The Junipers
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The Junipers | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Leicester, England |
| Genres | Folk pop, psychedelic pop |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | San Remo, Sugarbush |
| Members | Robyn Gibson Joe Wiltshire Pete Gough Ash Selden Ben Marshall |
| Past members | Marc Johnston Liam Riley Stuart Pratt |
| Website | thejunipers |
The Junipers are a psychedelic pop band who were formed in Leicester in 2000 by, Joe Wiltshire, Marc Johnston, Pete Gough, Liam Riley and Stuart Pratt.[1]
History
Wiltshire and Johnston had begun recording demos at home while Wiltshire played in another band, Ambrose Tompkins on the Regular Beat record label based in Liverpool. The duo then recruited the other three members to showcase the songs live. In 2007 The Junipers signed to San Remo Records, a record label based in Wolverhampton ran by Felt guitarist Marco Thomas, who had signed Ivor Novello award winner Scott Matthews two years prior.
The Junipers recorded and released their debut album Cut Your Key in 2008.[1] The album was self-produced and mainly recorded at The Junipers own studio in Leicester and partly at Magic Garden studios in Birmingham with Gavin Monhagan, known for his work with Kings Of Leon, The Editors and Ryan Adams. Three singles were pulled from the album, "Callooh Callay!", "Gordie Can't Swim" and "So the Feeling Looms"/"Out My Pocket".
Cut Your Key received rave reviews from the likes of Uncut magazine, The Word and Record Collector.[1] "Callooh Callay!" was named single of the week on BBC Radio 2 and all three singles gained airplay on Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music from dj's, Bob Harris, Steve Lamacq, Mark Radcliffe and Janice Long, among others. The band played two live sessions for Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music,[2] supported Kasabian twice at The Civic Hall and played The Big Chill (music festival), The Summer Sundae Festival, Moseley Folk Festival, The Llama Festival and The IPO Festival.
The band have gained some well known followers to champion them along the way, including, Marc Riley, Abbey Road producer Mark Wirtz, Cerys Matthews and Alfie frontman Lee Gorton.
In 2009 lead singer Marc Johnston left The Junipers and was replaced by Robyn Gibson, a friend of the band who had also been a member of Ambrose Tompkins with Wiltshire, The Ammonites and Ruth's Refrigerator.[1] In 2011 Liam Riley left the group and was replaced by Ash Selden who took on the bass and backing vocals and in 2012 ex-member of Ambrose Tompkins Ben Marshall replaced Stuart Pratt on drums.[1] The new line up began recording their follow up to Cut Your Key later that year.
The Junipers second album Paint the Ground was released on 22 February 2012.
Their more recent releases include The Juniper's Euphonious Trolley - EP 1 which they describe as a poppy side project. This came out in November 2013, receiving a top review in Shindig! magazine.
In March 2014, a new mix of their Paint The Ground album was released on limited vinyl by Sugarbush Records.[3]
Their new album, Red Bouquet Fair, is set to be released sometime in June/July 2016.
The following album will be the complete version of The Juniper's Euphonious Trolley.
Appearances
- The band have played the following festivals: The Big Chill, Summer Sundae, Moseley Folk Festival, The Llama Festival, Simon Says (Festival), Strawberry Fields Festival.[4]
- The Junipers have played two radio sessions for Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music and a session for BBC Radio Leicester.
- They made two TV appearances on the Community Channel and Channel M.
- The song "Already Home" was used on the American TV show Cane.
- The Song "Gordie Can't Swim" appeared on the Shindig! covermount cd in 2009 and was remastered by Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub.
- The song "Out My Pocket" appeared on The Word covermount cd in 2008.
- Callooh Callay! received single of the week on BBC Radio 2 in 2008.
- The band supported Kasabian twice at the Civic Hall in 2008.
Discography
- 28/10/08 - Cut Your Key (Album) - San Remo Records
- 04/08/08 - "Callooh Callay!" (Single) - San Remo Records
- 30/08/08 - Moseley Folk Anthology (Compilation) - Moseley Folk
- 08/12/08 - "Gordie Can't Swim" (Single) - San Remo Records
- 01/12/08 - Now Hear This! (Compilation) - The Word
- 17/08/09 - "So the Feeling Looms"/"Out My Pocket" (Single) - San Remo Records
- 27/08/09 - It's Happening! (Compilation) - Shindig!
- 20/02/12 - Paint the Ground (Album) - Self-released
- 01/04/13 - Live at the Cookie Jar - Bootleg (Free download)
- 20/11/13 - The Junipers' Euphonious Trolley - EP1 (Digital release)
- 13/03/14 - Paint The Ground (Album - Ltd Vinyl re-master) Sugarbush Records
Website
The band had had several domains in the past, but all had been abandoned, until George Gibson (son of Robyn Gibson, the singer), created and hosted a website on his own server. It can currently be found here.
References
- ^ a b c d e Monger, Timothy "The Junipers Biography", Allmusic. Retrieved 22 March 2015
- ^ "6 Music Live Hour", BBC. Retrieved 22 March 2015
- ^ Gimmers, Mof (2014) "The Junipers Paint the Ground", The Quietus, 24 April 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2015
- ^ "MUSIC: Strawberry Jam stage at Strawberry Fields Festival", Leicester Mercury, 8 August 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2015