Interview with Jeremy Freer (The Juliets)
The Juliets; one of the newer yet more eclectic bands around town, is made up of a talented core of musicians that are no strange to the local music scene. Fronted by former Freer frontman Jeremy Freer, The Juliets bring a version of indy pop rock that is complex, rich and lovely. In anticipation of MotorityRocks.com Summer Showcase at the Lager House on Friday night (18+, 21+ No Cover), we chatted with Jeremy to find out more about The Juliets.
How did The Juliets come about?
I write a lot of songs. I knew I didn’t want to do certain songs in as much of an electric manner as music I’ve previously made. I’ve always wanted to use strings where they weren’t just background but part of the focus. Kaylan Mitchell is the first person I approached about this project. She played cello in the band Canada and has recorded for many local acts such as the Silent Years and Chris Bathgate. Her playing is raw and refined at the same time. It’s aggressive and dark but still very pretty. The moment we began playing together I knew we could do something good.
Sarah Myers was next to join. She studies violin at Eastern Michigan. She’s our lead guitar player! I was lucky to find Kaylan and Sarah because not only are the trained musicians but they are extremely creative players. We played a few shows with just the three of us until we added Scott Masson on drums.
Scott is an amazing musician as well as helping to engineer/produce our first record. Scott is one of my best and oldest friends. He’s the mind behind OFFICE and plays drums in 800beloved. What can I say about him? He can do everything. And he does it all extremely well. Produce, write, play, sing, you name it. His drumming is the backbone to these songs. Plus we’ve worked together so many times that we speak the same musical language.
What about your former band Freer, why did you guys call it quits?
I really loved that band. But things happen. Sometimes things are meant to last for a long time and sometimes they are meant to be short. Just like anything else in life like relationships, jobs, friendships, health, success, failure etc. But I’m very glad to have made the music we did.
Tell us about the upcoming Juliets’ album, when can we expect it to be released?
The goal is to make beautiful pop music with some interesting and maybe a bit subversive things thrown in. There are influences like Paolo Conte, P.J. Harvey, The Beatles etc. but I feel like these songs see with there own eyes
We are about half way done with the record. We’ll be posting songs here and there on our myspace. Half of it is acoustic guitar driven and the other half piano driven. We arranged the songs to be be full and have a heaviness to them that maybe you wouldn’t expect from our set up. This is not a folk record. Besides for a few stripped down moments it’s a driving, classical pop record that hopes to leave you with some love as well as a few bruises. It should be ready to go by the end of the summer.
FEATURED TRACK:
“The Letter” – The Juliets
What are the plans after it’s release?
We don’t have a label at the moment. We have some ideas in the works about how we’re going to put it out if we don’t do it with a label. Besides shows we plan on getting the word out with a massive telepathy campaign.
What can we expect from The Juliets at Friday nights MCR Showcase at the Lager House?
Kaylan will be setting her cello on fire, Sarah will be cutting herself with violin strings, Scott will puke on the drums and I will be pissing on my piano. It should a be good show.
** This coming Friday night at PJ’s Lager House (July 31st) is the MotorCityRocks.com Summer Showcase featuring 800beloved, SikSik Nation, Almost Free and The Juliets.