INTERVIEW: Introducing Juke Of June
Based in Nashville and expanding outwards, Juke of June is a band made up of great people, and they make great music. It’s rare to find a band where each member brings their own unique perspective that is valued, and incorporated into their sound. The uplifting energy that each member shares with one another is tangible in their recorded music, and, even moreso, in their live performances. I promise I’m not exaggerating when I say that Juke of June has music suitable for absolutely anyone (with good taste). I’ve also probably watched their new music video at least ten times. It seriously rivals movies nominated for best picture at the Oscars. Jokes aside, the music video is extremely well-crafted and clever. It tells a compelling story using money as a metaphor, and it not only stars all six members, but successfully highlights each of one of them. Before you deep dive into their songs past and present, who better to tell you about Juke of June’s sound, creative process, and background than their lead singer, Jackson Hahn.
How did Juke of June come to be a band?
So, Jackson Kilburn (rhythm guitar) and I met Freshman year at Belmont. It should have been fall of 2017, and we started talking about making music, or writing, or different artists that we like. And, then, kind of just like down the line over time we picked up everyone along the way.
Ben Ballard (guitar) was living on the same floor as Jackson, and he’s lead guitarist and Jackson's rhythm, so it's kind of perfect there. So, Ben was down to play, and, then, we found Zach McCoy on drums. And later that spring in 2018, Zach introduced us to Bradley Crow (keys). Brad jammed with us, and he was a great fit. And he loved what we were doing, and we loved what he was doing with us. He was just a great man.
It wasn't until like a year or so later that we met Emily McCreight (bass). Kilburn messaged Emily on Instagram because we were looking for a bass player. And she came and jammed with us, and she just fit right in, and she completed the band.
I would say we were an official band around summer 2019, spring 2019, but we’ve been jamming together since 2017.
How would you describe your sound to potential listeners?
Our music has kind of been all over the board. We've hit many different genres, but I would say anything that we're releasing now and in the future is going to be in a soul psych rock realm. But we've touched base on a lot, and we're trying to kind of reel that in. So, I would say for now and the future we are a soul psych rock band.
Summer 2021, we released an EP called Good Weather that is more of a full kind of psychedelic rock EP. Then we had a little lull until September 2022 and, eventually, we released “She Walks By”. And I would say that’s kind of a straight 70s rock song. “Where’d She Go”, which is our latest release, is more of a soul rock realm, and we’re going to be taking that path to more soul psychedelic.
What’s your creative process like and how do all your different influences fit together?
We all take part in writing, and I would say there's many different influences within the band, but I think the biggest right now are bands like Durand Jones and the Indications, These Sacred Souls, and Tame Impala. The band Sports is also one of those bands we're taking inspiration from. I mean, people mention Hall and Oates when they hear us as well. Yeah, and then there's just influences of 70 rock, whether it's The Doors or Led Zeppelin as well.
Can you talk about some of your past performances?
Bonnaroo was a good one, but it wasn’t an official stage. We got asked to play at a tent, so, hopefully, next year or the year following, we can get an actual stage. That’s, of course, the goal, but we got the opportunity to play at a tent, which was really a lot of fun. It was kind of just like trying to get people to stop and listen to you. You know, it was kind of in the middle of things like people selling clothes or food, and you kind of had to like fight to get their attention to stop and watch, which was a really fun experience for us.
We also actually ended up winning the first inaugural Titans Battle of The Bands here in Nashville, Tennessee. And because of that, we got to play a halftime show at the Nissan Stadium, the Titan’s stadium. So, those have been some big ones for us for sure.
What’s the story behind your latest song and music video release, “Where’d She Go”?
The single was produced by Sheryl Crow and Jeff Trott, co-produced by Eli Weil, and engineered by Alberto Vaz. I wrote the original lyrics, but we went through like several versions of this song. One was more of a ballad, and, then, we were kind of jamming on it one day, and Brad (keys) switched some chords around, and we just liked the feel. It was more of like a groovy feel. Brad also polished up the lyrics, and everyone else helped out with the second verse. But, the lyrics, the melody, and all that came from a time in my life where I was in a really toxic relationship. It was a really grey situation, but basically, she told me she loved me while she was like sleeping with her ex. So, it was just very toxic. And, the song is basically about trying to kid yourself into wondering where this person is, when you really already know what's happening; you can feel what's happening even though no one's told you the truth yet. You can kind of feel that this person is breaking away from you and finding someone else. You know, so it's really about your own mind messing with you.
Can you talk about some of Juke of June’s future plans?
We’re trying to release a song at the most every two months. So just, you know, stay up to date with what we're doing because odds are there's going to be something new coming pretty often. So, whether it's you know a new song or new music video- stuff like that, we'll be trying to release pretty often this year.