show. Nothing compared to where we are now, though! It’s amazing to look back and see how much we have grown, songwriting-wise and performance-wise. I can easily say that our live shows have become pretty impressive. We have a TON of energy. The crowd feels like they can rock out with us. As time moves along, the band keeps molding into what NEVERWONDER truly is… what our true sound is!

LBC: Tell me about your bandmates.

Joy: Vincent and Dre are brothers. they have been playing in bands together since they were little, and the last band they were in was “exploiting eve”. A strange fact about them: They never fight. It’s very scary! Flint came from a band called “train wrecked”. He is our endorsement king! The guy knows everything and anything about guitars. He’s a true guitar nerd!

LBC: Tell me about the CD.

Joy: We spent several months in the studio working on our first album. We first released a “preview” to our fan base to give them a taste, and then we just put our heads together and went for it. We did have help from a gentleman by the name of “E” who engineered and mixes the tracks at “For the Record” studion in Orange, CA. We are currently writing for the second album, and going out on tour in july. We will be traveling through all of California, Arizona, Nevada, and a few other surrounding states. Not East Coast yet, but we will get there soon. We’ll be playing for the San Diego “Rock n Roll Marathon” on June 3rd. We hope everyone can make it! It is for a fantastic cause!