Artist Spotlight - Caught In Joy

What is your name?
Karol Pokojowczyk

Where are you located?
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

What is your artist's name?
Caught In Joy

How long have you been writing music?
30+ years. I started writing music when I was 14 with early trackers on Commodore 64, then IBM Xt, and then with bands. I moved from my hometown Bydgoszcz, Poland to Warsaw; then I was partially living in Germany, then London, South East Asia, Malta and finally Los Angeles and now Miami/Fort Lauderdale. All this time I was writing or recording new songs.

What inspired you to start playing and making music?
I inherited a deep appreciation for "good music," synthesizers, modular instruments, and classic rock from my father, who was a Polish chess grandmaster. I enjoy merging the realms of mathematics and improvisation to create music and engage in sound design. Whether making music or simply having fun, these elements are central to my creative process.

What are your favorite artists or other artists that inspire you to write music?
My music is mostly influenced by the pioneers of Berlin School Music from the 1970s, like Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. Since I was a kid, I have been heavily influenced by Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Jean-Michael Jarre, Kraftwerk, Genesis, Marillion, and Porcupine Tree. You can hear some of it in the music I write. But I also had a long period of listening to thrash metal music, industrial and nu-metal, from Slayer to Korn.

How would you describe your style of music?
Good question! I'm asking around, and it is called progressive electronic music, somewhere between Berlin School, Dark Ambient, and electronica, but I do add guitars sometimes.

How is your personality reflected in your work?
I live in the moment. Almost all the music I released recently is 100% improvisation and instant recordings to a multi-track. I'm a happy guy with a happy family, but like we all had some not-so-happy moments, and am sure it's all reflected in my music.

Describe your creative process when you write new music.
I do Berlin School dawless live performances with Moog, Prophet-10, and modular synths going through an array of guitar pedals.

It transports me to a new world of electronic music I can't find anymore. I usually spend an hour mixing the whole album and drop at least one album a month. This year, I have released 17 albums so far.

What is the name of your latest releases?
Another World

What was the inspiration for that release?
The game under the same title. I love revisiting my childhood, when I often played this and other games. Now I share this love with my son, and he's crushing it in Fortnite, Roblox and we play Call Of Duty or some vintage games like Donkey Kong or Impossible Mission together.

Can you tell us any "behind the scenes" stories about writing or producing this release?
I discovered that using reamp boxes for synths going through an array of guitar pedals makes everything sound better. I also use a lot of pro-graded equipment from my decommissioned studio in Los Angeles, CA, which makes everything sound better.

What do you do to promote your music?
Getmusic.fm, Instagram, Youtube long-form live performances like this one. I also post performances on Reddit, Facebook, and some forums sometimes.

What are you currently working on?
Just another release :)

How can folks get in contact with you?
https://caughtinjoy.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@CaughtInJoy
https://www.instagram.com/caught_in_joy/
https://www.caughtinjoy.com/
https://www.facebook.com/caughtinjoyrocks