The Collective’s Flower Moon Festival is a one-day festival, fully run by Chapman students, aiming to highlight bands from all genres and styles. In this interview series, death of the rabbit discusses the festival and music releases with some of Flower Moon’s lineup. Tickets are on sale now here.
DEATH OF A RABBIT: As a band or individual, do you juju on the beat?
JULIAN: On the occasion!
ELISE: I think if we ever juju on that beat, it’s as a band.
DOAR: Maybe that could be your pre-ritual before the show.
DYLAN: On stage choreography!
DOAR: What are you guys going to play from your discography since you have three songs currently released on streaming?
JULIAN: We have a lot of other originals that we are playing. One of them is really new. What I’ll say is, you can expect Dylan shredding on the fucking guitar, and then at some moment, we all kind of go crazy, do some crazy cool new stuff. We’ll be playing one cover, but it’s a super secret cover that I’m not going to disclose.
ELISE: We have other songs — a bunch we just haven’t gotten around to recording and putting out there yet. Some have been in our live rotation for a bit now. But, like Julian said, we have this really fresh new song that we really dig.
DOAR: I was also curious about how OC and possibly other places have shaped your sound!
ELISE: I definitely went to a lot of punk shows in high school, and usually, I’m a big indie rock fan. I think we all are. (I) definitely listen to more stuff that’s not as hardcored, but I love grunge. I feel like there’s some grunge or alt rock influences in the stuff we play, but it definitely sticks closer to the indie rock side of things.
Julian and I are from LA county, but we’ve been playing shows recently in OC and heard what the sound is here. I did some research, and apparently No Doubt and Sublime were very big in OC for a bit. I think we definitely lean into that, just maybe more on some softer tones. We’re not all-out punk, but we do get some inspiration from them, for sure.
JULIAN: I feel like as a band we have a lo-fi sound. A lot of our songs tend to meet at some point around the base of nostalgia or love. We pair our emotions together, and we just create fun music.
DOAR: What do you guys have nostalgia for?
ELISE: Being a kid. Most of our songs are about remembering a time. Growing up in California is such a privilege, and it’s so nice here. How can you not write about that when that’s your experience?
DOAR: How does it feel to collaborate as a band? How does that dynamic work?
ELISE: Pretty smoothly. When I hear about other bands in our area and how they cooperate with one another, I’m surprised because I guess it’s not common for us to mesh so smoothly. I’ll usually bring some lyrics or a song I have written on my guitar, and then I’ll ask what they think. Then we’ll start hamming on it, and then boom! We have a song. Sometimes it’s a little harder when it’s like, “What the fuck is the vibe here?”
DYLAN: It depends on the song, because they start from different places. There was one where we had a lot of fun with a riff that I brought in, and then we established what we thought the song was about and felt like. We were writing it around the time of Valentine’s Day, so that kind of came into place. But a lot of the time, when Elise brings a song in, I’ll hear the riff that she brought and it’ll just have a certain feeling to it. I can just listen to it and know what would fit. So, it falls into place; I can just feel what it should have.
There are definitely some songs that it’s tough to know what the best choice is, but we have a lot of stuff. We have so many riffs coming and going and ideas flowing that usually it’s not a huge problem. If we’re having trouble with the song, we can try out a new one or give it some time and come back later. But usually, it’s not a super teeth pulling process.
JULIAN: It’s true; we mesh really well. I wouldn’t say we butt heads but moreso just have different ideas, and we see what shit sticks on the wall. We’re pretty open minded, and we really have a good time pitching ideas. Some of my favorite moments with Jujube is just sitting down, writing this stuff, jamming it out. It’s like magic. When everything comes together, you get this feeling. You’re like, “Oh shit. We just cooked; we did something.”
DOAR: What are you most excited about for Flower Moon?
ELISE: Sharing our music with a larger audience! Personally, I have a big ego when it comes to our band; I think we have a really good sound. I’m just very proud of the progress we’ve made, and I want to be able to share that with people who maybe wouldn’t want to come out to a dingy house show where it smells of cigarettes and beer; they want to go to an actual venue. I am excited to tap into that space.
JULIAN: I’m also really excited for the setup and stage. At a house show, the equipment’s there, it’s not an issue. The equipment that we usually play with is always great, but (at) the venue we are playing, (the equipment) is amazing. I’ve seen a couple of performances there, even some of my favorite bands, and the sound is really nice. It’s a really intimate venue too. I’m excited to hear what we sound like with all that equipment. Like really putting on a show. “Hey, this is us,” vibes. I don’t want to romanticize it too much before it happens, but I have a good feeling about the vibes that are going to go down.
ELISE: I think we’re really excited to play the show because we’ve been a band for two years now, and I remember (during) the first conversations we were having as a band we were saying that we were going to do the Flower Moon Festival. That was our goal; we’re gonna do it. Now, just two years later, we’re finally on the bill.
Check out Jujube’s music below!
Leave a comment