Joey Blush, aka Blush Response, is an old friend—part of the “family” of artists I’ve met in my almost 13 years of Berlin. Many of them have grown far beyond what anyone (probably even they) expected, shaping the new wave of electronic music across the planet.
Blush Response’s musical personality is fiercely unique, placing him among the most important contemporary voices in industrial and experimental electronic music. His sound is a constant tension between man and machine, somewhere at the border of chaos and precision—always fresh, always intense.
Just one day before the release of his new album Ego Death, I sat down with Joey to talk about where his music comes from, what drives him, and why this record feels like his most personal yet. I wanted to meet both the human and the machine behind the name.
Blush Response is the project of electronic musician Joey Blush, originally from Miami and now based in Berlin. He runs the label MEGASTRUCTURE_, is a synth reviewer, and is also a member of KONKURS, HAKAI, DRAX RESPONSE, AVM, and IMPULSE CONTROLS.
When Music First Clicked
unklar.net: When did music really become your thing?
Blush Response: “I think I always knew music was going to be everything for me. The first moment it really hit, I was maybe 7 or 8, when a friend gave me his old Discman. A couple of weeks later it broke, and I had a complete meltdown because I couldn’t listen to music anymore. That’s when I realized—wow, I need this. By 15 or 16, I knew I wanted to start making my own.”
On the Name
unklar.net: Why Blush Response?
Blush Response: “It comes from Blade Runner. Later I found out Brandon Flowers once had a band with the same name, and when I started out I even got hate mail from Killers fans—like ‘how does it feel to know Brandon Flowers is famous and you suck?’ That just made me want to keep it even more.”
Why Berlin
unklar.net: Why move to Berlin, and not stay in New York?
Blush Response: “Around 2012 I got deep into techno—Ancient Methods, Orphx, Tommy Four Seven. All roads seemed to lead here: Atonal, Berghain, the whole scene. I wanted to take my shot. New York wasn’t really supporting experimental electronic music at the time. Berlin felt alive.”
At just 24, Joey toured with Joey Jordison’s Scar The Martyr, the band connected to Slipknot. “I was just a guy playing small shows, and suddenly I’m on stage for thousands of people, on MTV—it was insane and really intense,” he recalls.
EGO DEATH – A New Direction
unklar.net: Let’s talk about your new album. What sparked Ego Death?
Blush Response: “After my last record Sprawl, I wanted to change things up. I reconnected with the rock I grew up on and thought: why not try writing real songs again? The first was Addictive Pain, and once I did that, I just kept going.”
READ MORE: BLUSH RESPONSE breaks any silence with EGO DEATH
“The title Ego Death has a few meanings. One is exposing myself in a new way—after years of hiding behind synths, I’m putting my voice front and center. Another is the risk: if it all fails, that’s ego death too. And then there’s the universal side—how people see ego death as something everyone goes through.”
Finding His Voice Again
“There were years when I was afraid to sing, no confidence at all. But during this record I rebuilt that. Now it feels right. I didn’t want to follow any genre rulebook—I wanted to experiment with things that felt fresh: electronic chaos, 8-string guitars, my voice processed in different ways.”
Chaos, Control & Emotion
unklar.net: There’s always this tension in your music—between destruction and precision. Is that intentional?
Blush Response: “I never force it. I just try to express myself authentically, and that balance comes naturally. Ego Death is definitely my most directly emotional album—I focused on songwriting more than ever before.”
If Not Music…
unklar.net: What would you be doing if not music?
Blush Response: “Honestly? I don’t know. If I didn’t have music, I’d probably be dead.”
Inspirations & Heroes
“All-time favorites? Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, Coil, Aphex Twin. If I had to pick one song forever, it would be Shore Lined Poison by Skinny Puppy. It’s got it all—heaviness, beauty, chaos, melody. That’s the blueprint.”
Blush Response – EGO DEATH is out October 10th
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