Review Fix Exclusive: Ovtlier’s Joey Arena Talks ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ And More

Review Fix chats with Ovtlier vocalist Joey Arena, who discusses the band’s new album, “What Doesn’t Kill You,” as well as their origin story, influences and goals for the future.

Listen to the album on Spotify, Here. 

Review Fix: How did the band get together?

Joey Arena: I started the project in late 2014 with producer, Evan McKeever. After a year of writing and then shopping the EP, Ovtlier had received a few offers but nothing worth taking. I, later on, took the project back home to Rochester, NY to start piecing a line up together.
I, like many, started playing music cause of Kurt Cobain. I picked up my first guitar at the age of 11 and had my first show at 14.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Arena: I knew that we needed to hone in on a few key ingredients to focus on an identity. Taking elements of both Rock and Metal (Hard Rock, NuMetal, Djent/Prog) and sticking to a formula that shows in the structuring of each song. Leaving the creative process without too many limits and keeping us away from cornering ourselves into specific genre/sub-genre.

Review Fix: What’s your standout song on the current album? How was it written?

Arena: That’s pretty tough to answer. I know when lyrically writing for the record, I wanted to take a more vulnerable approach and liberate all built up angst or aggression. I’d have to say “Set the World in Flames” may be the most accurate of what I was dealing with mentally after commuting to Cleveland, a 9hr hike to and from over the course of a year+. I tend to spend most of the time in my head and those drives became a true test for me.

Review Fix: What did you learn from this last album? How did it affect your future?

Arena: I learned a lot about myself. To trust in the process and respect the journey of it all. Take whatever life throws at us.
We have received an unbelievable amount of positive feedback, love and press from this record. Just getting off of the Ice Nine Kills “Thanxkilling Fest” tour and future tours on the table and in the works and so much more on the horizon, we feel confident that its paving way for a great future.

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2018?

Arena: To continue touring. Shooting a music video for every song on the record, 4 more to go!  Hoping to make our way across the pond(UK, Europe) and do some international runs. Currently writing in the studio with JD of Ice Nine Kills and looking to release a “bridge-single” come Summer.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you?

Arena: Depending on the individual’s age or depth of knowledge into the Rock/Metal department, we can try and relate bands within a similar vein.

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

Arena: Music is the best outlet, no matter what a person may be feeling or going through. I want people to give themselves more credit than they do and know that they possess the ability to decide the outcome in their character. We all go through things that can either strengthen us or defeat our character. I hope our music gives people a sense of hope when times are hard, musical appreciation for those who look for that and provide awesome tunes for those feel-good days.

Review Fix: Why is this new album special?

Arena: A lot of time, struggle and negotiation went into this record. Plus, there’s nothing like your first!

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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