A Q&A With JUNO
Source: Supplied
Congratulations on the release of ‘moonboy’! Can you tell me about the story behind the song?
Thank you! We wrote ‘moonboy’ about a tendency I feel I’ve had in past relationships to wear rose-coloured glasses and make excuses for bad behaviour. ‘All this time I put you on the moon, boy’ is a metaphor for putting people up on pedestals. It’s something I’m trying to get better at.
The single was produced by a well-known/highly regarded producer Taka Perry that has also worked with the likes of Sycco and Thomas Headon, have you worked with him before? If so, what is it like? You also had your band member Sam Woods producing the song too, did Taka and Sam work together on this or was it more of a hand over from one producer to another?
Kind of both! Taka is sooo good at what he does so we don’t really need to get in the way of his production process. He definitely understands what we’re going for when we send him our demo & a little brief of what we’re after from his pass on the production. Usually it comes back to Sam to mix and finalize any other nitpicky things we want to do. In this instance we thought it didn’t need much at all so we all just had a quick zoom call to go over some tiny little details and that was that. We’re super stoked to be working with Taka in that regard, he makes it so easy.
If you could describe ‘moonboy’ in three words, what would they be?
Bold, sassy & shiny.
Now you guys have done something incredible and have released a video game based on the single, can you tell me more about this? Whose idea was it and why?
Sam: Luke, my brother brother/JUNO’s drummer & sometimes sound engineer, always has these crazy over-the-top ideas for marketing and this is one that slipped through the cracks and actually seemed doable. Usually they are outside the realm of possibility, lmao. So I was originally going to find someone to pay to make the game for us, but we had all these finer details we wanted to do & every revision was going to cost more and more. I’ve always been interested in game design but I’ve never opened a game engine or coded anything before, so YouTube and Google really came to the rescue, and 150+ hours later, we’ve got the game! I’m super proud of it and people seem to be both enjoying it and being challenged by it. It’s a cool feeling to see people out there engaging with it.
As for the ‘why’ - honestly we just want to keep challenging ourselves to think of ways outside of the box to let people know we’ve released a song. I feel like your release can get lost in a sea of songs if you’re just doing an Instagram post or two to let people know what you’re up to. It became more than that though, we wanted to create a way for fans to feel more engaged and interact with the JUNO ‘universe’ a little closer. We intentionally made it so you have to DM us to get the download link to the 8-bit soundtrack to the game (once you finish it) so we could promote conversation and chat with fans instead of just an automated link or something.
The visuals accompanying the song across artwork and video games have a strong pop-art/animated aesthetic, which I am loving, so I have to ask what’s the creative process behind this?
Kahlia: Sam and I really like when artists create a little universe surrounding the release of a song or an album. From the get go the production of the song + the idea of creating a video game all felt like a cohesive concept that tied into the fact that the song is about ‘deluding yourself into thinking someone is something that they’re not’. I wanted the whole release to have a fantastical element to it/not rooted in reality. I loooove thinking about that sort of thing with every song release! It makes the song come to life in my opinion.
You’re about to perform with another great band Selfish Sons, are you excited? Have you guys worked together before?
Sam: We’ve kind of hung out and seen them around at gigs before but we haven’t played a show together. We’ve seen their show a few times though! They are awesome guys, so talented, and their fanbase is awesome, so we’re really stoked.
Your previous single ‘come thru’ got incredible praise from big names like Apple Music, triple j, iHeart Australia and MTV, congratulations! Were you expecting such a positive response from the song, if so was that like for you guys?
Sam: We’ve always really vibed with that song, so really I’m just glad other people seem to be digging it too! It was one of those songs that come along that you just know you have to put out. We’re stoked with the response.
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with Unraveled today, before we go, do you have any little teasers for what’s coming in the future for JUNO?
Kahlia: Thanks so much for having us! If you like our music, definitely stay tuned because we plan to release a lot of new stuff over the next year or so. We also want to continue to keep things fresh and do something new and interesting with each release with our fans (like the game), so be sure to follow us on Instagram/TikTok/etc. If you’d like to be a part of that. A few show/tour announcements possibly too???!!! Stay tuned. :)
