Interview: Bluejuice
Words by Scenewave Australia - Published on August 25, 2014
Bluejuice have been an absolute staple in the Aussie music scene for more than a decade. Famous (or infamous?) for their wild antics, their frenetic stage show and a focus on huge festival crowds, they’ve made their mark, and have become one of the most-loved, reputed bands on the Aussie circuit. Now, after thirteen years, they’ve announced that the band will come to an end this year – but not before an absolutely mammoth farewell tour.
We had a great chat with charismatic and hilarious founding member Stavros about looking back, looking forward and some reflection on the state of the music industry today.
So! Thirteen years and it’s all coming to an end! Why the decision to quit? Actually, I shouldn’t say, “quit” – you’ve given it a pretty good go!
We just felt like it was the right time for the band. We didn’t want to start putting out terrible stuff and grinding it out unnecessarily. We wanted to still be putting stuff out of a high quality, and it originally came about when our manager brought us in for a meeting. He mentioned that he had gotten an email from Grinspoon’s manager who had been together for an even longer period of time, and they were breaking up. He just thought that there were better ways to “go out”, and if you’re going to say goodbye to people it’s better to do it properly. So that’s why we are doing the retrospective record, with some new singles on it, as well as a farewell tour to give people a chance to say goodbye.
Kind of a “know when to walk away” situation, then?
Yeah! I think most people hang around, creatively, too long and stop doing good work. It’s better to keep the level of quality high… or as high as we can put it anyway! *laughs*
Well, you’ve had some pretty crazy times. The Bluejuice shows I’ve seen have been fucking nuts! What have been some of the highlights for you, personally?
At shows or in general?
Both!
I think making the Hottest 100 three times is fantastic. The first time it happened when Vitriol came 11th, that was pretty amazing. It really saved the band in a way, in fact. We were going to break up around that time actually, but triple j just kept playing our stuff, and at the time, it basically gave us a music career. People started turning up to shows… I mean, Vitriol is still the most played song on triple j if you go to J Play. I kind of find that almost unfathomable.
What about some highlights at your shows? The first time I saw you guys was in Townsville, and Jake made out with my friend’s brother!
Well, THAT sounds like a highlight! *laughs* I signed a man’s balls once at a festival in Port Macquarie That was a highlight… if that’s a ‘high’? Look, there has been a lot of great shows. I loved playing the Boiler Room at Big Day Out. Some of the Splendour shows we’ve done have felt pretty epic too. Playing our first Metro show was really exciting… Also playing a near empty Sydney Entertainment Centre at some weird skateboarding event…
This coming tour looks pretty grueling, with so many dates booked in! Is it going to be “all in-batshit crazy-this is the last time” show every night? What can we expect from these shows?
Well, I think we always put our guts into every show. I guess, in particular though, we’ll be trying to play as many songs from the retrospective record as possible, and I guess the typical bluejuice highly energetic shows. I don’t know, I haven’t talked about it with the guys yet, but maybe we’ll have some stories behind the songs… Occasionally… But maybe that will slow the momentum of things? Maybe it’s just better to smash people over the face?
Are there any particular shows you’re particularly looking forward to?
Well, we’ve never done our own shows in North Queensland, so that’s cool. Even on this last tour though, we’re just putting it out there and hoping it fucking works out. Or you know, we’ll just fall on our arses and lose a bunch of money! *laughs* Probably no one will fucking show!
But I mean, Sydney and Melbourne sold out within the first 24 hours. Adelaide now has a second show too. I’m pretty buzzed about playing for a sold out room. We’ve never sold tickets like that to shows before, ever!
Does that make it harder to walk away? It’s kind of like some people are just really complacent and not very expressive with their favourite bands, until they break up and they go, “Oh, shit!”
Well, I think that’s been going on a long time for us. I think people were happy to come see us at a festival, but then reluctant to see us at our own show, and just happy to see us once a year. We had been touring a lot – maybe we over exposed the band – but there is nothing more galvanising than realising there is going to be no more supply of show for that group that is sitting around, and likes the band a little bit. There are the proper fans that keep coming back and keep coming back and will be there again, but then there are the ones who are on the sideline – they’re the ones who are going to turn up this time.
Is your latest single, I’ll Go Crazy, indicative of what will happen if you all stay in the band, then?
You know what; it’s funny because all the new songs are now kind of tinged with the element of the band breaking up, but I don’t think it’s like that. I think it’s more of a relationship song. No Time for Tears is a bit more about the band ending, but a kind of sappier ballad about it. There is another song called George Costanza which is a bit tongue-in-cheek, and the funny side of Bluejuice, even though the verses are really dark. It’s a reference to that episode of Seinfeld where George decides to do everything the opposite way; and once he decides to do that everything starts working out for him. In a way, it’s kind of about the end of the band too. It’s kind of like, “Well, let’s just do it the other way and it’ll all work out!”
How did you decide the tracks that were going to be featured on Retrospectable? Are there any personal favourites on there?
Well, firstly we started with the singles. You’ve gotta have the songs the either were successful as a single, or that we just put out as a single because it was some of the strongest material from the band. There are about 9 songs on there that have film clips, and you get copies of those clips when you buy the record. But then it was just a process of picking our other favourite songs that we thought were strong, and maybe didn’t get as much attention as they deserved at the time. Then, there are the new songs, and that comprises the record.
What is one bluejuice song you’re most proud of, or one that’s your favourite?
I don’t really know because I don’t really have a favourite. I really like Cheap Tricks a lot – I think that’s a fun song. I really enjoy playing We Can Get Around It live… I enjoy singing Work live too. There is a bunch that I love, but I wouldn’t say I have a “favourite song”.
As someone who’s been in the industry for so long, what are your thoughts on the current state of it? What do you think about the future of music?
I haven’t really thought about it in a while. Music is in a pretty good state. I think you can make a living doing it, but it just depends what you expect out of it. I think music is the same as it ever was, in that the music industry and labels are always fear mongering about the “threat” to music. Years ago, it was like, “Tapes are going to kill everything for music! There won’t be any records!” Then it was, “CDs are going to kill the music industry!” Just stupid shit like that, you know, “TV is going to kill cinema!” *laughs* We live in a new age, and certainly aggregation sites like Spotify arguably pose a threat to the money people can make. But also, I think they can be a really good discovery tool. When you’re a small band like us, any exposure is really great. There were more people that stole Broken Leg than bought it. That sucks for our label, but it’s great for us because more people came to shows. It just depends on what perspective you want to take.
Do you have any advice, then, for upcoming bands?
Work. Work every day. Stay excited about music and doing it – as long as you’re excited about it, you’ll keep wanting to do it. But mostly, work. Just keep workin’. It’s nothing more than that. Obviously the songs have to be good, but getting better at your song writing and the craft and production and everything else is so important these days. Most bands are either studio bands, or they’re live bands. The ones that can nail both are the hugely successful ones, but as long as you’re putting work into one of those things you’ll do alright.
Alright! So what is next after this? Maybe a reunion tour?
*laughs* I think that’s jumping the gun a little bit! I know Jake is going to stay doing music; he’s got a whole bunch of stuff.
And for you?
I’m not going to be doing music; I’m having a career change.
Cool! Can I just ask that you play The Reductionist at the Brisbane show? That’s my favourite song by you guys!
You know what, we were talking about that yesterday. I’m not sure it’s going to make the cut though! I think we will hate playing it… but we’ll see! *laughs*
Bluejuice tour dates
WED 24 SEPT UNI BAR, ADELAIDE (LIC/ALL AGES – EVENING)
TIX: AVAIL VIA www.oztix.com.au
THU 25 SEPT UNI BAR ADELAIDE SA
Tix: Avail via www.oztix.com.au
FRI 26 SEPT CAPITOL PERTH WA
Tix: Avail via www.oztix.com.au
SAT 27 SEPT RED EARTH ARTS FESTIVAL KARRATHA
Tix: Avail via www.reaf.com.au
WED 01 OCT SOL BAR, MAROOCHYDORE (18+ ONLY – EVENING)
TIX: AVAIL VIA www.oztix.com.au
THU 02 OCT HI FI BRISBANE
Tix: Avail via www.oztix.com.au
FRI O3 OCT COOLANGATTA HOTEL COOLANGATTA
Tix: Avail via www.oztix.com.au
SAT 04 OCT GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL BYRON BAY NSW
Tix: Avail via www.oztix.com.au
WED 08 OCT FEDERATION UNIVERSITY, GIPPSLAND CAMPUS (18+ ONLY – EVENING)
TIX: AVAIL VIA www.oztix.com.au, www.mugsu.org.au
FRI 10 OCT HI FI MELBOURNE VIC
Tix: Avail via www.oztix.com.au
SAT 11 OCT HI FI MELBOURNE VIC
(Under 18’s only Matinee show 12-3pm)
Tix: Avail via www.oztix.com.au
SAT 11OCT VILLAGE GREEN HOTEL MULGRAVE
Tix: Avail via www.ticketmaster.com & www.thevillagegreen.com.au
SUN 12 OCT BARWON CLUB GEELONG
Tix: Avail via www.oztix.com.au
FRI 17 OCT WAVES WOLLONGONG
Tix: Avail via www.moshtix.com.au
SAT 18 OCT ANU BAR CANBERRA ACT
Tix: Avail via www.ticketek.com
THU 23 OCT BAR ON THE HILL NEWCASTLE
Tix: Avail via www.bigtix.com.au
FRI 24 OCT METRO THEATRE SYDNEY NSW
(LIC/ALL AGES)
Tix: Avail via www.ticketek.com
SUN 26 OCT METRO THEATRE, SYDNEY (LIC/ALL AGES – EVENING)
TIX: AVAIL VIA www.ticketek.com
THU 06 NOV MOVIDAS, MACKAY (18+ ONLY – EVENING)
TIX: AVAIL VIA www.oztix.com.au
FRI 07 NOV THE VENUE, TOWNSVILLE (18+ ONLY – EVENING)
TIX: AVAIL VIA www.ticketek.com
SAT 08 NOV – THE JACK, CAIRNS (18+ ONLY – EVENING)
TIX: AVAIL VIA www.oztix.com.au
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