Anthony R. "Tonie" Joy is an American musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 currently based in Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. Joy is known for his work, most commonly as a guitarist, in several popular underground

Underground music

Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...

 punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 and indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 bands. In addition, Joy runs the independent record label Vermin Scum

Vermin Scum

Vermin Scum is an Annapolis, Maryland-based record label founded by Kenny Hill of the bands Spastic Rats and, later, the Hated. The name was given to fit the theme of the label's first release, the Spastic Rats' "Rodentia."...

.

Musical career

Joy began playing music as a teenager. His early group Moss Icon

Moss Icon

Moss Icon was an Annapolis, Maryland post-hardcore band from 1986 to 1991. Its original members were singer Jonathan Vance, guitarist Tonie Joy, bassist Monica DiGialleonardo, and drummer Mark Laurence. Alex Badertscher joined as second guitarist in 1990...

 helped define the Revolution Summer sound, the metamorphosis undergone by the first wave of American hardcore into early emo

Emo

Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...

 and post-punk

Post-punk

Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...

-styled indie rock associated with the Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 area. Moss Icon were active until 1991. Shortly thereafter, Joy co-founded Universal Order of Armageddon

Universal Order of Armageddon

Universal Order of Armageddon was an American hardcore band, active in the early to mid 1990s.-History:The band formed in September 1992 and by early 1993, after quickly gaining a small but devoted following, they were recording and touring the East Coast. Known for their extreme short chaotic...

, another influential, albeit short-lived, group. This era also saw Joy playing guitar in the groups Breathing Walker

Breathing Walker

Breathing Walker was an indie rock band formed by Tonie Joy , Jonathan Vance , Mark Laurence , Tim Horner , Monica DiGialleonardo , Zak Fusciello and Alex Badertscher as a side project of Joy, Vance, DiGialleonardo and Laurence's band, Moss Icon.Breathing Walker only released one album, which was...

 and Lava, two offshoots of Moss Icon, as well as serving as the bassist in the final lineup of the political hardcore band Born Against

Born Against

Born Against was an American hardcore punk band from New York active between 1989–1993. In addition to their radical leftist politics, the group espoused a DIY punk message and challenged what they perceived as problematic within the punk subculture of their time.-History:The group was founded in...

.

Joy's first appearance as a front man came in 1995 with The Great Unraveling

The Great Unraveling (band)

The Great Unraveling were an American post-punk rock band from Baltimore, Maryland, a later project from Tonie Joy of Moss Icon, Universal Order of Armageddon and Born Against. The band was active from 1995–1997.-History:...

, a band formed from the ashes of Universal Order of Armageddon. After their dissolution in 1997, Joy co-founded The Convocation Of..., who, despite a period of inactivity from 2002–2005, currently remain active under the name The Convocation. Joy is also playing bass in the classic rock

Classic rock

Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...

-styled band The Pilgrim, and was also an occasional member in the group Men's Recovery Project

Men's Recovery Project

Men's Recovery Project was an American experimental noise rock band formed by Sam McPheeters and Neil Burke in Richmond, Virginia, active from 1993–2002...

in the late 1990s.