Alumna embraces music as platform for activism

There are expectations that come with such a cheerful name, but Joy Dawn Hackett, an ironically
self-proclaimed pessimist, exceeds those assumptions with her musical talent and activism.

Hackett, a San Jose State alumna who graduated in Spring 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in music technology, creates music. The singer and pianist described her new sound as future soul: a mixture of soul and R&B with electronic flair. 

She said jazz culture inspired her music and has been a big part of her life since she joined jazz band in high school. However, her musical style progressed beyond the genre and she no longer considers herself a jazz artist. 

“I’ve always been into music and then it’s been a thing that’s been present in my life, like, for forever,” said Hackett, who originally studied jazz at SJSU.

In high school, Hackett was a vocalist for San Jose Jazz High School All Stars, a program for San Jose youth to perform jazz music outside of school hours. 

This is how she met Aaron Lington, the director of San Jose Jazz High School All Stars and coordinator of jazz studies at SJSU, who Hackett said helped her start performing.

Lington said he was unaware of Hackett’s piano prowess until she auditioned for the
San Jose Jazz High School All Stars program, but was impressed by her skill level and determination as a student.

Lington enrolled students in the program to perform at music venues in Downtown San Jose, where Hackett started performing. She’s played at venues like Cafe Stritch and did her senior project at The Art Boutiki.

Lington said Hackett impressed him with her skills as a musician and work as an activist.

“‘I’m just really proud of her for doing that,” Lington said. “And it’s something that, you know, she feels super passionate about and she’s using her art to raise awareness about it. And so I think it’s amazing.”

Hackett now performs online because of coronavirus restrictions, which have caused venue closures. At some online performances that Hackett participated in, event organizers gave proceeds to organizations helping current social justice movements, like Black Lives Matter.

On Aug. 27, Hackett participated in the online event, Dark Matter, hosted by Boyish Records, an Oakland-based music label, and Wally’s Hydeout, a Bay Area recording studio.

She was one of many featured artists, all who were either Black, queer and/or identifying as
gender-femme. The event’s proceeds went to TGIJustice, a nonprofit organization for transgender, gender-variant and intersex people that fights for human rights within prison and detention centers.

RoAn Gibson, a sound engineer for Wally’s Hydeout, said Hackett is a really positive and inquisitive musician to work with for Dark Matter. He said her attitude was uplifting during the pandemic and for social justice movements like Black Lives Matter.

“I found Joy to be just somebody who was, you know, one of the people that it’s easy to connect with,” Gibson said. “Because [she’s] just very positive [joyful and enthusiastic], which is, you know, in these days, always a wonderful thing to spend some time with somebody who has that demeanor.”

Hackett said she’s always had an activist mindset as a Black and Filipina artist and recently she’s used her platform to speak out.

Hackett said she believes in the power of her individual actions as a musician with a platform.  

“I’m not trying to make any worldwide change, I don’t have the reach for that,” she said. “But I can make small changes within my community.”

Hackett is a regular attendee at SJ Roll Call’s United We Roll, an event focusing on the intersectionality of roller skating and activism.

She said these events have pushed her into making time for activism, rather than just finding time. She was a speaker at some of these events and used her platform to educate others.

Hackett said events like Rollout remind her of watching her father work as a DJ at a roller rink, which is how she initially got into music.

She recalls listening to artists like Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey as her father performed at venues. It eventually inspired her to become a musician.

Hackett’s mother also pushed her and her brother, Edward, into piano lessons when Joy was five, which she called her official start in music.

Her brother, who shares a similar musical background, is a big supporter of Joy’s work and creates hip-hop beats she sometimes uses in her music.

Hackett now finds musical inspiration in unusual places. One of her influences is an anime about pirates called “One Piece.” Hackett admires the method of storytelling in the show and has been working to incorporate storytelling into her own work.

She said her goals are aspirational but she wants to continue creating her art.

Although Hackett isn’t releasing any music in the near future, she is working on songs that she hopes will be ready by the end of the year.

“I’m tired of playing around,” Hackett said. “I’m ready to do some, like, real shit.”