The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Cutting up a Fresh look
Barber practices philanthropy while giving customers hip styles
MIDDLETOWN — Since he was 15, Joey Fresh has worked his magic with the simplest of tools: a pair of shears and electric razor.
Fresh, now 25, opened his eponymous Get Fresh Barber Shop at 131 Saybrook Road at 23. But he was so enthralled by the artistry of hair cutting that he began his craft a decade ago.
He knew he had talent, even as a teenager, back when a place of his own was just a dream, Fresh said.
“I started off with a plastic folding chair and a towel outside, with a light pole in the front yard and an old pair of clippers plugged into that,” he said. “That’s how I did it for a while before I went to school. You get better as you learn.
“Cutting hair is just not cutting hair to me,” Fresh said. “The more clients I get, the bigger family I gain. I don’t think of my clients as clients.”
“It’s true,” said Shyam Kulkarni of Hartford, who was getting his beard and hair trimmed Friday afternoon.
He has come to Get Fresh every week without fail for two years to get an expert cut and shave, Kulkarni said.
The shop, open three years in July, is by appointment-only.
Nate Major, of Middletown, was also in the chair Friday getting a high fade. “They always take their time and do a thorough and consistent job,” he said.
Stylist Kyle Whitty, of Colchester, was giving Major a “No. 1 fade on top with scissors on the side,” he said. “I do the best work I can do every day.”
Most of the clients in the shop were getting some version of today’s most popular hairstyle — a combvover with a hard part, where the part is defined with the clippers to give a sharper line. “It’s easier for them to deal with and gives it a little bit of a style,” Whitty said.
Emanuel Marcano, who learned the craft at Academy Di Capelli in Wallingford, has been cutting hair for 22 years, he said.
“I make the customer feel great every time he gets in the chair,” he said.
Across the room, Fresh shows off a set of red, white and black magnets — fat and smooth as worry stones, with his face at the center on a sparkly background.
“If I can put my logo anywhere, I do,” said Fresh, who has a distinctive look: a shaved head with a rustred, sharply cut full beard, mustache and gold tunnel earrings.
He has artwork of his likeness customers have gifted to him on the walls.
“I wanted something that didn’t need words — a wordless brand — so when they see my brand, they know, ‘Oh, that’s Joey Fresh’ — from here to New York,” he said.
Fresh is very big on philanthropy and has a special place in his heart for Macdonough Elementary School students who attend the neighborhood school in the North End.
He led his first back-toschool backpack giveaway there two years ago, where 10 vendors donated their time. The event included a henna tattoo artist, someone airbrushing kids’ names on the backpacks, a booth where attendees could tie dye their own Get Fresh Barber Shop T-shirt, photo booth, bounce house obstacle course, and an artist painted his distinctive face on rulers for the students — all free.
About 500 people showed up. The 160 donated backpacks were gone in two minutes, Fresh said.
“Macdonough is the heartbeat of the North End,” he said.
“The North End needs a lot of help. When I do events, I try to reach out to the kids because the kids are the future. I like to give these kids hope that there are people out there who care for them,” Fresh said.
“If they feel like they don’t mean something to someone, they mean something to me.”
“The amazing thing about this shop and all the barbers, it’s really how much they give back to the community,” said Kulkarni, a Middletown native. “They’re active members of their community: It’s not just talk,” he said.
“I’m the kind of guy who comes in and gets haircut every week,” Kulkarni said from the barber’s chair. “I don’t touch it at all myself. I just wanted to feel confident I’d be treated well.”
Fresh also is making his name on a national stage.
When he attended South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, the music, film and media conference, he cut the hair of hip-hop rappers. “My haircuts have taken me to a lot of places I’ve never been before, said Fresh, who has worked on Oscar Black, “one of my best friends,” who at one time played with the G Unit hip-hop group and will be meeting with Def Jam Records.
“I ended up cutting probably 15 rappers there, like Connecticut-born Anoyd and Shade 45 channel DJ Sway Calloway from Sway in the Morning. “Rappers that have names,” said Fresh, as DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts,” plays on a laptop nearby.
“People like coming here,” Fresh said. “It’s a clean atmosphere. It’s a family atmosphere. You can bring your kids and the clients talk amongst each other. You always have the usual barbershop debate where everybody gets involved,” he said.
Easy banter abounds as clients talk about varied topics such as sports, basketball, music, politics, aliens, business, outer space — even Egyptians, “Everything,” Fresh said. “We talk about everything.”
“These conversations can go the entire day, too,” Kulkarni said.
“You walk out of here a smarter person than when you came in,” said Kulkarni, who at first thought he was getting the same cut many others do.
“It seems like the same hairstyle, but from what I’ve learned, they’re actually dramatically different,” Kulkarni said from the chair. “A lot of people will get a line cut into their part. He blended mine to a zero and then left the beard. I like a slightly more natural look than what a lot of the younger guys go for,” he said.
“A little more traditional looking but with a modern touch.”
“It’s crazy where hair clippers have taken me — from there until now,” Fresh reflects as the music shifts to Beyonce’s “Sorry.”
Last year, Fresh adopted a family after he saw one man’s post on Facebook about how he was strapped for Christmas and would be wrapping regifted bikes for his children. “I said, ‘I’m taking you to Walmart. I want to get all your kids what they want for Christmas.
“They were grateful,” Fresh said. “If I’ve got it, I give it.
“The feeling I get — you can’t put a price tag on it. Knowing that someone else is happy is the best feeling in the world,” Fresh said.
For information, see Get Fresh Barber Shop LLC on Facebook, or his Instagram page, Joey Fresh the Barber. The shop is open Tuesday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Men’s cuts start at $20; children at $18.