Category Archives: juana

Spring Offensive

Juana recently interviewed Chris of Spring Offensive . Check it out!

+How did you meet each other and what lead you to come together to create music?

We’ve known each other since school, mostly. We shared record collections growing up, and we started the band some years. We wish it was more exciting. Like we met in a debtors prison or something.

+You’ve played live in many different places, such as theatres, churches, museums, etc. Would you tell us more about the differences of playing in each of these? Is there any show that you remember?

We remember most of them! Playing outside of a conventional gig venue or bar means that the experience is better for everyone. The last big hometown show we did was in a huge church in Jericho – we love making a show our own and offering more than a sticky-floored homogenized venue chain. We promote and curate our shows as often as is feasible.

+Oxford’s music scene has been growing in the past years, is there any band or musician from there that you like?

We love The Grinding Young, but they’re not playing at the moment. The peerless Stornoway have a new album out soon. Our bff’s are undisputed Oxford kings Gunning For Tamar and Deer Chicago. Sharing the throne like Jay-Z and Kanye.

+Who are your biggest musical influences?

Egg.

+You’ve participated in Radiohead’s tribute album “Round the Bends” by doing a cover of “Bones”. Why did you choose this song?

We were honoured to be asked to be involved in that. But it turned out all the good ones had been taken.

+Would you like to tell us more about filming and creating the music video for your new single “Not Drowning but Waving”?

We filmed it in the Isle of Wight on a balmy, hot, calm summer’s day. Might have been the only one of the year. We wanted a storm, we wanted waves crashing against the shore, we wanted rain by the bucket-load. We didn’t want to just re-tell the story of the song, so the video works a bit like a sequel, with the drowning as the departure point. It’s kind of a what-happened-next, how you deal with being guilt-ridden.

+What do you feel is the hardest thing about being an indie music band today? What do you love most about it?

The hardest thing about it is getting money together for rent, but the best part is not caring.

+Can you give any smaller or local bands looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Be yourself, listen to your peers but don’t imitate them. The music industry is in a bit of a shitty state, but you have to faith in what you’re doing. If you have the songs, and the drive, there will be people out there who will fall in love with it and who can support, help and drive you. Make sure you enjoy it too.

+Any parting words, a message to your fans?

We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it any more. Oh, and come see us and say hello at a show soon.

Posted in Jay-Z, juana, Musical ensemble, Radiohead, Spring Offensive, Stornoway

South of France Debut [+Interview]

Sep 27

Posted by blueskyandhardrock

Get ready to discover and bask in the promising, well executed sounds of South of France.

The duo released their debut album ‘Another Boring Sunrise’ September 18th and just did a fun series of posts sharing their music tastes as they took over ListenBeforeYouBuy.

Now listen as they share more of themselves in this interview with Blue Sky’s Juana…

+How did you meet each other?

Jeff had been writing songs and even released an EP as South of France before we met. A mutual friend knew Jeff was looking for a singer, and though he was living in Colorado, she had a hunch that we should meet.

So, when Jeff was visiting LA, we did, and hit it off immediately. We have the same taste in music, same vision for our music careers… within hours of meeting we were making plans to start recording.

+How did you decide on the name?

Jeff started writing the songs that would be South of France’s first tunes while he was traveling in the South of France. When he got home, he started recording, and it just seemed like a fitting name.

+What can listeners expect to get from listening to your music?

If you like things to be lovely, you’ll like South of France- retro guitar sounds and organs and ooh’s and things. It’s dreamy, it’s melodic, it’s summery, and it’s good for driving with the windows down.

+What can they expect to experience at your live shows?

Whiskey. Rumpshaking.

+Who are your biggest musical influences? Anyone upcoming that you are really into?

We both like 50’s and 60’s pop and R&B… a lot. As for new stuff.. Nick Waterhouse, Youth Lagoon, The Growlers.. stuff like that.

+Where can fans find your music online or otherwise, either to stream, download or to purchase?

You can purchase the album on iTunes or Bandcamp, or you can stream it on Spotify.

+Where can they connect with the band?

Facebook is a good way to connect with us: https://www.facebook.com/southoffrance . We have a twitter account, but honestly we’re no good at it. No good at all.

+What do you feel is the hardest thing about being an indie music band/ today? What do you love most about it?

The hardest part is getting the music to the people who are going to love it. It’s a lot easier to make a great sounding album on your own than it used to be, so the indie scene is really saturated with new artists popping up every day.

Most people don’t have time to listen to every new album they see has come out— once they’ve seen 5 blog posts about South of France’s new music video, they’re going to be way more likely to watch than the first time they saw it.

And even though it’s a challenge, we love having spent so much time on something and then watching it spread and grow. It’s awesome that there are so many people excited about and scouring the internet for new music.

+Can you give any smaller or local bands looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

For us, it’s about not settling with our songs. Any little thing that sounds off to you, go back and fix it, make it the music you hear in your head, because if you think it’s great, somebody else will too, and then you can let the music do a lot of the work for you.

+When can we expect to see you touring and in which regions?

That’s a good question. Right now we’re just playing as much as we can locally in order to develop a really great live show that we can take on the road. Then we’ll go anywhere.

+What’s new + exciting in “South of France”?

We have a new music video in which Kelly almost vomits here, and if you want to see us live, we’ll be playing a couple shows in Denver with Hundred Waters and Exitmusic (October 8th at Larimer Lounge) and Tamaryn (October 29th at the Hi-Dive). And of course.. we just put out our debut album on iTunes!

+Any parting words?

Thanks to all the wonderful people who have helped out, supported/believed in our little pop songs.