Story by Michael Cremin | Contributing Writer
Photos by John Cantor | Assistant Editor
The student artist series “Music Mondays” continues this week featuring Joyful.noiz and Atlas End at the Keathley University Center Theater.
Joyful.noiz, aka Zion Ward, has recently moved to Middle Tennessee and has already integrated himself into the local music scene.
The following act, Atlas End, consists of lead vocalist Logan Davis, guitarist Dalton Miksa, and their manager Deklyn
Ward began the set with a stage presence and energy that drew my attention to him instantly. Whether it was 50 people in the crowd or 50,000 it was clear from the beginning that Joyful.noiz was here to give a good show. This energy was accompanied by gold spotlight accents and an orange cut-off Vols hoodie, a hoodie that was thrown into the crowd by the end of the show.
Throughout the set, Joyful.noiz made sure to give us a taste of all of what he has to offer. He performs his first track ever written, labeled “329”, which features Michael Jackson references and a catchy Smino-style beat.
After that he moved on to another original track, where he rapped about his dedication to Jessica Alba and features lyrics about how he thinks about her in the shower. It was hard not to have a smile on your face at this performance.
He ended his set by throwing his hoodie into the crowd and performing his newest song “Swazy” which features the lead singer of Atlas End. Their energy and flow together made the performance feel very personal.
Ward said that he’s “influenced by so many (artists). If I had to boil it down to a few : Kanye, Tyler the Creator, and Jon Bellion.”
Atlas End takes the stage and it is clear from the last song that more quality was underway. Atlas End seemed to have a mastery over their style. Throughout the performance I was hearing influence from an array of artists like YungLean, Tyler the Creator, and even artists like MGMT and Flying Lotus.
All these diverse styles were unified by Davis’s beautiful vocals and Miksa’s electric guitar performance, which seemed to match any style of song.
During Atlas End’s performance, the spot lights would change based on the type of song being played. Davis takes a moment to tell the crowd that they “take mental health and well-being very seriously” and plays a more emotional song titled “I Watched the World Destroy Someone I Love”. This track ,which reminded me of a more modern take on an old-school Coldplay song, was accented by red spot lights and sent a chill down the crowds spine.
They then continue their theme of mental health awareness and they get Joyful.noiz back on the stage for their track, “ We ain’t gotta do shit”. Davis starts the track by providing some backstory on the song and how integral it is to “cut bad people out of your life.”
Atlas End’s manager, Deklyn, shed some light on how they started. “We’ve been friends for the better part of 6 years. We actually all went to the same highschool, in Morristown, and all ended up here in Murfreesboro going to college together,” Deklyn elaborated, “There was a moment in senior year of high school whenever we said: ‘We need to do this for real, we need to make a band.’ Ever since then we’ve been crankin away making music.”
Deklyn went on to express that a lot of their influence recently has been coming from a genre called Hyperpop alongside artists such as ericdoa.
Joyful.noiz and Atlas End can be found on Spotify, Youtube, Instagram, and Soundcloud.
