Writing and recording an album and going on tour with it again and again – the band Juli doesn’t want to end in this vicious circle. “In between, little happens that you can tell in songs,” said singer Eva Briegel in an interview with the German Press Agency.
In the past few months, the 44-year-old has therefore often seen friends and family, shopped, and even done her tax return. The band lived a normal everyday life. “It’s also important because when you’re in this music thing, everything is taken away from you. You lose the connection to normal life.” After nine years without a new album, however, the music is back in the foreground: Today the band releases the album “Der Sommer ist über” (“The summer is over”).
Like the first time
Coming back with new music creates “debut album vibes,” said guitarist Jonas Pfetzing. The band’s wish was to restore musical immediacy. “It was easier for us when we were younger and less knowledgeable,” says Pfetzing.
Between 2004 and 2014 the band released a total of four albums. As with the first album “Es ist Juli”, the band was able to free themselves from what other people think of their music and just do what’s fun for the fifth album. July fans have already been able to hear some new songs, such as “Fette Wilde Jahre” or “Fahrrad”, as singles.
Experimental handling of July topics
The band often looks for common themes for new music in conversation. “We’re looking for insiders from the past and then try to frame it in a way that appeals to some sort of basic emotion,” Pfetzing said of the band’s work.
The result is now songs that also revolve around classic July themes, says Briegel. It’s about departure, nostalgia, fighting against constraints and bringing yourself back into the moment, she described.
With her music, Juli found her very own genre, said the co-founder of the indie rock band Madsen, Sebastian Madsen: “You can’t describe it, it’s more of a feeling.” In recent years, the music of the band from Giessen in central Hesse has become more experimental and courageous.
With Briegel’s voluptuous, melancholic voice, the band makes pop music, but with a calm character, said the musician. In recent years, Madsen had worked with both Briegel and Pfetzing.
New challenges
Back from a long break, Briegel and Pfetzing, like Madsen, realize that the music world has changed in recent years. “With every release, I feel like a lost astronaut who has to find his way around the earth again and again,” describes Madsen.
For Juli, social media in particular play a crucial role: “They are great for the artist-fan bond. At the same time, they can also disenchant. I don’t want to see everything from everyone and don’t want to show everything to everyone,” said the July singer. The band is still looking for the right way between closeness and distance to their fans. In addition, new music has to be advertised in a completely different way today.
Juli will be on tour with their new album this year. The band also plays at various festivals in the summer. “The publication is a starting signal for making,” said Briegel with a smile. The musician, who was born in Baden-Württemberg, considers it a luxury to be able to be in both worlds, the music world and normal life. Due to the experience in the past, anticipation and serenity spread rather than nervousness shortly before the publication.
