Brittany Poeppe | Assistant Arts + Life Editor
Joe Pietz is a Music Production major at Buena Vista University (BVU) during the week and a DJ on the weekends. He is so immersed in what he does that sometimes it’s hard to get all of his work done on time. It takes Pietz about 35 hours to finish a piece and release it; that also includes mixing and mastering, or “the finishing touches.”
“It’s hard to put out constant good content that I like because it takes so long. I don’t want to put out anything I don’t like either,” Pietz said.
Pietz first got into DJ-ing gig when he was a junior in high school. He says that he was a shy kid who hoped to broaden his horizons. He came across a few videos about DJ-ing and decided to experiment with audio software. Soon he was making his first songs. He reached out to friends who DJ-ed at his previous high school and offered to shadow them for free.
“I wanted to learn. They started bringing me to places so I could shadow them, and after about a year I got a call from them professionally. Next summer will be my fourth official year with them,” Pietz said.
To create a new piece, Pietz says he usually thinks of a popular tune, or he’ll combine chords and melody, then build off of that. His first official song was a trap remix of John Legend’s “All of Me,” which he called a near-failure. Ironically, it’s one of his most popular songs.
Pietz draws inspiration from artists Avicii and Galantis. Music has always been big part of his life, especially in how he deals with things. He says it mainly helps keep his mood up.
“When you fall in love with EDM [Electronic Dance Music], you want to be involved,” Pietz said.
Pietz’s music can be described as EDM or Progressive House music. When he’s not creating his own music, he’s helping other musicians on campus, whether it’s audio engineering or tour management. Following graduation from BVU, Pietz hopes to travel to California to join Icon Collective, a higher level music production and networking school, for a year before becoming a music producer. Overall, Pietz just wants people to enjoy his music as much as he enjoys producing it.
“I hope I can make people happy. I know it sounds cheesy and super generic, but if someone can hear my song and convey the emotion I put into it and understand it, that lets me know I’m doing something right,” Pietz said.
Pietz’s music can be found online at http://www.soundcloud.com/novarix.
Photos courtesy of Joseph Pietz
