An Interview With The 7-Piece Boston-Based Band, JUICE!

Photo Credit: Luke Urbanzcyk

Tomorrow, (June 15) the Boston-based, seven-piece band Juice will be releasing their next collection called “Workin’ On Lovin’.”

iTunes Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/workin-on-lovin-ep/1393757230

Their phenomenal live show mashes up rock, pop, and hip-hop with electric violin and catchy hooks – they really pack a punch as a 7-piece band and their musicianship is out of this world.

“We really wanted to get into the band here. With a project like this, there’s a real opportunity to capture individual personalities as well as their relationships among one another. We wanted to provide a cool space where that process would happen effortlessly. Once that was in place, the rest came easy. Our director Mike Badami wanted to co-direct with the band, and our videographer Anthony Simpkins is great, so it was collaborative and really fun. We shot loosely, but with lots of attention and purpose in pre and post production. It was shot in a day at Welcome To 1979 Studio in Nashville, aptly named, it actually looks and feels like the 70s on the inside. The building was originally a vinyl pressing plant. The classic, real environment of the space was perfect for Sugar, which mixes some old-school styles of music with some new ones. We’re excited to finally give the song a visual platform where people can explore the band.” – Juice

To celebrate the upcoming project, Juice will be playing a release show at the famed Mercury Lounge in New York City TONIGHT! PRESS HERE to purchase tickets.

With seven distinct personalities, Juice distills rock, pop, and hip-hop into a signature sound with a flavorful kick of electric violin, rich harmonies, honest lyrics, and festival-worthy choruses. The Boston septet – Ben Stevens (lead vocals), Christian Rose (violin, vocals), Kamau Burton (acoustic guitar, vocals), Daniel Moss (guitar), Michael Ricciardulli (guitar), Rami El-Abidin (bass), and Miles Clyatt (drums) – perfects this mix on their upcoming project.

After meeting as freshmen at Boston College, Juice became unified upon winning their school’s “Battle of the Bands” in 2014. Through constant gigging the band honed their live performance, displaying an original raw energy. Soon, they went from frequent gigs at the city’s famed Middle East to selling out East Coast hot spots such as Brighton Music Hall, Mercury Lounge, Rockwood Music Hall, and more. Hitting Summerfest Milwaukee in 2016, Juice impressively won the grand prize of the festival’s “Land The Big Gig” Competition and opened for pop juggernaut DNCE at the festival a year later, where they met Grammy-nominated producer Johnny K, who worked with them on their upcoming project.

You can pr-eorder Workin’ On Lovin’ here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/juice1/dzFp

For more info on Juice, please visit www.itstimeforjuice.com

Follow Juice Here:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube

UPCOMING SHOWS

June 14                 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge (EP Release Show)

June 15                 Boston, MA @ Rock On! Concert Cruise Aboard The Mass Bay Lines MV New Boston

July 19                   Scranton, PA @ The Peach Music Festival

July 26                   Asbury Park, NJ @ Jams On The Sand

Learn more about JUICE in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time, Juice!

So how has 2018 been treating you all? What is one musical goal that you have had for this year and how close are you to reaching it?

This year’s been treating us well! We’ve been focusing on releasing our upcoming project Workin’ on Lovin’, which will be coming out in just a few weeks on June 14th.

Can you recall the moment when you thought you could be in this group together? Has anything surprised you about it all so far?

There have been many milestones along the way. Winning Land the Big Gig at Summerfest in 2016 showed us that we could play music professionally. As we continue touring, it’s always a pleasant surprise to meet new fans who have been moved by our music.

How difficult was it to come up with your band name? What other names were you considering?

All the names we came up with were pretty bad, so when Juice popped up, we just ripped it.

How do you think your hometowns have influenced the sound and how you all carry yourselves in this group? If you don’t think that it has, why is that?

Our hometowns were all formulative for us, so these experiences come through in our music whether we realize it or not. At the same time, blending all of our experiences together as a group has produced something visibly unique.

How excited are you to be releasing your next collection, Workin’ on Lovin next month? Can you remember what it was like to hear the whole EP? Did anything surprise you about the making of this EP? What was it like working with the Grammy-nominated producer Johnny K on it?

We are very excited to release our music. When we received the final mastered versions and gave them a listen, we were blown away by how a computer could make us sound like a real band ;). With Johnny’s experience, he was able to really capture what we felt like we wanted to show the world.

While it’s difficult, can you pick out a few of your favorite songs on the album and talk about the inspiration behind them and how they got to be on this collection?

Workin’ on Lovin’ is a great example of us being patient with a song, revisiting old ideas in new ways, and exploring our capabilities as songwriters collaboratively.

Where do you think you are all happiest- in the studio recording new music, on stage performing or elsewhere?

Recording and touring are great, but we’re happiest at Playland when we are with our boys on the Dragon Coaster.

How do you think being a musician and in this band gives you all the most joy in life today?

We all realized at a pretty young age that nothing gave us as much joy as creating music. Being able to do so with some of your best friends tops it off. We’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity to translate this joy into a tangible career.

Photo Credit: Luke Urbanzcyk

We are currently living through a very trying and politically charged time right now so I am curious to know how your own music is reflecting this time period? If you don’t think it is, why is that? Would you say that other musicians are making music that has been influenced by this climate?

I think there’s an element of the political climate in everyone’s music. Consciously or not, people react to the world around them and art is always a reflection of that. I think some artists actively avoid politics and still end up having a political narrative assumed about them just based on their music and their brand.

We’re a big band of guys from different parts of the country and different ethnic backgrounds. While we don’t usually make a point to force political conversations with songs, our experiences that end up as music often inherently reflect relevant political issues.

One of the most important levels of our band is the brotherhood that we’ve built over the years, and a lot of that has come from learning about each other’s backgrounds and respecting everyone’s perspective. Our diversity and togetherness are pillars of our identity, and so our music, and by extension, our politics definitely reflect that.

How important do you think social media has been to this band? Do all you help to maintain all your sites or is one of you more into it all? Or do you rely on your PR/management team to handle it?

Social media is very important, it’s our primary means of connecting with our audience and building our brand. Instagram specifically allows us to engage with our fans and include them in our story. We like to have fun with it, but still strive to maintain a professionalism to the page, and we think that it shows.  Everything is done in-house including our website and all social media management.

Who would you love to work with in the future? Who are some of your favorite artists right now? What do you think would be a dream collaboration for this group?

Our members answer that differently, but we’re all really into Anderson .Paak right now. “Bubblin’” is an absolute banger. Gary Clark Jr. is also an amazing artist, and we’d love to work with him.

If you guys were all going to be stranded on a deserted island, what musical item would you want to take with you and why?

Having The Beatles on the island would be good.

What do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people continue to take away from your songs?

Everyone can take different things from the songs, so it’s hard to say that there’s just one message. We’re seven young guys communicating our experience through our music, and we just want people to feel emotion, to dance, to sing, to smile, and to learn a little bit about who we are.

Where can our readers connect with this group?

Follow us on Spotify, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @itstimeforjuice and check out our website itstimeforjuice.com