We're always looking for the right vibes for music that will let us navigate our day from commuting, workflow, and nights out! This month, our cover is 5X platinum UK records, 5X BRIT Awards nominee, Joel Corry who has residencies at Ibiza Rocks, TAO Group Hospitality (Hakkasan, Marquee) and who has performed in an array of festivals from Creamfields, Ultra, Tomorrowland, EDC Las Vegas, and Lollapalooza to name a few. His remixes have been part of our playlists and have included collaborations with Saweetie, Charlie XCX, David Guetta, and Bryson Tiller as just a few of the highlights. His remixes have transformed tracks by Megan Thee Stallion, Ed Sheeran, Elton John, and Nina Simone. When it's about good vibes with beats that make you want to stay on the dance floor banger after banger, Joel always has something up his sleeve!

We caught up with him hours before the release of his latest single, Drinkin' with MK and Rita Ora which already has been on repeat for the past few days! This single as well as yet to be released and some of his epic records will be on the upcoming album, Another Friday Night which drips on Oct 6th. We wanted to know more about Joel from his passion for music, how raving in London grew to him collaborarting with artists and creating his music, and what he has coming up as he continues to make his mark.

We also wanted to know more about his approach to creating his music, working with his favorite artists, and more. We also wanted to find out about his time as a professional body builder, winning a number of competitions, and how he navigates his life while he's constantly on the go going from one city to the next.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with music?

JOEL CORRY: When I was a young boy that was 12 or 13, that’s when I got my first pair of turntables. My older brother was a DJ actually, he’s 3 years older than me so when I was growing up, the music that everyone was playing was garage music back in London. It was all part of the DJing and MCing scene so my brother, he was like an MC and his mates would come over and do DJing and I was like, I just wanted to be cool like my older brother basically. So I said, “mom, get me some decks, I want to do some garage music. I want to be a DJ as well!”

That’s how I started and then I got my decks and I would go into the record shop every weekend and find vinyls. It just became a hobby growing up and then eventually, I started DJing people’s parties and it developed from there!

AM: So, when did you realize that you wanted to do it professionally?

JC: So it was kind of like a slow progress over the years. So I was DJing in my bedroom, and then I started DJing at people’s birthday parties, weddings, and like even DJing at my mom’s friend’s, birthday parties – just wherever! I was sort of the DJ at school and then when I was 17/18, I started playing the nightclubs. You know, at one point in my early 20’s, I was doing 5 residencies a week around London so I was really busy around the circuit and then it was like, “right, I’m doing that thing that I love to do, I’m making money from it, how can I take it to the next level?” That’s what I started to focus on music production and started to release my own music and that’s how eventually – I mean it took awhile so fast forward another 10 years when I got my first hit record, that’s when it really took off to another level.

AM: How do you define your sound?

JC: My sound has changed over the years to be honest with you. It’s kind of been like a progression as I have been through the journey of my love of dance music. But I would say that the sound that people know me from for my productions from my first hit records would be commercial piano house, feel good vibes – you know, my records, I think that they have really defined my career so far, tracks like Head & Heart, BED, Lonely, Sorry – they’re all kind of piano house. Just really uplifting, feel good vibe records that have sort of connected with people, tracks that you want to hear on the dance floor and also tracks that sort of hit you in the feels as well. It’s that nice balance that are records that you want to dance to and also those that you want to put in your car when you’re driving alone and to have an emotional connection with.

AM: I love listening to it when I’m spinning.

JC: A lot of people actually use my records and my tracks for gym playlists. I get that all the time, but I love that, because I’m really into my gym stuff as well! So I’m glad that my tunes are helping people like get those extra reps or cycle those extra miles.

AM: What is your process in terms of when you’re creating music? Are there certain things that you focus on first?

JC: I’d say that there are 2 different ways that the creative process works. The 1st way would be that I’m in my studio and we have a songwriter or an artist come in for the day, we’ll just start with some basic chords going, some loops going, and I’ll just be vibing with the artists or the songwriter and a kind of an idea will come out of nothing. You’re kind of really starting from scratch and I love working that way, it’s so much fun!

Another way things happen is that I get sent a lot of music, so I get sent acappellas or song ideas or demos and if there is something that I hear in it that I really like, then I will take that and develop it myself. So then, I already have a starting point there. So there are 2 different ways really – and I love being in the studio though and sort of being there from the birth of an idea which is always great!

AM: Where do you get your inspiration from?

JC: I feel like I get my inspiration from the dance floor because I’m DJing so much. I’m always on tour and I’m always playing in front of crowds and I guess, taking crowds from a journey, trying to create those moments on a dance floor. So when it comes to my own music, I’m trying to make those records that people are going to dance to and have a great time to, you know? Being a DJ, it’s kind of staying ahead of the game of the trends that are going to work on the dance floor and kind of being on the pulse of those sort of things.

AM: Well, your remixes have included a number of amazing people from Tïesto, Charlie XCX, Elton John, Saweetie – how do you work on that when you’re working with material that already exists that you have the opportunity to present it in another way?

JC: As a DJ, I guess I have been remixing things since I was a teenager. I just use to make edits and mash ups and stuff like that. Crazy mad edits for my sets and remixing and creating my own versions of records is just an important part of DJing and it’s something that I have always done. It’s a way of me putting my own spin on something. So when I play it in my own sets, it’s right for my sound and how I envision that record and I love remixing! So, when I get asked to do a big remix with a big artist like Ed Sheeran, Tïesto – you know it’s such a pleasure to do those things. I’ll listen to the original record and I’ll just think, “what can I add to this to make it different and also to make it fit in with my sound?” Yeah, it just kind of naturally happens when I just hear something, I just kind of get that vision for it straight away and I go from there!

AM: Do you have artists on your bucket list that you would like to work with or do their remixes that you have yet to do?

JC: Well I just mentioned 2 and every time I get asked this question, I always say Ed Sheeran would be my dream collaboration because I am a huge fan of his. He did Bad Habits last year, which is kind of a dance record which I remixed, but I still don’t think that Ed has done a full on dance banger yet. I would love to do that with him! Ed Sheeran would definitely be someone that I would love to work with in the future as a dream! He’s the biggest pop star in the world! You just mentioned Tïesto, I have remixed with Tïesto, but I haven’t collaborated with him yet. But we’re really good friends and I actually played with him in Ibiza last week and I supported him in Ushuaïa and we have already talked about doing a record together so it’s just the timing that needs to be right and the record needs to be right. But I'm sure that that will happen in the future. He's a great guy and a great inspiration to me!

AM: I love his music and remember the first time I saw him was back in 2007 here in NY at the Limelight – he was amazing!

JC: Of yeah, he’s a G man!

AM: Absolutely!

You have your debut album coming out Another Friday Night, dropping Oct 6th. I love OUT OUT, 0800 Heaven, Head & Heart. Tell us about this album and what are you excited about it?

JC: The album is literally what I have been building towards for the last 4 or 5 years of my life. The album is going to have all of the records that you just mentioned on there, all of the hits from over the years, plus my new music like 0800 Heaven that you mentioned and my new single that comes out in a few hours (Aug 25th), Drinkin’ with Rita Ora and MK. It’s also got another 3 new tracks that are on there as well that will come out when the album comes out. So yeah, it’s going to have all the hits that people love, plus my new music, and I’m just really proud of this body of work that’s kind of been my life for the last 5 years. Coming together in one playlist of bangers!

AM: It’s amazing. Like you said, Drinkin’ is out in a few hours with you, Rita Ora and also MK, how did this come about? You performed it live last week in Ibiza at Ibiza Rocks. It’s such a fun song, I’ve played it at least 20 times today!

“I feel like I get my inspiration from the dance floor because I’m DJing so much. I’m always on tour and I’m always playing in front of crowds and I guess taking crowds from a journey, trying to create those moments on a dance floor. So when it comes to my own music, I’m trying to make those records that people are going to dance to and have a great time to, you know? Being a DJ, it’s king of staying ahead of the game of the trends that are going to work on the dance floor and kind of being on the pulse of those sort of things.”

— Joel Corry

JC: Aww thank you, thank you! Drinkin’ actually samples a Chance the Rapper record called All Night which is a banger! I started on this record about a year ago. When I flipped the sample and put that chorus over a house beat, it just sounded so sick for the pianos behind it and I was like, “oh my God, this just really works!”

At that point, it was very much a demo and we wrote like the verses and the pre chorus for it and kind of made this really cool sounding demo.

Me and MK had been chatting about doing a record together for ages and I’m a big fan of MK of course you know, he’s a legend in the game. I was like, “this tune sounds like an MK track.” So I sent it to him and I was like, "bro, what do you think of this?" He hit me back he said he loved it! He loved the sample, he loved the vibe of it, and I sent him my parts that I had done so far and then he did his work on it and then sent it back to me. What he added to it was sick and I was like, “yeah, this is kind of what I envisioned!” Then I was like, “right, now I need to get a vocalist on it.”

When I listened to the track, it just felt like a Rita Ora banger and me and Rita have been chatting for years actually. We had been mates and had worked together on other bits that didn’t quite materialize, but we both really wanted to do a track together. So I texted her and I said, “Rita, I think that I’ve got the one!” I sent it to her and straight away she said, “that’s me, I love it – let’s do it!” At the time, I remember when I texted her, I think that she was in India and then she had to fly to NY and she was like, “I’m going to fit in a day to get this recorded.” Then she ended up flying to London and she got into the studio Sun day afternoon and got the whole thing done. You know what? Fair play to Rita - I respect her so much. Her when you mentioned that we performed in Ibiza Rocks last week, she was on holiday and she took the whole day out of her holiday to do that with me. I love her for that and I’m so excited to be doing this record with her and MK. It’s a great feeling!

AM: That’s amazing!

Clearly, you’ve had a busy summer! All of your performances – you were just here in NY headlining at the Brooklyn Mirage which is awesome. What are some of your favorite cities to do your performances in?

JC: NY is definitely up there! I love NY, NY has always been a great spot for me over the last 3 years. I remember that my first headline show in Webster Hall sold out, then I did the Great Hall last year, I did Brooklyn Mirage this year. So every year, I have sort of stepped it up. The NY crowd always comes out for me. I absolutely love it.

I love Miami, Miami is such a good vibe. I feel that if I lived in America, that’s where I would choose to live. It’s just a bit of me. I love the outdoors, the sort of gym lifestyle as well, the good weather, and the clubs and the vibe. Dance music is just thriving in Miami.

Of course, I have to shout out Ibiza, where I am right now! This is like my second home, it’s a magical island and this place is just different man. It’s just something is special in the air here and I pray that I have a residency here in Ibiza when I’m past 80 years old!

So yeah, Ibiza, Miami, and NY. I love Australia – Australia is always a good time when I go out there on tour in Sydney and Melbourne. Last year, I did Japan for NYE in Tokyo which was a really good experience. So there’s a few good spots that I love.

AM: Next month you’re headlining at London’s iconic Ministry of Sound. How excited are you for this show?

JC: Yeah I’m so excited! I mean, obviously, I’m from London – that’s my home city. I haven’t had a headline show in London in over 2 years. The last one was Printworks back in 2021. It’s a big deal for me! Headlining a show in my own city and then in an iconic club like Ministry of Sound – this is a legendary club. I used to go there as a raver when I was 18 and I remember going to the Defected Records Raves there. So going back there and headlining my own show is so special. It’s also the week before my album comes out so a lot of friends are going to come, family, a lot of people from my label, and people from my label, and people that have worked on my projects over the last few years. I have invited everybody so it’s not just a headline show, I feel like it’s a celebration as well so I’m really excited!

AM: Do you have a set of routines that you do before you perform? Things that you just have to do to get into that mindset?

JC: What I like to do is like, in the hours building up to the show, I always like to have a bit of peace with my laptop, look over my set, listen to music that I am going to be playing in the set and to have a think about what the crowd might be like, how I think that the set is going to go and to just get into that mindset of mental preparation for the set. To get that clarity in my head, I need to be on my own for that and just with my music. When I feel like I’m prepared and I have my USBs loaded up, I get fresh – have a shower, do my hair, put on a twin set -

AM: King Twin Set!

JC: Haha you know that already! They call me the Twin Set King! I get to the show and maybe have a little bit of tequila and then I’m ready to go!

AM: Once the show is over, do you do anything to come down from all of that energy?

JC: I always like having a bubble bath watching some YouTube and maybe a bit of Gordon Ramsay or something – ha! It’s a bit weird I know! But I just feel like, after a show when you need to be able to go to bed, it’s kind of hard to switch off sometimes so you have to do just really normal things. Whether that's having a bath or putting something on on YouTube to just try to separate your mind from all of the madness that just happened and to get back to a normal level again!

AM: Absolutely!

Once again, you have so much going on that is so amazing to see. From the residencies in Ibiza, Tao Hospitality, what are some big upcoming projects besides the album coming out and obviously the Ministry of Sound that we should keep an eye out for?

JC: I guess aside from that, it would just be my touring. I’m back in America quite a lot between now and the end of the year. I’m also about to announce a big tour in Australia. I haven’t been to Australia since the start of 2021. So it’s going to be great to go back down under and also I have some more Asia dates coming up. I mean, I played in Tokyo for NYE, but that’s the only day that I have ever done in Asia so I’m going back to Tokyo and adding a few more in there as well. So between now and the end of the year, it’s like non-stop touring, we have the album coming out, it’s just going to be go go go go go and then I think in Jan, I might have a little week off – ha!

AM: Obviously at Athleisure Mag, we love fitness and you’re like a fitness king as well as you were a body builder before. How did you get into that and why did you want to do that?

JC: So going back to when I was a teenager, I was telling you about when I got my decks and I was DJing in my bedroom, I was also going to the gym a lot. They were my 2 hobbies. If I wasn’t on my decks tearing the house down with my mom screaming to turn the music off, I was down at the gym on the bench press lifting weights trying to get a 6-pack.

I just think that the gym became a hobby and I used to play football a lot. But then I started going to the gym and that became how my sort of love for fitness grew! It just slowly became more and more and more, when I started to see the results from training and I was becoming 18/19 years old, I really started seeing the results coming through, I just got hooked on it. I kind of I guess got obsessed with it as well. But I took it to another level. I wondered how I could take this thing that I loved and go a step further and it was like, I want to go on stage and compete. It was just something inside me saying that this was a box that I wanted to be able to tick off. I wanted to see how far I could push this thing that I loved doing. So in my early 20’s I was competing in male physique competitions. I did that for about 3 years and I did really well in them. I won quite a few of them. I won the Miami Pro, I won the Pure Elite Competition, I got a Pro Card in WBFF so I was really doing it seriously and getting into crazy condition for those shows. It got to a point where I was like, the music is going to be my career so I kind of had to put that competing on the back burner to really focus on the music. Because the thing with the body building and the competitions is that you have to be 100% all in and it’s so much commitment, dedication, and focus to do those competitions, that I didn’t have the capacity to then focus as much on the music. I had to make a decision where I said, “the music is my future, that’s my dream, that’s what I really want to do. I love to do the fitness thing, but I need to reign it in a bit,” and to enjoy it as a hobby and to focus on the music. I also felt like that I had completed what I wanted to do in fitness. I had won the competitions, I had done the cover of Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and I just thought that this is it now. I had done that and now let's focus back on music. But, it still remains a big part of my life. I still go to the gym everyday and it's more so the mental benefit now and the physical just helps me keep on point and keeps me feeling good while I’m touring.

“[After a show] “I always like having a bubble bath watching some YouTube and maybe a bit of Gordon Ramsay or something - ha! It’s a bit weird I know! But I just feel like, after a show when you need to be able to go to bed, it’s kind of hard to switch off...”

— Joel Corry

AM: What are 3 workouts for your abs that we should think about putting into our routines?

JC: So my favorite ab exercise is the hanging leg raise where you kind of hang up on a bar and you just lift your legs up and down. It’s the hardest one, but it’s definitely the best one. You can also kind of add a variation there by twisting your legs and really sort of hitting the obliques. So that has always been my favorite ab exercise. Also doing – you know when you have a bench and you lie down flat on it and then you put the dumbbell between your legs and you raise your legs up and down? I find that that one really hits your sort of lower abs because that’s always the hardest bit to get that bottom bit! That definitely targets that! What else do I do for my abs that I think is really good? Obviously, you’ve got your sit-ups and sort of decline crunches that you can mix that up by using a ball so you can come up further and then to be able to come down. So those are probably my top 3 ab workouts.

But you know what I would say is that definitely, to sort of get your abs to really start popping, it’s true what they say about abs being made in the kitchen – because they are! You can do all of the exercises that you want, but you have to get the diet on lock if you want to get the 6-pack.

AM: We mentioned before that you’re the Twin Set King, where does that come from that you love twin sets?

JC: I know, it’s an addiction – a twin set addiction! I love them! It’s easy! I mean, for boys, we sometimes don’t know what to wear! So if you get a twin set, you’ve got the bottom bit and the top bit! It matches and then it’s job done and you put a pair of trainers on and you know, when I’m touring around in the summer, it’s so hot a lot of the places that I go to. You can’t really wear trousers because it’s so hot so you need to wear a pair of shorts and if you have the top that matches, it's easy! It's become my thing as well isn't it?

AM: Oh yeah, when I was scrolling through your IG, I thought, “this man loves some twin sets.”

You do travel so much, what are 3 things that you always travel with?

JC: My Dyson hair dryer, so good!

AM: Love it!

JC: Obviously my headphones and my USB sticks – very, very important as a DJ and one other thing that I travel around with is a neck pillow! It’s an essential for the flights! Especially the sort of short flights where you’re sitting kind of like this for 3 hours – this is needed!

AM: How do you take time for yourself? Being so busy, how do you make sure that you get the reset that you need?

JC: Do you know what? That’s probably something that I need to work more on. There’s not really a lot of time to myself, but I think that with what I do, I’m kind of 100% all in on it. It’s my hobby, it’s my passion, and there’s not any work separation where it’s like, ok work is over for the day, I’m going to over and chill out. It never stops, it's around the clock, there's always something to do and I just feel like that in this industry, with what I want to do and where I want to get to, I really believe that what I put into it is what I am going to get out of it. I’ve learned that over the years. I’m always scared of taking my foot up off of the gas. I just feel like everyday that I need to be as productive as possible and keep going. I actually feel guilty inside if I have time off. I always feel like I should be working to try to get to that next step. So that’s probably something that I need to work on. My mom is always like, “Joel, you need to take holiday, you need to take a day off.” But I find that hard. I think that when you find something that you love to do, it’s not work, it’s just life! I enjoy it!

“I know, it’s an addiction - a twin set addiction! I love them! It’s easy! I mean, for boys, we sometimes don’t know what to wear! So if you get a twin set, you’ve got the bottom bit and the top bit! It matches and then it’s job done and you put a pair of trainers on ... It’s become my thing as well isn’t it?”

— Joel Corry

AM: What do you want your legacy to be in this industry?

JC: Oh, that’s a big question man! I guess I want to be able to look back and to be honest, I have already been able to achieve my dreams of having hit records, touring the world, and I just want to be able to keep it going and to take it as far as I can and I guess when I look back over the years, I want to be able to have these big moments with these big records records that really connected with people and made a difference in people’s lives.

There are certain records that I have released over the years and I get messages still to this day, like, this record meant so much to me, it came out at a time when I needed it, and I connected with it. When I read these messages, forget about chart positions or like statistics, to know that like the music that I worked on is connected to people and brought happiness to them means so much to me. I want to keep doing that for years and years and years! Then I can look back on all of these records that had special moments. I want to tour the world and I already am, but there are certain places that I have never been. I’ve never been to South America before, there’s so many places as well just starting to really being able to go into Asia, there’s still places in America that I haven’t been able to be in and states that I haven’t played in. I guess I want to be able to look back and be like, I toured the world, played at some of the biggest festivals, had these huge moments in front of massive crowds, played all of these records that I put my heart and soul into working on – I guess that kind of is the legacy isn’t it? It’s having that big career! When I think of some of my idols like Calvin Harris, David Guetta, and Tïesto – like we mentioned, when you look at their careers, it’s just years and years and years of doing it and big records and big moments and that’s just what I want!

“Oh that’s a big question man! I guess I want to be able to look back and to be honest, I have already been able to achieve my dreams of having hit records, touring the world, and I just want to be able to keep it going and to take it as far as I can ... have these big moments with these big records that really connected with people and make a difference in people’s lives.

I want to be able to look back and be like, I toured the world, played at some of the biggest festivals, had these huge moments in front of massive crowds, played all of these records that I put my heart and soul into working on ... it’s just years and years and years of doing it and big records and big moments and that’s just what I want!”

— Joel Corry

IG @joelcorry

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Front Cover, Back Cover, PG 36, 39 + PG 42 63MIX ROUTIN3S Courtesy of Joel Corry | PG 16, 20 - 35, 40, 63MIX ROUTIN3S PG42 + 9PLAYLIST PG 122 Ibiza Rocks/Gabriel Vazquez | PG 19 USHUAÏA IBIZA |