Old Joy

https://soundcloud.com/alex-reindl-832008551/feelin-far

Old Joy is the songwriting project of Alex Reindl, a singer/songwriter and old hand of the Chicago DIY scene. Alex has been playing in various bands in the city since 2008, including Shiloh (2009-15), Dogs at Large (2017-18), Bloom (2021), Dan Rico (2017-18), Tragic Trip (2015-17) and Sonny Falls (2017-22) and has been performing under the name Old Joy since 2017. Starting out as a fairly standard four piece rock band, Old Joy has moved through various lineups of talented Chicagoans throughout the years, taking on whatever shape is required by the songs or dictated by circumstance. Old Joy can claim, for better or worse, to be (probably) the only band from Chicago to be formed in Cook County Jail. Like many in his generation, Alex found himself battling a fairly persistent heroin addiction during the 2010s. It finally caused his first project Shiloh to collapse in 2015 when he was arrested for possession while on probation and found himself stuck in jail for almost an entire year. While there he met future Old Joy drummer Sean Quinn singing “Never Mind” by the Replacements in the shared bathroom of their Division 2 dormitory. “What, indeed, are the odds of this?” thought Alex. Sean was immediately recruited and they set about writing songs in jail together, (including Sonnys Blues from this record.) After being released, Sean and Alex moved in to an absolutely dilapidated apartment in the Marina City Towers in Chicago that belonged to the grandparents of a friend who had been using it as a storage unit. The fridge was unusable, crusted with mold and insects that had likely been there since the early 80s, but the rent was free and the view was spectacular. Sean and Alex began working on songs that would form the bulk of Old Joy’s first release, Trash Your Life, and several that would end up on Why Burn Bridges. Unfortunately Sean was too good for this world and tragically overdosed in a Walgreens parking lot in October of 2016 before any material could be recorded. Alex put the drugs away for good, formed a new band and set about making records. Old Joy’s first full-length, Trash Your Life, was released in April of 2021 to tape by Dark Circles Records and is an eclectic collection of honest and unpretentious songs. Robert Rodi (New City) called the tunes “surprisingly polished and infectious.” It was also featured on Third Coast Review’s “Best albums of 2021.” The band that performed the record combined fuzzy harmonies, jangly guitars, and melodic hooks with a strong focus on songwriting. The songs ranged from Teenage Fanclub-esque 90s pop to bizarre baroque alt-country, with some straight up power pop in the mix as well. Over the summer of 2020 Alex recorded a five song EP with his dad, James Reindl, and Doug Malone (Moontype, Spread Joy, Sonny Falls) at JAMDEK in Chicago. The songs were collaborations between the two of them, and all the instruments with the exception of drums (Max Petot) and french horn (Douglas Nunes) were performed by Alex. The resulting EP, Monks Aflame, was released in December of 2020 and all proceeds were donated to two organizations Alex felt a personal connection to: My Block My Hood My City and Never Alone Recovery. The next Old Joy release was a single and video titled "Say When," recorded at JAMDEK by Doug Malone, with Robby Kuntz of the Red Scarves on drums. "Say When" was released March 4th, 2022 and premiered in The Big Takeover. Old Joy then released “Feelin Far b/w Everybody” on May 28th, a single and b-side meant to evoke both sides of the same coin. Feelin Far was a lush orchestrated symphonic/impressionistic pop song which saw Alex living out his “Elliott Smith Figure 8 fantasy” while playing drums, bass, slide guitar, tack piano, rhodes, mellotron and upright piano in the studio and also arranging a string section for the song as well. The B-side was a stripped down ode to simplicity which has been favored by the Spotify algorithm. Feelin Far was premiered by Post-Trash. Old Joy then released “Go Away Evil,” a five song EP recorded primarily during the pandemic. It was recorded by Keifer Douglas and Doug Malone of JAMDEK and was performed almost entirely by Alex, signaling a new direction for the project and a more confident songwriting voice. Go Away Evil was released at Schubas on June 29th. The second was recorded by Michael Mac (Tasha, Mia Joy, The Curls), a longtime collaborator and former bandmate of Alex’s, and was also performed almost entirely by Alex. In early 2023 Old Joy released “Too Sick for School,” a collection of 4 track recordings made almost entirely during the two weeks surrounding Christmas, 2022, while Alex was quarantining at home with Covid 19. These songs are more raw, less polished, and in many cases strange or experimental, while at other times familiar and intimate. On July 4, 2024 Old Joy released a far more experimental noise record, “again & again & again” is a disturbing, post modern elegy for the victims of modernity; namely America’s rampant gun violence and the opiate crisis that has claimed so many close to the band, including Alex’s brother in late 2021. Incorporating a robotic recitation of New York Times articles with found sounds and otherworldly compositions, the record is a 15 minute suite divided into five parts. It was described by fans as “haunting and interesting… some beautiful melodies wrapped around some heavy subjects,” “so haunting and sad. It’s so good,” “...Weird as fuck. It’s great.” The reaction was definitely broad: One fan said, “I liked how after a while the tracks about mass shootings kind of turned into background noise. Genesis p-orridge is rolling in their grave wishing they had made this EP!” and another said, “That was the most thoroughly disturbing thing I’ve ever heard. I’m still processing but wow I was not expecting that at all lol.” In early 2024, Alex moved to Austin, TX to take a job working as an event manager at Texas Performing Arts, but not before finishing three more records. The first of which is the ambitious power pop album “Why Burn Bridges You Can Live Under,” recorded at Jamdek over the course of three years with longtime collaborators Doug Malone and Keifer Douglas, and mastered by Greg Obis (Stuck) of Chicago Mastering Service. Currently Alex lives with his partner in Austin and works a full time job to put food on the table and a roof over his head, playing far fewer shows than he did in Chicago. However he still writes songs and records and has several completed records that are piling up. He still plans to release all of them and continue working on music. Old Joy has performed almost every kind of stage in Chicago, from Schubas and the Empty Bottle, to dimly lit DIY basements, and a large collection of more sordid haunts that can only be called “venues” by the most generous interpretation of the word. Old Joy has performed as a five piece with a pedal steel and keyboard, along with a mix of electric, acoustic and slide guitars in the past. Since the move to Austin Alex has consistently played solo shows and is equally comfortable with or without a band. Old Joy has also performed as a duo (two guitars and voices) and as a three piece (acoustic guitar/piano, electric guitar, pedal steel/cello/upright bass).