Few artists make instrumental music feel as vivid and emotionally revealing as Mighty Joe Belson. Known for creating minimalist ambient compositions filled with spaciousness, nuance, and quiet intensity, Belson invites listeners into deeply reflective inner worlds.
His latest release, “The Process Of Individuation,” arrives as a striking meditation on dreams, self-discovery, and the unseen layers of the psyche. Drawing on Carl Jung’s concept of individuation, the piece marks a compelling new direction in Belson’s musical journey, one that transforms introspection into sound with haunting beauty and clarity.
In this interview, we speak with Belson about dreams as creative fuel, storytelling without words, and the evolving path that led him to this profoundly personal work.
1. What three things can’t you live without?
Might Joe Belson: Coffee, sunblock, earplugs.
2. What inspired your single, “The Process Of Individuation?”
Mighty Joe Belson: The title is from a concept of Self-actualization by Carl Jung, which informed the development of the tune after the initial spark of inspiration late at night in front of the piano.
3. Walk us through your mindset as you entered the studio to record the song.
Mighty Joe Belson: The mind unfolds in layers, so I put the chords on loop and tried to add a little bit here and there every time they came back around again. I knew it would get to a point where it was enough, or too much, and then it would have to break down back to the beginning – an epiphany.
4. If you were to describe your music to the uninitiated, how would you describe it?
Mighty Joe Belson: I make stories without words or simply try to evoke a feeling. I give you a song title and the music, then invite you to decide what you hear.
5. “The Process Of Individuation” sees you going in a new direction. What motivated you to move into ambient jazz?
Mighty Joe Belson: I actually listen to a bit of this kind of stuff when my ears are tired, so it was floating around somewhere down there. After studying jazz piano voicings a bit for a couple of years, this progression just kind of came out, and I thought it was worth completing. Also, I needed an excuse to build up a new home studio.
6. What kind of guitar do you play?
Mighty Joe Belson: I’m a Fender guy, and I do have a beloved Strat, but I’m very much a bassist more than a guitar player. So, the J and P-basses are the workhorses – everything else is for color.
7. How did you first get into music?
Might Joe Belson: I’ve loved it ever since I can remember, and fortunately, my school growing up had a decent program, so I started on trumpet in 4th grade and switched to bass in 5th. Enter Metallica and Maiden, and I was in.
8. What can you share about your writing process?
Mighty Joe Belson: It always starts with a kernel, either some chords or some words, or a melody – a hook. And it comes from an idle mind – not thinking about anything in particular, or in the liminal state between dreaming and waking. When I get that, I go write it down or record it on the phone and decide later whether or not to complete it.
9. What’s the story behind the name Mighty Joe Belson?
Might Joe Belson: It’s a stage name given to me by a band leader when I first started playing jazz, busking on the streets of SF. I liked the original ‘Mighty Joe Young’ movie with the idea of a savage beast being soothed by music, so I kept it.
10. Where are you from?
Mighty Joe Belson: Grew up in Westchester, NY – just north of The Bronx. But been in California since 2002 – definitely not going back!
11. Did your hometown have an impact on your music?
Might Joe Belson: Not really, outside of the opportunities at school. We were suburban kids just wanting to rebel against anything, but there wasn’t much, so we invented shit. I listened to a lot of Bad Religion, to say the least.
12. Which artists/musicians had the most influence on your sound?
Mighty Joe Belson: For this particular track, it was piano composers like Ludvico Einaudi, Max Richter, Kara Lis-Coverdale. But also people who mix that with dissonance, like Nihls Frahm and Trent Reznor.
13. Did your sound evolve naturally, or did you deliberately push it in a certain direction?
Might Joe Belson: I have a specific goal and parameters with everything I do – so far, I haven’t really tried to mix different genres together. But the inspiration always comes from whatever I’ve been absorbing and playing lately.
14. Which artists, in your opinion, are killing it right now?
Mighty Joe Belson: People who follow their instincts and have their own sound, like Adam Ben Ezra, Thundercat, Turnstile, Babymetal, Lindsey Stirling.
15. What’s next for Mighty Joe Belson?
Mighty Joe Belson: Putting out an acoustic solo bass album later this year called ‘BassSongs.’ Check it out, it’ll definitely be a thing!
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