Biography

Illusion of Joy was conceived as my musical project. The intention was to eventually form a backing band and slowly "take over the world," which may happen, but hasn't -yet.

The story begins in Potsdam, a village located in Northern New York where I'd lived since 1988 and in which I'd gone to college since 1998. After several months of playing in the local coffeehouse and the open-mic night on the SUNY Potsdam campus, Claude Aldous, head of Jetpack Records and local indie rock god, approached me. He said that I should get some of my music recorded and that he could do it for a reasonable rate. In the summer of 2000, I spent 13 hours in a studio located on one of the back roads outside of Potsdam recording Crystalline, an EP of four songs.

Crystalline was well-received enough locally that people were dropping by my dorm room to buy copies. The EP was released through Anhedonia Records, a label made up of a five-way partnership between the members of As Yet Untitled, a band based out of Albany and myself. Perpetually in the red and masters of the burned copy, the label did about as well as could be expected when one has little capital to draw upon. Still, during my tenure on the label, it was able to put out three total releases, all burned of course. My only regret is that I killed my computer printer in an attempt to make several dozen CD booklets.

Meanwhile, live performances remained in the form of the solo and open-mic shows as a backing band never materialized. Such things can not be plucked from thin air, it would seem.

The musical project pressed on, as my college career slowly disintegrated. However, one class where I received glowing marks was "Recording Studio Techniques." John Junklaus, whose main area of expertise lies in the remastering of old jazz records, taught the class. While Illusion of Joy bears little resemblance to Charlie Barnett, Junklaus was so impressed by my music and my drive in the class, that he allowed me to record Bitter over several months of extracurricular sessions.

The album was released via the now defunct MP3.com¹, along with a reissue of its predecessor in late 2002. Suffice it to say that Bitter was widely ignored, despite containing the open-mic hits "Billie Jo" and "Ebony." It and Crystalline went out of print, when the site closed in December of 2003. There are no plans to reissue these releases, so if you have a copy, either hold onto it or jack the price way up if you're selling it on eBay.

In early 2003, I had moved to Pittsburgh after my ties to college had been severed. This move also brought about the dissolution of Anhedonia Records.

In the beginning stages of laying down new roots and acclimating to a new locale, I pushed forward and began recording another album. Sound waves were laid down at Masochist Monkey Studios, also known as the recording room at Joe Stacy's apartment. Stacey had moved to the city a year prior and was continually working on his own musical project, Masochist Monkey Circus. The new Illusion of Joy album was titled Division and released in April of 2004 on HPL Laboratories.

During the time I was recording Division, illusionofjoy.net marked the return of my musical project to cyberspace. I was also active in auditioning to become a DJ for a local Goth night – a blatant attempt to turn the skills I’d acquired during my days of college radio into a paying gig. Despite several turns in the DJ booth and favourable comments from patrons, I was not hired. Furthermore, getting Division or any album by Illusion of Joy played at the club² inexplicably became well nigh impossible. Go figure.

While sales for Division were few and far-between, downloads for tracks from the album such as "Is There Some Way Out Of Here?" "Beloved" and "Right Wing Radio" seemed quite healthy in comparison. It was in November of 2004 that an Illusion of Joy page at MySpace was opened, which brought back the streaming media that had been sorely missed since the demise of MP3.com. Currently over 2,000 other MySpace members are linked as "friends" of Illusion of Joy.

If 2004 was the year of musical disappointment, 2005 was the year where everything dissolved, making room for things to be rebuilt. Early in 2005, my personal and professional relationship with Joe Stacey ended on very unfavourable terms. As access to his studio closed to me, I had just finished building my own studio³. Mercifully, I was able to rescue the masters to Division right before our falling-out.

It was during the summer of 2005 that work began on another album. Titled The Forever Syndrome, the album was released in September of 2006. Prior to that, a single from the disc – 'A Place Outside' – was released in November of 2005, marking Illusion of Joy's departure from HPL Laboratories and move to Randy's Alternative Music (this would be the fourth label I've been on, for those of you keeping track).

That same month and year also saw the opening of an online kiosk where purchasing Illusion of Joy CDs was finally as easy as entering a credit card number (or debit card, or PayPal account). 'A Place Outside' marked the first item ever available for purchase from illusionofjoy.net. A re-release of Division followed not long after as did the official release of The Forever Syndrome and 'Michelle,' a single which came out in early 2007.

-Seth Warren; Monday, July 9^th, 2007