#16 - Aunt Judy
From High School Jazz band to cozy living rooms, Aunt Judy is ready for your ears
Hello everyone!
This week is a little bit special, one of our readers (which happened to be linked to one of our previous interviewees) recommended to me this band and sent me their info for an interview. I preferred letting her conduct the interview and write the article. I want to thank her for this amazing work and I will let her present herself.
Just a quick note, for the moment, the band doesn’t have a Spotify or Apple Music page but you will find links to their videos on Instagram or YouTube. The article will be updated if they create one.
Thanks for reading! My name is Mána Taylor. I am a writer, art critic, and editor. I am the co-founder of The Documentarian (documentarianmag.com) with my partner Telo Hoy (who was recently featured on this newsletter). I also write my own substack called Landmarks Everywhere, where I write about small and big landmarks. I like to explore hidden areas of a city, or dive into the unseen history of buildings I find compelling. You can find some more of my writing on my website (manataylor.com).
If you live in New York, I will be reading at KGB Lit Bar next Wednesday, July 26 at 7pm!
I first heard Aunt Judy perform in a crowded venue in Brooklyn called Pete's Candy Store. The entire stage feels like you are inside a vintage speaker. There were about forty or so friends and fans in this room. As soon as they started playing, I was blown away. It was a blend of jazz and funk and folk that I couldn't quite place. The two singers, Lucy and Lili, harmonized beautifully during various songs while also each getting their own moments to shine alone on stage on songs they had written. The band even did a cover of Bob Marley's I Shot the Sheriff. I was so impressed by all the musicians alike. There were incredible guitar riffs, bass melodies, and skillful drums. Aunt Judy has a promising path ahead, and I look forward to their upcoming EP! Meanwhile, you can find some videos of their past performances on Instagram, and let yourself be submerged in their fun and catchy songs. My personal favorite is called "It Ain't You."
Here's my interview with the band!
To start things simply, where does your band name come from? Does one of you have an aunt named Judy?
Our band name, Aunt Judy, actually stems from our practice sessions where we often get off track with silly improvisations, one of which included a fictional "Aunt Judy" While it may seem like there's a personal connection with someone named Judy, it's a bit of an inside joke, but we appreciate the curiosity it sparks.
How do each of you start your days? When do you come together to make music?
Most of us are fortunate enough to share a living space, and our mornings usually involve gathering in the kitchen to feed our dogs and eat breakfast before we head off to our day jobs. In the evenings, we reconvene in our cozy living room, and that's when Aunt Judy gets down to business. Our practices usually start off with us eating dinner together, and once everyone is fed, we get to work, often playing and workshopping until it's time for us to go to bed.
When did you all start your musical careers?
While our musical journeys kicked off at different times and in different places, our drummer Frankie and vocalist Lili actually played together in their high school jazz band around a decade ago, back in 2011. As for the rest of the band, we all have pretty different musical backgrounds but have been making music in some capacity since our early teens.
What motivated you to start your band?
We were actually patched together through Craigslist as an eccentric band manager's "hired musicians," though he did not pay us for playing his music. We all enjoyed the musical outlet and each other's company, and we eventually made the decision to break off to explore our sound and have more creative control. Thus, Aunt Judy was born.
Anything each of you likes to do that's not music?
Our vocalist Lucy is an artist specializing in oil painting, though she works with all mediums. She actually creates all of our gig posters, merch, and now our EP cover art. Other band member interests include rock climbing (the boys), learning different languages (Lili), and a shared love for animals.
What brought you to New York City?
We all came for different reasons. Most of the band ended up in New York for school. Lucy came to the city directly after high school, pursuing stand-up comedy, and found Aunt Judy shortly after her arrival in 2018. Lili (after some time in Montreal) and Frankie both came from DC where they had gone to school together and reconnected in the city 7 years later. Dan was born and raised in New Rochelle - the most New Yorker of us all.
How would you describe your genre?
A mix of all of our musical backgrounds! Our lead vocalists both live and breathe 2000s and beyond indie. While this is a dominant note in all of our songs, jazz and funk elements can be found mixed into the chords, structures, and rhythm section interactions.
Is there a band that inspires you?
What is the collective process you all have while creating a new song?
There are several different ways Aunt Judy creates songs. Often, vocalists Lili and Lucy will come with an idea for a melody and a loose chord structure. It then gets handed off to the boys for them to funk it up. We then spend a couple of sessions finding the flow of the song and putting our personal touches on it. While this is probably how we create most often, on occasion, our guitarist or bassist will come with a riff or interesting progression that the girls then write a melody and lyrics on top of.
Where is THE venue or country you would like to perform in?
All of us are partial to seeing music in more intimate venues since, as musicians, we like to watch things up close. We love playing shows where we can see our audience, places like Baby's All Right, the Sultan Room, and Mercury Lounge, as well as TV Eye and Poisson Rouge. It would also be fun to play in other Northeastern cities in the US and Canada, maybe Boston or Montreal. Maybe a Europe tour one day? Lili's French grandma would enjoy that.
Is there an artist you would like to make a song with?
Crumb. Brad Stank. We'd also love to work with any talented pianists; we often feel that keys could lend something to our music.
What do you feel about the music industry these days?
We love being in an era where we don't need a record label, while that IS a double-edged sword. There's something to be said for DIY possibilities open to artists and the way the internet has affected how we all consume media.
What is the song you are most proud of?
Track 2 on our EP "Ingrid" is a song that we're all proud of. It was one of our songs that changed a lot while adapting to recording, but it ended up having a sound that we were really happy with. We replaced a drum solo from the live version with a synth and lead guitar interlude, and making that change work was really creatively satisfying.
Are you recording your EP by yourself?
More or less. We had a really talented producer/sound engineer, Denver Nuckolls, a college friend of our guitarist. We rented an Airbnb in the Catskills and hauled a bunch of gear into it with our two dogs for a long weekend together. It was an intense and super fun weekend.
Do you have any new songs in the works?
Our debut EP, "Do You Like Us?" is coming in early fall. We're always writing new songs and have a few in the works, but nothing else going into production for streaming at the moment.
Where can people follow you?
Instagram! @Aunt.Judy.Band
Anything else you'd like to recommend?
Walrus Audio Julia pedal for any guitarists and the Shark Tales movie for anyone else.
Thanks everyone for reading this interview conducted by Mána ! Don’t forget to follow the band (and our friend Mána!). See you next week !
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Thanks for letting me write a guest post!!