User:JoelJanski/sandbox

Home Life Joel Edward Janikowski, (son of Jerry & Marcia Janikowski; brother to Luke Janikowski) was born January 4th, 1990. Joel grew up in Scranton ND with His father, (coming from a hard working farming family) his mother, (having some background in music) and his brother (being an inspiration and role model for the beginnings of Joel's musical interests) being a huge part in Joel's childhood and early teen years. It was always known that Joel was happiest when he was making something. [Joel: "I think their support towards my creativity was the key reason I became a so called creative."]

Starting Out… At age 8 he took piano lessons and played on his mothers nylon acoustic guitar from time to time.. (being too large for him at the time) At the age of 12, music became much more important to him so he tried learning as much as he could about his new passion. Traditionally, a learning musician will learn a already created piece to progress at their skill. Joel was more interested in making something with what he knew. he has always found much more enjoyment in creating his own art. At this time primarily learning bass and drums he tried to find a group people to play with. Eventually he came across Cody Mossbrucker (guitar) and Riley Biggs (bass) to shortly form a group called Underview.

At the age of 14, Joel began a band with Travis (drums) and Jill Mollman (bass) called Out of Bullets. They started out writing their own songs and by by the summer of 2005 they recorded a 9 track album (indecent exposure) with Ken Kubischta in the basement of (at the time) Music Mart (Dickinson, ND). Teaming up with a local band Two Step Suzy, they started playing shows in Scranton, Mott, and Dickinson. They also opened for other bands such as Callion Firefight, Noise Union, This is Luke, and few others. In the fall of 2006, joined by Troy Gion of Two Step Suzy, they recorded a 6 Track E.P. (Letters to Cecilia) As time went on, Joel also became part of a few other groups such as: Little of None, & Sunshine and the Black Sweater.

Solo work (The Beginning) Soon after the Out of Bullets E.P. was released, Joel began his own solo project. Inspired by the song he wrote for his girlfriend (Cold Sober), he started with a 6 track E.P. Later in August of 07' he released his first full album Unseen Visions. Soon after he continued writing and began writing his second album. Nine months later, "Sirclace" was released as a partial concept album in May of 2008. Being contacted by Dan Hansen, he went on the "Tired Pissed and Laughing" tour with Alone in Cadence, and Shane Simonsen, Dan Hansen, and Kim Conlon. They played at many different Venues in North Dakota and Minnesota.

A change of pace... In August of 2008, he moved to Bismarck ND to get a degree in Graphic Design and Communications. Learning new styles of music and having some new life experiences, Joel took his music into a completely different direction. Going from acoustic pop to ominous experimental, Joels music changed dramatically. During the recording of his third album, joel was a guitarist for a band called In Defense of a Marionette (now known as The Cascade Sun) and also part of a group called Stuff n' Such. In May of 2009, Joel released His third album "Now Here, Nowhere..." with a newer re-recorded version of his first album "Unseen Visions". After releasing 3 albums in 3 years, Joel decided to take some time off from music to rest his mind and focus on his education. About 7 months Later, he came back performing with a new band called Kaleidoscope Knights with members Nick Keller and Jimmy Gefroh.

Returning with a final bow. After an almost 2 year on/off hiatus from his solo work, Joel came back to write another album. With many new influences, experiences, and knowledge from the 3 previous albums, previous bands, and time to think, Joel has come back to make one last album. He is currently recording his final album "Grow" and plans to release it this spring.

Get the full documentary and final album - HERE

Discography - (77 individual songs) •Indecent Exposure (2005) - Out of Bullets •Letters to Cecilia (2006) - Out of Bullets •Because Horrible Might Hurt - E.P. (2006) •Unseen Visions (2007) •Sirclace (2008) •Unseen Visions - re-recorded (2009) •Now Here, No Where... (2009) •Grow (2012)