The Juicebox Experience

Big thanks to guest writer & natural talent Modest, who performs at the Showcase Lounge of Higher Ground on Wednesday, February 26th, opening for Bitter Bones and Desmo.

Hey everyone, Modest here with a review for the VTHH page! Special shout out to the tiger himself, Justin Boland! Thanks for reaching out to me to review this project. 

We enter the palace of Juicebox. And a vast palace it is. For one, I had never heard of Juicebox before being asked to review this EP and I am so happy and thankful for the opportunity. One thing is apparent about this group from my first few listens. They are a powerhouse with creative ideas that push the boundaries of hip hop. They have a full band behind them that mixes jazz, funk, and psychedelic with hip hop. It is groovy and blends together brilliantly. There is no question that these are experienced and seasoned musicians.

I'm most impressed by the drums and bass, but don't let that take you away from the incredible keys and saxophones as well. The MCs sound so different from each other, but compliment one another very well. It never gets boring! There's something special in each song that will leave you wanting more. I'm looking forward to the day these cats bless us with a full length album.

Picking a favorite song is tough, but I have to go with “FSS.” Everyone really seems to be in their element on this one, and that catchy-ass line, 'I'm sittin' back in my cadillac tryin' to relax' gives me some serious Joey Bada$$ vibes. But it's not just the MCs that stand out on this tune; the instrumental is a funky ocean for listeners to swim in. Forgive me because I don't have a lot of experience with Juicebox, but Thaya Zalewski on this track really stands out as well. Their haphazard, all over the place flow is actually super tight and brings an energy that I didn't even realize the track needed.

Overall, this EP is original, creative, and fun. It will definitely be in regular rotation, and I'll be seeing these guys as soon as I can. Now, not being so familiar with the group, I couldn't really give you many facts. So, I got ahold of them and asked them a series of questions. Originally I was planning to use the answers in my review, but…the answers were so good and interesting that I thought they should just be included as the conclusion to the write up.

This EP is super solid, and different from what I think a lot of Vermont hip hoppers are used to. Definitely check it out. Here's the interview below. I'm outta here folks, til next time! 

MODEST: How did you guys get started up?

JUICEBOX: There were some connections between the members in the past few years, but we really got going when we got together to rehearse some of our former member Kevin Slafsky’s material. He writes these beautiful, melodic songs, and he was looking for people to perform them with. So thanks to the help of Michael(Bass) Kevin hooked up with us rhythm guys (Sam(Keys), Julian(Drums)) and fellow rapper Zesty. Interestingly enough, a few days later, Sam attended a cypher at Zesty’s house, and the backing band was The Get Messy. He said “That set really made a mark on me; not only were the rappers killer, but the way the band just meshed into the background and kept going like an understated train of excellence made a big impression on him.” That idea of being a really tight backing band was integral in our beginnings. Sam switched from bass to keys, and Michael switched to bass, which was a really good move. Then we added the two saxophone players, Thaya and Tim.

So now we have the full band. We would basically just get together every week, have a few beers and try to flesh out some songs. Julian, entered us into the Battle of the Bands at UVM. We did practice hard, but we never thought we really had a chance of winning. But, lo and behold, win we did, and we got to open for Beast Coast at the Springfest concert. It was truly amazing. Since then we’ve played a ton of other shows, made a lot of new songs, said au revoir to Kevin, and welcomed Rivan C to the group; he’ll be on our future releases.

MODEST: Where are you from?

JUICEBOX: All of us are from different places, but we all met as students at University of Vermont. Rivan is from Burlington, and the rest of us are also northeast cats, with the exception of Michael who’s from Asheville, NC.

MODEST: What are some of your biggest influences, and inspirations?

JUICEBOX: Each member has their own inspirations, but as a group, we draw heavily from acts like A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, OutKast, Noname, Rubblebucket, the Pharcyde, Joey Bada$$, Little Simz, P-Funk, and Vulfpeck. All of us rhythm and horn peeps are big into jazz and study it at school.

MODEST: Favorite song you’ve written as a unit?

JUICEBOX: It would definitely depend on who in the band you ask. People seem to really be digging “Capri Sun,” which we think is the one that came together the most organically, with pretty even input from all the band members. At the end of the day, it can seem like whatever song we are focused on at the time is our favorite.

MODEST: Your instrumentals sound like real instruments, do you guys write all of your music as
well? And do you perform with instruments? Or, am I totally wrong here and those are
beats?

JUICEBOX: You are not mistaken. Everything on the EP is live instruments, from the drums to the saxophones. All of us love hip-hop but we wanted to explore the possibilities and variation of using a live rhythm section.

Hip-hop is a great genre with a lot behind it but for many of us music students and enthusiasts its repetitive beats can lack the musical flavor and variation that we so yearn for. So we strive to take all of the best elements of hip-hop and add the variability, tonality, and energy of live music.

All that is to say, it’s a yin-yang between emulating that kind of computerized music, and adding the zany, “every bar is different” energy of a live show. There’s a ton of opportunity for interplay between band members. And we usually will perfect our songs live, so it sort of made sense to just get in the studio and track together. All the keys bass and drum takes were done at the same time, with everything else added on top, but we were all listening to each other, which makes it sound more raw but also more in the pocket than something where it’s all done separately. You can’t have all improvisation or all composition, but a perfect mix tastes real good.

MODEST: Favorite place to perform?

JUICEBOX: ArtsRiot and Foam are probably our favorite places so far! But who doesn’t love a rowdy basement show too?

MODEST: Favorite weird experience you’ve all shared?

JUIICEBOX: We did this festival called the CheeseBall in the middle of the woods and it was fuckin strange to say the least. We got to spray paint an empty pool. We had no housing or food. We got free drinks but they were just Sunny D and some nips of vodka and spiced rum on a table. We slept in a very packed car. There was a bear. Overall weird time.

MODEST: What would you label yourselves as, genre-wise?

JUICEBOX: We definitely approach the writing process from a hip-hop standpoint. But, as you mentioned, we try to really capture the live sound in our recordings, and we take a lot of influence from jazz records in particular. So, jazz-rap, hip-hop. Not a fan of the never-ending genre-bending “psychedelic folk-funk band influenced by Bollywood, salsa, and modern classical” that you might see so we’ll keep it simple.

MODEST: Any upcoming projects, or shows?

JUICEBOX: We’re playing with fellow Burlington acts Princess Nostalgia and Father Figure on February 8th at ArtsRiot, as a part of the art showcase Bucolic Concrete. We’re also opening up for Lyrics Born on February 15th at Nectar's. Both are on Saturdays, and should be awesome shows!