Matthew David – Bad Juju ‘They’ll Be Creating, Time After Time.’
Canadian Author and Healthcare expert Claire Snyman brilliantly articulated the following statement: “Make time your friend and not your enemy”.
Similar to how the Richmond Football Club in the hit TV series Ted Lasso had the word “Believe” secured above their locker room door to keep the team inspired and determined; this aforementioned statement by Ms Snyman was in fact framed on the walls of Melbourne’s alternative punk rock (self-proclaimed “emo grunge”) band Bad Juju’s home studio.
Admittedly, the latter part of this introduction is in all probability constructed by this writer’s inventiveness. However, when bassist Matthew John describes the recording process for the quintet’s full-length Blue Heaven and how the approach underwent three separate intervals of studio time with Callan Orr (Hands Like Houses) and Sam Bassal (Trophy Eyes), the notion of the “framed quotation” does not seem as far fetched.
“Oh, the time away totally was an enemy.” Matt admits with brash honesty – “We picked apart all the songs while away and re-recorded parts and sent them to our mixers, so we were productive and those things that actually ended up making the songs better.”
He continues – “The time to sit and absorb the songs and think, then rethink just small parts and add touches post recordings; that was really useful. Lots of songs sort of changed quite a bit, especially the last track ‘The Boulevard’. Some of the vocal parts changed, we recorded some piano and I even whistled into a microphone (laughs), it was very useful. Although, It was exhausting, especially for Sam(Bassal) who was mixing our record. Also the band members constantly hearing each other’s ideas and changing the songs and all the stuff we had to do. In the end, I guess it paid off? There were some arduous Facebook chats and a lot of stress but we got there.”
It assuredly did more than “pay off”, the 12 tracks that tell the story of Blue Heaven are of world-class stature. While still embracing their Australian heritage and the outstanding outfits which helped lay the blueprint for the quintet’s alternative rock foundation, another remarkable element to Bad Juju’s soundscape are their explorations with the synthesiser. The atmosphere added by the swirling electronic keys recalls both past and present post-punk and new wave outfits who expanded the genre known as “punk rock”. ‘Me Vs You’ is an extraordinary example of this exploration and as Mr David expresses, this song was the five-piece’s most collaborative effort.
“’Me Versus You’ is the song that was I guess, the most collaborative song out of all our records. There are parts that our vocalist Russ (Holland) wrote on guitar and the man riffs Armarin (Saengsr, guitarist) wrote; honestly though, there is definitely a hidden new wave influence on all of the songs on the record.”
Was this an organic growth from your earlier releases? To explore different sound textures and auras of music?
“At the time we were writing I was getting super into New Order, Joy Division and a bit of Talking Heads – I was diversifying my listening quite a bit. Truthfully, I love synth, it is so cool. There is so much you can do with the instrument; the atmosphere it adds and the way it sits in a different space to guitars.” He discloses with infectious compassion before elaborating – “When we started experimenting with synth, I wasn’t sure if we could get away with it. I was honestly like: ‘Oh, yeah, they are going to add lots of synths now? What the fuck? Is this a grunge band?’ (chuckling) But I really like how it’s like it’s sitting in the Bad Juju sort of sound without making us something weird that people don’t get, if that makes sense?”
It may read as slightly perplexing, yet this seasoning of sound nostalgia the synthesiser produces ultimately enriches the ‘Juju’s Australian alt rock energy. Arguably one of the most engaging aspects of the quintet’s character is their ability to call to mind the great bands our nation have provided – the outfit’s single ’Nothing To Give’ combines the infectious choruses of Antiskeptic with Gyroscope’s expansive rock ambition elements. Yet, Bad Juju also include breathtaking modernisation – an aggressive spoken word hip-hop interlude, a breakdown and even a choir inclusion that is as contagious as the same effect used by Underoath in ‘It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door’. All of this is delivered incredibly in under four minutes.
“It was like a choir, well, we just booked a rehearsal room and we invited as many of our friends that are female vocalists and we just recorded it ourselves and we sent it to Sam (Bassal). Admittedly, we just winged it. All of us had never recorded a choir before. The way we did, it might not have been the correct way (giggling)? In the end though, it worked – and it was such a fun thing! To hang out for a couple of hours with a talented group of people. Especially when they are singing with angelic voices on our song, our noisy heavy rock songs.”
What about the exploration of other musical classifications? Was the single’s creation always intended to “think outside of the box”?
“In writing that song, we wanted to surprise people, we were like: ‘Let’s just do something that people don’t expect’. So we have a breakdown, a heavy riff – it’s not a ‘chug’ breakdown. It’s the closest thing that we could do without being complete weirdos. Essentially we got to make Juju heavier, I was able to utilise my screaming voice and at the end, there’s like a floating vocal that sits higher above the musical component.
“So we just experimented and that song was actually nearly the last song we recorded.”
“Make time your friend and not your enemy” – there does appear to be multiple interpretations of this articulation. For Bad Juju, the “time” component did feel like an enemy in certain instances, especially the realm of overthought. However, in reflection, they constantly made “time” their friend. Putting aside Blue Heaven for just a moment, when the time called for reward, it did, repetitively. The band were incorporated as a soundtrack feature during an AFL game, an instance that has now occurred twice (“AFL has always been such a big thing for the band, I actually caught our old drummer streaming a Geelong game during one of our first interstate shows while we were playing” – Matt reveals joyfully).
Recently they supported international outfits that influenced the Victorians’ sound in Movements and Boston Manor because it was simply their “time”.
“We were over the moon to play that show; I was so so happy and a bit nervous too. It was a really great experience, both of those bands are ones we all love and they’ve influenced our music in different ways at different times. They are really nice dudes, we are just extremely grateful to get that gig.” Mr David details in glee.
With this modification of time from the occasional “enemy”, to more recently and commonly a “friend”, as well as Blue Heaven being out in the world – now it is Bad Juju’s TIME.
That is in all likelihood the best Ted Lasso interpretation this scribe could designate to the beloved Bad Juju.
Interview by Will Oakeshott @TeenWolfWill
Stream Blue Heaven here
Bad Juju – Blue Heaven tracklisting:
1. Blue Heaven
2. The Other Side
3. Walking Away
4. Nothing To Give
5. Raincoat
6. Misery Sticks To Me
7. Tired Of Running
8. House Of Greed
9. Me VS You
10. Dear Mother
11. I Know What You Did
