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00:02what up though detroit we are back with another detroit culture shifters and when i said this
00:08person was very much identified as a detroit culture shifter i mean jazz told me juan told
00:14me that i feel like there was probably someone else who told me too but we've got someone who's
00:18been not only boots to the ground video wise but creative industry but also within the city as well
00:25doing non-profit work and so much more and i feel like we're gonna really learn about the
00:29city and about them we got joey tarvey in the building what's good what's good what up though
00:34i am so excited to talk to you especially as a emmy nominated creative director so let's bring it all
00:42the way to the beginning who is joey and without all the accolades with all of the things that
00:47everyone knows you probably for who are you i'm honestly just an artist you know i'm joey i'm an
00:52artist i've been a visual creative director for over a decade um i love telling stories within the
00:58city detroit and beyond you know sometimes i go um abroad yes i have done that too but i travel
01:05tell stories i do many documentaries for different organizations so i just love seeing people's face
01:11when you give them the final product of the story that you told about them and they just feel seen
01:16yeah i feel like that was the same thing that jazz from the jazz report was mentioning too and that's
01:21why she loves what she does and you kind of dibble and dabble in a bunch of realms to make
01:26that happen
01:26from creative direction to visual storytelling to even your own music that you put out so what was
01:31the first thing that pulled you into this creative world was there something in the non-profit world
01:37or were you just kicking it on youtube as a kid or something like what was it well honestly growing
01:41up i was the kid i was always watching tv like if we were out and i'm asking my mom
01:46what time it is
01:46everybody's like what what show are you missing like literally so i ended up just loving um film and
01:53television to the point where it was time for me to go to college i was telling my mom like
01:56i don't
01:56know you know what i want to go to school for i really wasn't trying to go and she was
02:01the person
02:02who told me like you can go to school for tv and i never knew that um and then when
02:06i was in high
02:07school i had a vocational photography program that i was in for two two and a half years so pretty
02:12much
02:12if anybody that does video they know that it's pretty much photography just sped up you know a bunch
02:17of frames sped up so i was supposed to go to wayne state and i got in and they had
02:22a photography
02:23program but then michigan state gave me more money so i went to state but they didn't have a photography
02:27program yeah so when i got to state i was like well i guess i can focus on digital media
02:33which was film
02:33i specialize in film and digital media okay well i'm sad that one opportunity didn't happen but it
02:40obviously opened doors for another oh yeah can you tell me what made you evolve in your work today
02:47what is something that you're like super proud of wait before we even ask that before i get there
02:53tv shows you were just talking about that what were your favorite tv shows that you were running home
02:57for man well i'm about to tell my age for real it's okay we're a safe state no for real
03:02uh tgif
03:03saw the whole little friday line up yeah i used to run home for that but then the monday line
03:08up
03:08came out on upn so moesha girlfriends one-on-one yeah and then i was kind of wild with it
03:16because
03:16i was switching back on fourth on mondays to seventh heaven and moesha okay right it was running at the
03:21same time so anytime the commercial came on i hit the little back button so yeah i missed something
03:26on seventh heaven for sure but um yeah that's pretty much what i was into and then whatever films
03:31would come out like i was just telling somebody the other day like my favorite made for tv film was
03:37produced by debbie allen it's called poly um and i spoke to debbie uh i think it was last summer
03:42and
03:43i was doing some work for a non-profit and i was telling her how much you know i love
03:46that movie
03:47and she told me she was taking it to broadway i said well i'm gonna beat her so save me
03:50a seat for
03:51real it's just dropping debbie allen's name no big deal so how did these tv shows like one-on-one
03:57and moesha translate into your work that we see today
04:01um well i feel like these tv shows help me to see that people like me that look like me
04:07um can do that type of thing and going back to debbie that's one of the reasons why i really
04:12loved that movie after watching it um i found out that she filmed it i mean she directed it choreographed
04:18it wrote it um and then put her sister in a starring role so it was like we can do
04:23those things and i feel
04:24like we should not shy away from that just because we're in a different time and there's so many
04:30people that have these options but it's like we should continue to thrive to put ourselves in those
04:35positions that's why i love everything that isa ray does as well yeah definitely love everything that
04:41miss ray does i love the fact that you brought up miss debbie allen and felicia rashad because they
04:46work heavily together while doing multiple things within their shows like you mentioned debbie
04:51even for a different world was like her hands were all up in every aspect of that show once she
04:56got on it so do you feel like you're the same way when you're in the creative director storytelling
05:01seat like nothing can pass by you because you have to have your hands and everything absolutely i'm
05:07learning to like step away a little bit but it just it just comes so natural to me so i'm
05:12a music
05:12artist as well so even like when it comes down to the score or like the music that we put
05:16in under
05:16like the documentaries or you know i'm thinking about doing a series it's like i'm pretty sure
05:21i'm gonna have a hand in that as well just because of my music background so i don't know it's
05:27just
05:27like i love to bring people in that are great at what they do but then just kind of like
05:32you know
05:32talk to them like hey that's good but did you think about it this way or just kind of like
05:36honing
05:36people's skills so that they feel like they're prepared for whatever else that they want to do as well
05:41and see that all makes sense because you're also in the mentoring space too which we'll get to later
05:46okay it's starting to come full circle makes sense so how do you approach bringing someone else's vision
05:52to life because i feel like that's the hardest thing for any creative when you're working with
05:56clients or with non-profits like you do how are you able to you know keep your authentic voice in
06:02your work but also still give the people what they're actually looking for you know that's a good
06:07question so i love pre-production meetings i'm a stickler for it but also within those pre-production
06:12meetings i try to ask the client as many questions as i can because that's the only way that i
06:17can
06:17understand what they're looking for or what story that they really want to be told now i have realized
06:22that sometimes clients just don't know what they want because they don't do what we do so it's really
06:27like our job to bring that out of what they're you know the conversation that we're having right but
06:32then even within that people know it like i'm always like oh no we're not doing that or no that's
06:36not
06:36going to work and then they'll be like all right joe but i literally break it down to tell them
06:39like
06:40this is not going to work because of this and i'm like a forward thinker and i can always see
06:44like
06:44two three steps in the right ahead and i just sometimes i don't have time to explain why i'm
06:49telling you don't work but um unfortunately some clients very very very few they'll leave and go work
06:56with somebody else and come back and be like you know what joe i should have trusted you yeah you
07:00was
07:00right so and then i don't even matter about it because business is business and i get it some people
07:05don't really understand what you're trying to explain um in a way that you're trying to explain
07:09it you sometimes you got to have a prerequisite right to do this type of work and it's just like
07:13i've been doing it for so long i've seen so many instances where things didn't work so i really just
07:19learn from uh trial and error if you think you know think about it and speaking of that is there
07:24a
07:24situation in your creative journey whether that's with the work that you do for clients or with the
07:29work that you do for yourself where you were like oh hold on that was a learning lesson we're not
07:34doing that again yeah i think i'm too kind i think i'm a very kind person and sometimes it puts
07:40me in
07:40situations where i'm upset with myself at the end of the day it's not even really the people it's like
07:45well i put myself out there this far i did more than i was supposed to do and then i'm
07:52looking for a
07:52result that doesn't align with how i'm you know right moving um but i'm just a kind person so a
07:59lot of
07:59times like my actual tagline for my media company apple line media is affordable greatness because i
08:05feel like everybody should be able to afford to tell their story um and then sometimes you know
08:09people say oh you pay what you get what you pay for but in my instance like i give really
08:14great work
08:14even if it's like at a budget rate right but sometimes when people see the price they think
08:19like oh it's not worth this right so they move in a way where it's like you get less respect
08:25but but that's only happened in like 20 of my dealings with my clients i love my clients and
08:29they always you know show up for me they've been rocking with me for over like 10 years
08:34you know what i'm saying so it's like i can't even be mad at it but those are the ways
08:38that i feel like
08:39i show up and then i've learned over time to just be like have more boundaries right and they can
08:45be
08:45respectful boundaries i feel like that's a good thing to just know one there's multiple things in
08:50that one not to look at the negativity all the time because there's more positive than bad but
08:55also it's a learning experience for not only you but also the client because maybe they didn't realize
09:00that they were handling things a certain way or like you said previously where they go to someone
09:06else and they're like oh wait hold on the work that i needed from joe was the work i needed
09:10so i'm
09:11gonna come back is there any stories that you wish that you've been able to tell is there anything that
09:17you feel like detroit or honestly the world because you've done global that you feel like
09:21you would love to be the storyteller behind um without giving me too much in your in your
09:28future project bag that i would love to be the storyteller behind let me think
09:38well
09:41i haven't really been in this realm honestly which is kind of crazy so i'm
09:44i'm a member of the lgbt community um i was even a chair of the lgbtq plus erg for the
09:50city
09:51detroit yes you were yes so um i've been looking into uh telling more stories about the community
09:57even within the spaces of like the chamber of commerce that we have in different instances like
10:03that and it's just like i have not been within that realm and i know for a fact i would
10:08i would do well
10:09at telling the story yeah of our community within the city detroit and expansion that we're looking
10:15for right um and just having that space to take up within the city kind of like how chicago does
10:20and i know uh kevin hurt he speaks about this you know often and i just love what he's doing
10:26with the
10:26chamber i love um what he doing what he's doing overall but that's something that i would love to
10:32highlight and i think i would do well at it i feel like you would not only are you a
10:36part of the
10:36community but you know what inside and outside people would be looking for is there a specific um
10:44like part of the community that you're trying to highlight or is it just everything overall because
10:51i feel like even for me i'm in the community as well even though i've only been here for less
10:55than
10:56a year but i don't know much about what is the challenges that detroit is facing within the lgbtq plus
11:03community so is there anything specifically that you feel like might need to be highlighted more
11:08i would probably just say um exposure like lack of the story being told is more so uh what the
11:15issue is honestly um and then being able to propel people who are in uh that community business-wise
11:23forward you know and it's just like when you um the minority business certification they have one for
11:29african americans for women they have one for lgbt but it's like we can push those things within the
11:34community so that people know and then people know like hey you can um come and shop here or you
11:40can
11:40come and do business with us and this is why or just having like a whole sector for it um
11:46where people
11:47feel like they have a space to take up and we've had spaces within the city detroit before but um
11:53certain
11:54places have closed down since so it's just like you know just making people feel more comfortable
11:58and more like they belong but i don't think it's anything that i could complain about uh as of right
12:04now but it's more so like what can we do moving forward to make it even bigger right well chamber
12:09of commerce call up joe because you already know let's switch over to the music side myth because um joey
12:17red
12:17is a big deal and they've been a big deal for a hot little minute so how are you able
12:22to separate
12:24creative director joe darby to the artist joey red i don't know honestly i've been trying my brother he
12:31keeps calling me because he he my he's my producer like he's been producing for years yeah and uh it's
12:37a few other producers i have too but he's just like the main one he's so cold his name classic
12:41official
12:41he be calling me like yo what's up like you you don't rap no more i'm like nah you know
12:45that's not
12:46true i'm just busy but i don't really know how to separate it because even in my everyday day to
12:50day it's just like i i see music within everything like you see beats within everything you see
12:56progressions you see beginnings ends like it's like when you're an artist and you create music
13:01you're thinking like okay how can i start this song how can i end the song to me an ending
13:05of a
13:06song is the most important um in the beginning as well and i think like that in everyday life
13:11storytelling um even when i'm editing i used to edit for uh the detroit police department and
13:18they were like man y'all edits are so on point like why are they just so on beat and
13:23they didn't
13:23know i was a rapper at the time so it was just like i don't know i i see it
13:27in everything so i don't
13:28know how to separate it and at the end of the day i'm a musician like i'm gonna be that
13:34until
13:36i'm not on earth no more honestly because if i was a jazz musician somebody would walk up to me
13:42like oh yeah you're a jazz musician you you get a certain age and you're a rapper unless you like
13:46jay-z or snoop dog they're like oh yeah you used to rap and it's like no i still rap
13:50like i still am a
13:52a hip-hop artist and i even sing a little in these songs so it's just like very like you
13:57know all it's
13:58different very eclectic uh diverse if even but it's like you're still a musician regardless and
14:05i love to perform with like live bands i've done that at uh detroit pride what was it 20 21
14:14i believe
14:15i can't remember what year it was but the year i performed i probably had a ball and it you
14:19know
14:19i performed with a lot of bands so was that the one that you were in the parade for or
14:23is that a separate
14:24time no that was a separate time okay that was a separate time see i was i was doing my
14:27research
14:28i was like joe's been outside no for real but when it comes to your music what is your process
14:32because
14:33like you said it's your through line of storytelling through it all what do you need when you're going
14:39into that music space are you one of those people who needs to be secluded or one of those people
14:45that
14:46feeds off of other people's energy are you pulling experiences from other people are you just very
14:52insular because i feel like with different musicians and artists their process is very
14:56different yeah i i typically like to be secluded um but i have created music amongst other people in
15:02the studio but when i'm in my my home studio by myself like every time i make a song when
15:07i'm alone
15:08it's just like amazing i just sometimes i just ask god like like why me you know but um i
15:15love to
15:16collaborate with people as well um i collaborate a lot with woodrow the entertainer yeah very dope
15:22artist very very talented um and then it's just like the stories that i'm telling they're they're
15:28literally about my life most of the time sometimes i'll take like a poetic turn and tell someone else's
15:33story and people don't know that it's someone else's story right um but things like that uh and i
15:38started off as like a conscious rapper so in everything that i do i'm always trying to like
15:44touch somebody or change their life or make them think about things in a different way and i've
15:48been doing that through music i do it when i encounter people in everyday life and you know
15:54it's just something that i i love to do i love helping people so for people who are living under
15:58a rock and have not pressed play on apple music or spotify yeah what is a song that is in
16:04your
16:04catalog that you feel truly embodies who you are as a person like if someone were to listen to joey
16:10read for the first time that's the song they need to press play oh wow um i'm gonna probably say
16:21oh it's so mean
16:28oh my new album maybe cheers um overthinking good one it's one of the ones i i definitely added to
16:37the
16:37rotation thank you nice nice you know when i have my listener party people love cheers and they live so
16:42clean um but i feel like cheers is more like you know who i am so clean i was just
16:48turning it
16:48you feel me hey everyone needs a good turn up song but i will say i was hoping that you
16:53were
16:53gonna say cheers so nice nice are there any people who you feel like besides isa and and debbie but
17:00in
17:00the more so the space of music that you see as a creative and you're like ooh okay i kind
17:05of like
17:06the path that they're doing business wise because it's not about you know taking anyone's you know oh
17:14personas or anything but i will say that we're all influenced by something so have you watched
17:18someone else's process in the music space where you're like ooh that was nice i like that i have
17:23to figure out how i can make that into something for me oh absolutely i have mad respect for dolce
17:28just how she came out and it's just like i don't care like i'm gonna do it my way uh
17:33regardless and
17:34it worked for her and that's what i implore most people to do it's just like do what you want
17:39to do
17:39like be yourself and if it works it works if it doesn't just try again you know and honestly
17:46most people i know i'm not gonna say most people but some people feel like they have to move in
17:50a way
17:50where it's like oh this worked for them so let me do this like but we're not all the same
17:54people
17:54you understand so it's like i feel like doji went about it in a great way she's an incredible artist
18:01and you know i'm saying the music is good the visuals are good and it's like sometimes people try
18:07to give you advice on what to do and it's like well if you didn't do it right you know
18:12why would
18:12i do it right so it depends i think you should always take advice with i don't want to say
18:17a
18:17grain of salt but just take it in percentages like okay what they told me i could take this from
18:21it
18:21take this from it but you don't have to take it all in hell because we know all the same
18:24people
18:25exactly now that i'm really thinking about it you and don't you would eat a song up wait that'd be
18:31crazy you know don't you girl i'm just telling you joe is the girl okay okay so thank you what
18:40are you currently building and working towards because i feel like as a creative we're always
18:43doing something yeah whether that's in your creative business or whether that's your music
18:48or whether that's your mentorship because you do eight million different things what are you
18:53currently building or working on that the city of detroit can help you out with that is so funny um
18:57well i'm trying to look into these filming centers what the city of detroit can help you know out with
19:02but uh pretty much i went to michigan state and i majored in digital media and i had a specialization
19:08in fiction film right and i just been trying to get back to that for years um i know i'm
19:14busy i'm always
19:15working on other projects but a series is what i've been working on uh seven episode series but that's
19:23that's what i'm working on in the future and it's a it's a dramedy because people have been asking for
19:29a series based off of what i've been seeing on your instagram you've been like uh people been asking me
19:33for this like i gotta work on this first okay well i'm hoping that it comes to fruition sooner rather
19:40than later because i'm ready to see a moment that's not only just being able to showcase your creativity
19:48but it's like it's you thank you and it's not you know obviously your work with your clients and the
19:54businesses and nonprofits are amazing but i feel like for me being a new to joe i it would be
19:59cool
20:00to like finally see in a full project where it was like no this is my dream come true from
20:05iteration
20:06to completion oh yeah like that would be really exciting if someone looks back at your work years
20:12from now because you've done what 15 plus years in the industry what do you hope that they understand
20:18about the time and the place and the culture that you are creating well if someone looks back and sees
20:24my work i just hope they realize that i made a difference within the space you know i told the
20:31stories that needed to be told even if people probably didn't know it was me telling them so it's
20:36it's a lot being a photographer or a cinematographer you always behind the camera and you don't really
20:42get flowers that's why i appreciate this uh interview so much because like we never really
20:46get a chance to tell our own story because we're so busy telling other people's stories but i just want
20:51people to know that i was here i made a difference in a way that i didn't waste my time
20:57that god gave me
20:58um and i wanted to prove something to myself and i feel like i did that so now i'm just
21:03here just doing
21:03the work and letting my light shine and touching whoever i can at the moment in a positive way i
21:09know that's right come on drop the gems thank you so now what are you prioritizing what's what's next
21:14what are we going to be seeing for the next let's say two years i'm prioritizing myself um for the
21:20longest i've taken care of everybody and i've done so much for so many and this time i just want
21:25to take
21:25care of myself uh create boundaries and then um create for me right so whatever else you're gonna see
21:32for me probably in the next year or two it's gonna be a lot of who joey is and what
21:37joey loves and why
21:39well i'm ready i feel like detroit's ready the world's ready everybody needs to get ready thank
21:44you so with the detroit culture shifters i always like you said love pouring into other people and
21:50giving people flowers while they can still smell them making sure that people and their accolades are
21:56respected and acknowledged is there someone in the city who you feel like is doing amazing work who
22:02is showing up making an impact for the city and the culture but it's just not getting the
22:06recognition of the platform who should i have as the next detroit culture shifter oh that's not getting
22:11a recognition hmm let me think can it be a couple people absolutely okay uh i'm gonna say a q
22:24alvin he's a
22:27he owns ddm which is also a marketing advertising agency uh who else he he does get recognition
22:37though but he's a dope individual um there ain't no problem getting more oh yeah oh yeah let me think
22:47oh i'm gonna say woodrow the entertainer because he's in uh he's a musician and now he's in movies uh
22:55he just dropped a movie called porch bandits it's really dope uh went to the premiere it's so funny
23:01um so now it's on tubi okay tubi yeah yep so akil and hoodrow woodrow woodrow yeah and then road
23:12design if uh he does films he's a cinematographer well perfect cold with it cold with it all three of
23:21you you'll be hearing from me soon joey i just want to say thank you i feel like this is
23:26one of the ones
23:28where i was super excited for because i knew that there was so much to discuss but at the same
23:34time
23:34i felt like i didn't know much so it was impressive to not only be told how cool you were
23:41but to finally
23:42be able to like sit down and really hear because again you've done so many things that i wasn't even
23:46able to highlight in today's episode so just being able to sit down with someone who is as cool as
23:52you
23:52and as dope as you and also using your platform for good and like you said not getting as much
23:58recognition as you obviously deserve it's so cool to finally be in your presence many people have told
24:04me about you so for the fact that you are here i am super excited and i cannot wait to
24:08see what else
24:09joey red has under the sleeve thank you so much i i loved being here and i appreciate y'all
24:15both no
24:15problem let us know your social so that everybody can stay up to date with what you got going on
24:20okay
24:20cool y'all can follow me on pretty much any platform at joey red j-o-e-i-r-e
24:26-d-d it is my
24:27artist's name but i haven't let it go so you know i'm saying i got a youtube uh joey darby
24:32but um
24:33pretty much we all good that's it that's it right there well thank you for being here joe
24:37and i will see you on the next detroit culture show
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