Bluejuice

This article is about the band. For the film, see Blue Juice.
Bluejuice

Bluejuice perform at the Perth Big Day Out (2012)
Background information
Origin Sydney, Australia
Genres Indie rock, Funk rock
Years active 2000–2014
Labels Dew Process
Website Bluejuice.info
Past members Jake Stone
Stavros Yiannoukas
Jamie Cibej
James Hauptmann
Ned Molesworth
Jerry Craib

Bluejuice was an Australian band based in Sydney. The group's final line-up consisted of lead vocalist Jake Stone, backing vocalist Stavros Yiannoukas, bassist Jamie Cibej and drummer James Hauptmann. The band released three studio albums—Problems, Head of the Hawk and Company—prior to its dissolution on 28 August 2014.

History

Problems

Bluejuice released the album Problems in 2007. Problems was well received by Rolling Stone magazine in Australia, which awarded the album a four out of five rating.

The band's first single, "Vitriol", enjoyed airplay on the Australian national radio network Triple J, being the second most popular track in 2007 and ultimately reaching No. 11 in the annual Triple J Hottest 100 countdown in 2007.[1] "Vitriol" ranked number 67 in the Australian Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 Best songs of 2007. The video clip for "Vitriol" won best clip at Sunscreen Video Awards in 2007.

The video clip for "The Reductionist", the second single from Problems, was Rage "Indie Clip of the Week" in January 2008. The third single, "Phantom Boogie", has received airplay on Triple J. All three singles were produced by Genevieve Maynard.

Head of the Hawk

In 2009, Bluejuice signed to the Australian record label Dew Process and recorded their second studio album at Big Jesus Burger in Sydney with producer/mixer Chris Shaw (Bob Dylan, Public Enemy, Super Furry Animals, Weezer). Lead single "Broken Leg" debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at number 47 on 23 August 2009. They released the album Head of the Hawk on 18 September 2009, and it debuted at No. 37 on the Australian Albums Chart. "Broken Leg" eventually peaked at No. 27 on the Australian Singles Chart, supported by a music video directed by Samuel Bennetts, as well as reaching No. 5 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2009. The band performed the song on Channel Seven's Sunrise and Channel Nine's Wide World of Sports.

The second single from Head of the Hawk is "(Ain't) Telling the Truth", which was added to Triple J airplay. The band have also been nominated for two ARIA Awards in 2009 for Best Breakthrough Artist (Single) for "Broken Leg" and Best Video for "Broken Leg". The "Broken Leg" video was directed by Sammuel Bennet and was shot at the Metro in Sydney with the local skipping team called (in video) "Shimmer Extreme" led by the coach TK. "Broken Leg" was also voted No. 1 on Rage's inaugural "Rage FIFTY" in 2009.

On the Grand Final (part 1) episode of the AFL Footy Show, Hawthorn Football Club players Ben Stratton, Jarryd Morton, Matt Suckling and Liam Shiels re-enacted the popular video clip to "Broken Leg" live as part of the 2010 Player Review.

Company

On 11 November 2011, Bluejuice released their third album Company, produced by Eric J. Dubowsky, engineered by Jean-Paul Fung and mixed by Adrian Bushby. The first single "Act Yr Age" was co-written by Sparkadia's Alex Burnett. The closing track 'On My Own' was co-written by The Presets' Julian Hamilton.

In an interview with Australian music journalist Nick Milligan, published in the Maitland Mercury, Stone stated in relation to the public's response to Company:

We seem to be in an okay position with the way people like or dislike the band. People seem to be supportive and anecdotally like us - they're not saying, 'Bluejuice - we don't want that band to exist'. It hasn't been an overwhelming response in the sense that we're not like The Jezabels and getting that huge public vibe. But I feel like we made a more consistent songwriting record, which was my intent. I'm pleased that people are enjoying [Company] in the way that we intended them to enjoy it - as a pop record with some serious songwriting, but never so serious that it interferes with the catchiness or the danceability of it. This band is at its best when it's making light of serious issues.

In January 2012, Bluejuice commenced their Sizzling Summer tour with dance act The Aston Shuffle. They also performed on both the Big Day Out and Groovin' the Moo festival tours in 2012.

Departure of Jerry Craib

The band's keyboard player, bassist, guitarist and drummer, Jerry Craib, announced his resignation from the band in late March 2013. The public became aware of the decision due to an announcement on the Bluejuice Facebook fan page, in which the remaining band members delivered an assessment with the words "FUCKING FUCK". The phrase "formidable musical talents" was also used to describe Craib in the Facebook post and information on Craib's future was not provided; however, the band stated that it wished for Craib to return to Bluejuice at another time.[2]

Breakup

On 3 August 2014, Stone announced the dissolution of Bluejuice during an interview on the triple j radio station.[3] A "eulogy" was published on the Australian music website Faster Louder later in the month:

In subsequent media interviews, the band explained Yiannoukas' faltering enthusiasm to continue commitments such as touring was the catalyst for the split. Stone wanted Bluejuice to continue. He aimed to continue writing and performing post-Bluejuice.

As part of the dissolution process, Bluejuice released a new single "I’ll Go Crazy" as part of a “greatest hits” record, Retrospectable, released in late 2014. In addition to selections from their three albums, the compilation included other new songs.

The group announced a farewell Australian tour which ran over September and October 2014, and included shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, as well as a North Queensland leg and some regional dates. The tour saw a number of sold out shows, including both gigs at Sydney's Metro Theatre.[4]

Musical style

The musical style of Bluejuice has variously been described as "punk-hop",[5] "downtempo hip hop, ska-tinged pop and pounding disco"[6] and "too straight for funk, too groovy for indie rock and too sweaty for pop".[7] As of March 2013, keyboards will feature even more prominently in the band's musical style and the departure of keyboardist Craib was identified as especially problematic by band members due to this anticipated direction.[2]

Touring

Bluejuice has played numerous concerts and large festivals, such as the Big Day Out (2010), Playground Weekender Festival, Come Together, Splendour in the Grass, Parklife,[8] Homebake, O-Fest and Coaster Festival.

On 27 March 2010, Bluejuice was one of the acts that performed at the One Night Stand concert that is organised annually by Australia's Triple J radio station.

The band has also supported numerous artists, such as Tricky, Pnau, Dizzee Rascal and The Specials.

Headline

In 2008 Bluejuice completed the "Less Talk More Problems" tour with Sydney indie rock band The Paper Scissors. The following year, Bluejuice commenced the Head of the Hawk Australian tour in October 2009 in support of the album of the same name.

Bluejuice also performed at "AJ2010", the 22nd Australian Scout Jamboree, where the band performed before an audience of approximately 15,000 people. Bluejuice performed at Australia's University of New South Wales (UNSW) during "O-Week" (week-long orientation period for students) on 22 February 2012, supported by Pluto Jonze and Step-Panther.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Triple J Hottest 100 ranking
  2. 1 2 Tom Mann (25 March 2013). ""Stubborn fucking weirdo" quits Bluejuice". FasterLouder. FasterLouder Pty Ltd. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  3. ↑ Sarah Smith (3 August 2014). "Bluejuice call it quits,announce farewell tour". Faster Louder. Faster Louder Pty Ltd. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Bluejuice. "Bluejuice farewell tour". Faster Louder. Bluejuice. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Faster Louder - 'Less Talk More Problems' Tour Review
  6. ↑ Australian Music Prize Red Bull Award 2007
  7. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald Gig Review
  8. ↑ Parklife 2008 artists Archived 12 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine.

They were also the star performers at AJ2010 (Australian Jamboree 2010)

External links

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