INTERVIEW: JUICE
Interview by Mia Anderson
On January 20th, the band Juice returned to their origins in Boston while performing at Paradise Rock Club for their North America tour. Originally formed at Boston College, Juice is composed of six musicians, each featured on various instruments including the violin. Aside from recently embarking on tour, they are also debuting a new EP Nothing Like A Dream which features six new original songs.
I was fortunate enough to speak with band vocalist Ben Stevens before the first night of their tour.
Mia Anderson:
I just wanted to start off by discussing the origins of your band. You guys formed in college, so I’m curious what it was like pursuing music in college and if you had any advice for aspiring musicians in college right now.
Ben Stevens:
It was all very new and novel and beautiful. It still is in many ways, but it’s a little bit different now. Back then all the dominoes fell into place. As far as us meeting each other, whether it was people connecting on Facebook, like the accepted students page, or having a music theory class, or I actually moved in right across the hall from Dan and Miles and next to JT, our manager, so it was just all very fortunate. It just began out of pure joy and necessity, I’d say, because there’s not much of a music presence at BC. I think some of our best stuff even to this day comes from that place of just like doing it because we need to, because these are our people, you know. If I was to give any advice to college musicians it would be to hold on to that sort of feeling and surround yourself with people that inspire that in you, because that is the meaning of life.
Mia Anderson:
Yeah, that’s good advice. Since we’re talking about the past, if you could give a piece of advice to your past self, what would you say?
Ben Stevens:
Good question. I don’t know. I guess this can pertain to my journey as an artist, but it also might just be a commentary on my journey as a person, but to just slow down a little bit and not try to control everything. I’m learning to lean on others. I mean, that’s something that the band has definitely helped me out a lot with. Just in the musical sense, but also the professional sense and the friendship sense, you know you don’t have to do everything by yourself.
Mia Anderson:
And how do you think your past self would react to your current music career?
Ben Stevens:
I think he would be pretty stoked. I think he would probably – Younger Ben was oozing with confidence. Perhaps too much. So I think he’d probably give me a pep talk. I think just objectively, and at least like who I am as a person, he’d be pretty happy, and definitely, the fact that we’re playing some massive shows this weekend.
Mia Anderson:
So, speaking more on your current happenings, congratulations on officially releasing your EP, which you guys released last night. Could you talk a little bit about the process of your songwriting and making this EP?
Ben Stevens:
Sure, I think it all started with Becoming a Stranger. We had gone on a writing retreat to Maine after having honestly a few months of barely missing each other creatively. You know people’s interests and hearts are in different places, so Becoming a Stranger is the first single of the project. I think it functions well in that regard because it is truly the start of us like really jelling again, after maybe a few months, which is totally normal, bands do it all the time, but it’s especially in a collective where everyone’s opinion is important, you know? So that’s something we’ve never sacrificed which is pretty cool. But yeah, Stranger was sort of the start of it. I think the music came first for a lot of these songs which isn’t always the case. It is for me, most of the time, but not for everyone else. That was like, oh, this is almost like a more mature version of where we were when we first started playing together. Like, let’s hold on to this, let’s finish this song, and let’s hold on to that feeling. I think everything else sort of just colored in that palette you know, barring a few emotional polls on the project, which is important. We really see it as like the evolution of where we began as a band.
Mia Anderson:
Do you have a favorite song on the album or a song that you’re the proudest of?
Ben Stevens:
Oh man, tough, I love all my children equally. I love them all for different reasons. You know, Temporary Love was one that I think grew on me the most. Once we got into the studio and really started carving It out. I’m really, really stoked with the way the mix came out on that song. It’s just how unique it is in the context of everything else, I think it sticks out pretty nicely. I also love Hard to Feel. Especially the bridge in that song, it means a lot to me personally, and I think we did a good job of really capturing a specific emotion with it.
Mia Anderson:
Where would you say you draw some of your inspiration for your sound or for the band in general? Was there anything specific that inspired certain songs in this EP and what singers inspire you?
Ben Stevens:
I know Dan was listening to a lot of Cure. I’m always listening to Radiohead and now I know how that doesn’t make any sense in the context of this, but I resonate a lot with their approach to music. A lot of what I write isn’t even used in Juice just because it’s crazy and out there, but when I get something that I’m like, oh yeah, this is definitely a Juice idea, I bring it to the guys. It really makes me excited because it’s always almost like a vehicle to more accurately communicate something that I sometimes have trouble communicating. I think it’s really just each other as inspirations. You know, being around each other and being like basically married to these guys for 10 years now. Whatever they’re consuming, I wind up consuming. Whatever they’re feeling, I wind up feeling, and it’s just like different iterations of it. That’s just what is so cool about us. I don’t want to say any artist specifically for this project. Song by song, maybe that’s a different story.
Mia Anderson:
What is it like being in a band?
Ben Stevens:
I forget who I was telling this to the other day, but I’m nowhere near becoming a father, but I think this career is definitely preparing me for it. It’s such a strange and fragile reality. Something that not only represents us as people but as artists and all this other stuff. The best work that we’ve done removes that from the equation, so it’s just been wonderful to see us all become more patient guys and better collaborators. My manager always likes to say when we’re on tour, it’s just a bunch of guys in a van braving the storm. It’s like we’re all just out there in the wilderness doing something that is objectively kind of crazy, but it makes us very happy and we hope makes other people really happy too.
Mia Anderson:
As you mentioned, your tour starts tomorrow in New York. I know you’ve been on tour before, but is there anything new that you are looking forward to on this specific tour?
Ben Stevens:
Yes, I mean, we haven’t had a headline in a minute. I’m really excited we finally have enough songs where we can do an hour and a half every not of not entirely different sets, but like we can sort of play around with it and be universally satisfied. Everyone’s stoked with the order, the song selection which is really cool and freeing. I’m playing a lot of synth and that makes me nervous. This is one of the first tours that we’ve incorporated the Juno on, so just wish me luck. It’ll be good, I like having that responsibility and it’s just fun. I’m definitely a big mover on stage. I like to use up all the space so my challenge Is going to be having to come back and be centered and contained in front of the keyboard. The guitar I can at least move around.
Mia Anderson:
Your second stop is in Boston, actually, pretty much on BU campus, so how does it feel to kind of be playing at a venue basically in the town where you started?
Ben Stevens:
It’s always weird in a good way. I grew up in New York, so we’re just basically going back to school, from being in and around the city. So you can feel it coming from the drive as you go 95, you’re like, oh, the 684, oh, it’s coming closer. And then you’re there and it’s a weird mixture of feeling at home, like longing, also, because it was such an important time and now it’s just like, not really the relationships not the same. But I think that’s what makes the shows more unique because it’s just like such a strange collision of energy. We always get to see friends that we haven’t seen in a while so that’s sweet.
Mia Anderson:
Do you have any dream venues that you’re hoping to play?
Ben Stevens:
There are a few answers to that. I know Christian, he grew up in Indiana going to Lollapalooza all the time, so that’s his big dream, that is one of my dreams as well. I always wanted to sing. I actually did sing at Carnegie Hall recently, but like in some choir. I really want to just like have a show there where I’m singing like with an orchestra. I would cry my pants off. Of course, Red Rocks I think is a collective dream to headline a show there or even a supporting show. I’ve never seen a show there but I know you scream from the top and then the person on stage can hear you and that’s insane. Hopefully one day, maybe after our album that will happen. I think it’s like a rite of passage you have to put out a full-length album in order to play Red Rocks.
Mia Anderson:
I’m from Colorado, so I actually went to my first Red Rocks concert this summer. It’s an amazing venue.
Ben Stevens:
Cool. Who did you see?
Mia Anderson:
I saw Noah Kahan.
Ben Stevens:
Oh, nice. He’s a nice guy. We played Boston Calling and he was there with some of his friends from high school. He was a sweet guy and I actually had never listened to his music before, and then I went and listened, and I was like dang, this guy can really write a song.
Mia Anderson:
Yeah, he’s blowing up. Okay so since it’s officially 2024, a new year, you have a new EP and New Tour, are there any other goals or new projects that you’re excited about?
Ben Stevens:
Yes, I have this paralyzing condition where we write a song and even before it’s done, I’m thinking about the next 10 songs. So I’ve already been writing and trying to figure out what the next thing’s gonna sound like. We did go on a writing retreat a few weeks ago at some hunting house in Pennsylvania and spent four days there. There’s some really cool stuff that we worked on like album level, so many ideas we’re gonna put it out there. We’re gonna do the album. It’s going to happen. We’re manifesting it. You’re bearing witness.
Mia Anderson:
For your EP, how do you choose what songs come together or how do you put it all together?
Ben Stevens:
This is a really fun part. There’s like a whiteboard involved, a lot of songs don’t make it, not for lack of merit or quality, but probably because, like they were in a different place. Some of these songs make more sense together. Does it make sense? Does the tone make sense? Once you find the heart of a project, it becomes a little bit easier, but you have to pick four or five songs that you are like, okay, this is where everything else should sort of be pointing to or revolve around.
Mia Anderson:
This is kind of a silly question, but is something I’ve always wondered about. How do you name your songs?
Ben Stevens:
It all depends. There are some songs that just, have it, you know. Becoming a Stranger, that wasn’t the phrase that came first, the verse was written and we were like this title captures the nostalgic piece of the song, the sort of yearning piece of the song. Different ways to highlight certain energies of the song I think are a good tool and rule. Heart to Feel was actually Bled My Heart for a while, I like that title, but some people thought it was too heavy, which is fair. This was actually one of the harder projects In terms of naming songs, usually, it’s much easier, but there is no rule other than maybe that one that I mentioned in most cases where it’s kind of just easier. Like there’s a phrase or, I don’t know, maybe the chorus sets it up real good.
Mia Anderson:
My final question is if you could pitch your band to new listeners, how might you describe your band and its sound?
Ben Steven:
I’d say there’s something familiar in the music, especially for young adults, there’s something a little rebellious in it. Let’s hope that it’s not just angry. I think a lot of the music sounds really like how we’re hoping to feel, and the lyrics are sometimes just more sobering. You can engage passively and still really enjoy it and just sort of, you know, throw it on, catch a vibe while you’re cooking or whatever. Driving, definitely driving. Or you could have more intimate moments with it. Whether it’s just like feeling through it or thinking through it, I think it’s just got a little bit for everybody, so.
Mia Anderson:
Yeah, it’s nice. My roommate and I listened to the new EP this morning while getting ready for school.
Ben Stevens:
There you go. Getting ready.
Mia Anderson:
Well, those are all the questions I have. Unless you want to say anything else.
Ben Stevens:
Well, it was lovely talking to you. If you can go check out the project, it’s Nothing Like a Dream. It’s everywhere and catch you guys out in the city somewhere in North America. Yeah, that’s all.