This week Candy chats with producer, artist, multi-instrumentalist and sometimes rapper Joelistics (aka Joel Ma). Growing up in Australia with Chinese, Malaysian and Scottish roots Joel is known for his experimental and eclectic artistic style expressed through his music, writing and theatre. Joel makes art not for the Australian mainstream but for the underground, the resistance. 

His most recent album titled Joelistics Presents Film School is a nod to his heritage. It is a collaborative album that samples ancestral sounds of his past including some Canto-pop records found during his most recent trip to Malaysia. When he’s not experimenting with his synthesizers, Joel can be found loving up his lockdown born baby daughter Lua. 

In the past Joel has collaborated with noted artists such as Tim Rogers, Emma Donovan, Ecca Vandal, Hermitude, Wil Wagner, Parvyn Singh and Madonna. On his most recent album some collaborators include Francesca Mountford, Mindy Meng wang, Elle Shimada, Hayley Cramer, Thomas Mitchell and Emily Chen.