We caught up with UK based modern blues-rock band Jupiter Way. Formed in London in late 2015 by Jullian Vuitton and Kevin Thomas, Jullian initially grew interested in music by listening to The Black Crowes, Led Zeppelin and Creedence, whereas Kevin found his inspiration through vocalists from the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Jim Morrison and Dennis Edwards from The Temptations.
They found a common ground with Jupiter Way’s sound: a raw blues-rock drawing heavily from 60’s and 70’s classics, with a powerful soul voice and a modern touch. At this day, the band released a self-produced debut E.P ‘Catch Fire’ and played intensively, including in some of the most active clubs of London such as the 100 Club, O2 Academy Islington, Proud Camden or The Jamm.
Hi there, how are you and what are you up to today?
Hi! We’re doing really well. This is an exciting time for us with loads of gigs coming and new releases in the pipeline. Today, we follow our usual schedule: composing music for our next E.P and doing other music-related stuff like mailing, social medias, etc.
To those not familiar with you, how would you describe your sound?
We found a common ground with Jupiter Way’s sound: a raw blues-rock drawing heavily from 60’s and 70’s classics, with a powerful soul voice and a modern touch. We always loved that period, and this is often where our inspiration comes from. It is the base on which our sound stands. However, we don’t want to sound too cheesy about it and try to explore new sounds.
It can go from heavy blues to funk or soul, it doesn’t matter. Our process is pretty simple: If we like it, we do it.
What are the 5 albums that have influenced you the most?
Willy and the Poorboys – Creedence Clearwater Revival
The Great Western Walkyrie – Rival Sons
Sticky Fingers – The Rolling Stones
L.A Woman – The Doors
From Memphis With Elvis – Elvis Presley
Which other artists are you into at the moment and why?
We are big fans of most of this new wave of classic rock artists from Earache Records: Rival Sons, The Temperance Movement, Blackberry Smoke, etc.
We really have a crush for The Rival Sons at the moment. They are loud and have such memorable songs. They’ve got an incredible talent and it is a real pleasure to see that kind of bands making it big in the industry.
Special mention for the Temperance Movement as well, another Earache band that we discovered supporting the Stones 2 years ago. What a great vintage sound!
In a different style, we are also into Syl Johnson or Eli Paperboy Reed at the moment. His latest release “My Way Home” was a blast for us and his recent live performance in London was a thrill.
Are there any key pieces of equipment that you are using to define your sound?
We’re experimenting a lot these days. Our new material usually starts with a Gibson LesPaul guitar plugged into a Fender amp, accompanied with some fuzz pedals. We just introduced a new keyboard player in the band, and he is playing a major role in the making of our new sound.
What would you say some of the challenges artists face today in the music industry?
A city like London is very competitive. Millions of bands are trying to make it, and this makes it hard to be exposed to people even when the quality is here.
Of course, some players in the industry are just profiting from this. We used to work with venues or promoters who were literally not giving any consideration to bands. If you’re unhappy it doesn’t matter because they perfectly know that thousands of other bands will knock at their door and accept their crappy conditions anyway.
This makes the whole thing really hard when you are a young band and it really becomes a matter of survival sometimes. We try to be cool with it. AC/DC used to say “It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll” and they’re damn right! We keep going and try our best. Every one has to go through that anyway.
Finally, music is even more of a business than before, especially now that the Internet took such a big place. If you don’t adapt to some rules you might just be off the game. First thing that would come in mind are social medias. It can sometimes be frustrating for bands because the more time you spend on building your social media exposure, the less you spend it in making music. It is can tricky to know where to draw the line.
Where do you gather songwriting inspiration?
Mainly by listening to other artists and jamming altogether.
Listening to other bands has always been a great source of inspiration. It gives you interesting directions to take. You then try to play around with ideas until you get your own vision.
Regarding lyrics, this could be inspired by a particular chosen theme or a special word/sentence heard or seen somewhere. Sometimes it just pops up with no reason. Lyrics can also come out of the music/riff: it gives you a special feeling and that helps in making you write about a certain topic.
Take us through your songwriting process. Are there any particular steps you take when put music together?
In most cases, it starts with a guitar riff or a chord sequence that we record on Logic Pro, and we build the rest around it (vocals, etc.).
However, there are no specific rules. We usually get inspired along the making and we add the good stuff as it comes.
What’s the best gig you have ever done and why?
It would certainly be at the 02 Academy Islington in March. The sound was huge and the entire backline was stunning. Everything was perfect!
It is worth noting that the staff was super friendly as well. The venue was packed and we couldn’t have been in better conditions. This is also where we probably had our best performance so far. It helps!
And the worst?
A few weeks ago, we probably had our worst in Camden.
We were really optimistic about that show but it started with the staff being 2 hours late for the sound check. They basically had no idea about how many bands were supposed to play on that night.We finally ended up playing half an hour after the initial schedule.
Cherry on the cake, we’ve been cut halfway through our set because they wanted to catch up with their schedule. They just switched off the lights and the sound as well. Quite frustrating when you take so much energy for being ready, not even mentioning that people paid tickets to see us.
The story is not over yet: half of instruments were not even working during the first song. Useless to say how awkward we felt at that time…
If you weren’t a musician what would you be?
Probably working in an office right now.Some of us were working in banks or studying law before resigning and making music full time. We’d probably be wealthier, but it is nothing compared to the great time we’re having now!
Do you have any particular gigs or festivals that you dream about playing?
A few names in mind like Glastonbury, Montreux Jazz Festival, Download Festival, Rock en Seine (Paris), Rock Am Ring.
If you could perform alongside any other band or artist, who would it be?
Our ultimate dream would be to open for giants such as The Rolling Stones or even AC/DC. Otherwise, it would be for those we are currently listening to: Rival Sons, Temperance Movement, etc.
Do you have any information regarding upcoming releases, projects or gigs in the pipeline that you would like to tell us about?
We’re going to release our new single “Trouble is Mine” on the 8th of July. We’re also working on a brand new E.P for the end of the summer. In the meantime we will be very busy playing live in London and surroundings. We are also starting to book dates outside London, in cities like Birmingham, Brighton or Manchester. This will be a busy summer!!!
Many thanks, and we hope to see you at one of our gigs!
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