Our baby “Satyrica” is out today. Making a musical was my lifelong dream. Writing this type of music was easier than any pop music I’ve made because it’s what I grew up on since I was little. My heart will always truly belong to this art form and this period of history in my hometown. There is magic in this city that still wants to be found. Color can be technicolor.
We owe a giant thanks to so many people. This movie is like a wedding. Something old, something new something borrowed and something (silver) blue. Thank you @mannyliotta for getting into a cult like environment in my home of Busby Berkeley, Minnelli, Stanley Donen etc. You already were so well versed in old films and you embraced my dream and Mila’s dream of the great American musical. I am sure working with such purists in this genre gave you your first gray hairs but we love you for it. You brought your own brilliant vision and probably almost physically died making this. The old tales of making musicals back in the day always sound harrowing and I can see why now. It takes every bit of your body and soul. Thank you @strfkr_music for providing the new that was as magical as any nostalgia I was chasing. Thank you @itsmilamolinari and the universe for introducing two girls with the same dream to resurrect this kind of beauty and bring to life what inspired us growing up. She choreographed this film and is clearly an icon as you watch her in it. Thank you @blakelrhodes for posting a Gene Kelly style video so we could find you and coming in and choreographing a Fred and Ginger style number and having patience with me as my heart was not in shape like it was in my peak of tap dancing as a kid and a teen. We had a blow up inflatable pool floaty bed and a leg squeezing machine so that I could completely go against a lack of medical clearances to tap. Thank you to the beautiful talented cast @itsmilamolinari@loganmiller@blakelrhodes@sophieclarecooper Noah Heie @alexherrald@mannyliotta@poptimemachine@lindanewmark@hollywooditgirls
Thank you @burke.alexander for the nights composing and your genius. The film is so beautifully shot by @__devdon and lit by @loganpowaski and an amazing crew. 🥲
‼️READ CAPTION‼️the term “real job” was initially based off a TikTok trend format and genuinely just not thinking of a different term prior to me editing, BUT realizing now the wording wasn’t exactly representative of what I meant, srryyy 🥴
anyway, so not diminishing anyone’s legitimacy in their work and it being a real job, but just highlighting that the real thing about being an artist in this economy is that you have to support your lifestyle with something else, and so if anyone was wondering what the people of LA do for money
#director #filmmaker #moviemaking #film #behindthescene
Our new single Kimchi is out today 🌞
Use the link in our bio to find it on your favorite platform and connect with us on socials! :)
photographer @shainarosee
photo assist and video @suburban_cowboi #garagepop #indierockband #nostalgiacore #shoegazing
A new single from Actual Joy will release on friday the 13th of February of the year 2026. The world will never be the same. Kimchi. Pre-Save at the link in bio :)
#newmusic #garagepop #nostalgiacore #indierockband
If you don’t know what tf is going down this saturday that’s 01/17/26 that’s the seventeenth of january of the two thousand and twenty-sixth year of planet earth and Actual Joy is releasing Pleasure to the world!!
Get ready to tune your radios!!
#garagepop #indierock #indiemusicians #nostalgiacore
what a fucking awful year.
in 2025 i found myself jobless and facing a major career pivot. my car was totaled and i went into debt. bed bugs invaded my apartment and i had to throw out my belongings, sleeping on the floor for 4 months. there was tension with some of my closest friends. my laptop bricked and i lost 5 years of creative projects, music, and dreams. i was pushed to the breaking point; my sanity was tested. i almost moved back to PA.
but 2025 was also fucking awesome.
i embraced letting go of my material possessions. i learned to see the beauty in adversity. i nurtured my creativity and picked up new skills. i diversified my income, and found new things im good at. i became physically fit. i expanded my social circles and met some amazing fucking people. i climbed a volcano. i joined a band (more on that later).
when you’re scraping the sludge off of rock bottom, even the smallest wins get put into perspective, and feel massive.
i wanted so bad to call 2025 the worst year of my life (it probably was). but in reality im grateful for the hardships and experiences it put me through. there is beauty in the pain; in things not working out and a mess to clean up. we’re alive, after all.
