With Hopscotch right around the corner, and WKNC’s Day Party at Legends following closely in its wake– how better to promote both events than by give y’all a lil’ insight into our Day Party Line-up!
WKNC’s Day Party description is as follows.
This year has been full of milestones, and WKNC aims to celebrate them all. 2019 held Raleigh’s first ever Pride Festival, was the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, and marks ten years of Hopscotch. With this in mind, WKNC’s Hopscotch Day Party aims to promote and celebrate LGBTQ+ affiliated artists from across the state to keep the Pride Party going all year long! Featuring Petrov, Emily Musolino, Juxton Roy, Through the Tallwoods, Black Bouquet, and To Julian, the party will be hosted on Saturday, September 7th at Legends Club. This event is all-ages and supported by the NC State GLBT Center.
This will be a series up until the Day Party, so the questions will be the same, but we can guarantee that every artist will add their own personal flare to each answer.
Juxton Roy is a self-described queermo band that has strong ties in the DIY scene of the Triangle, though they may take a more business-oriented route to musical success. Nonetheless, their music is empowered and raw, tugging at your heartstrings in the only way they know how– with honesty.
Read the second artist of this series’ answers– Juxton Roy.
- Give us a lil rundown of how your band got formed! When/where/how/why! Juxton started sometime in 2017, as an idea to start an alt-country band that slowly blossomed into genreless project we are now. It was a slow year of rehearsing and writing the songs that eventually would make up our debut “Why are you so afraid of ___”. We solidified our first lineup in that time and played our first show at Sound Off records in April of that 2018. We picked up our manager, Jonas, during that time as well which led to us being picked up by Emo Raleigh. We then did things backwards by recording our debut immediately after our first show but we’ve hit the ground running ever since. Playing more and more shows. We’ve been nonstop ever since.
- What can an audience member expect from one of your shows? Our shows are an experience. We aim to create a space of community and catharsis all at once. There’s a lot of energy, a lot of singalongs, and a big sense of unity. The goal is create a safe space for LGBTQIA+ people to feel safe in a scene predominantly led by cis white men. We make at point at every show to always say that with Jux, you are safe, seen, valid and our family.
- Do you see performance as a task or an endeavor? In that vein, what part about performing is most challenging or liberating? That’s an interesting question, I don’t know if I (Jess) would ever see performance as a task. Endeavor doesn’t quite sound right either but it may be closer. We put all of who we are into our live performance. We make a point to never play the same setlist twice. I think all of us are really channeling our varied experiences into the music when we perform it live, and it comes out as this loud, almost worshipful form of honest catharsis. Everything we are as people is laid bare on that stage, so I guess it could be an endeavor cause it can be draining to do that. But it also feels really good to do it, to look an audience in the eye and know you’re going through the same thing. Performance is more validating for us then a task or an endeavor.
- What does Pride mean to you? How do you embody those meanings in your music? In your everyday life? Another great question. Pride to me means visibility. It means being seen and heard, acknowledged and safe. It means not denoting the LGBTQIA+ experience down to one singular narrative. Queer voices are varied and beautiful and rarely listened to, especially in this day and age. It’s amazing that Hopscotch and WKNC are including more queer centered shows and events, it’s something I cherish. Within Juxton, we approach pride within our music and shows. We stay visibly queer not as an act of defiance, but as an invitation for dialogue and the opportunity to create safe spaces for people who may not find that often enough. Our music touches on a lot of issues, be it mental health, gender identity, drug/alcohol abuse, and the ever confusing concept of love. But it always circles back to our overarching message of self love, self acceptance and community. I think that’s important in any scene. Especially for people who go to shows looking for acceptance/answers. There’s to many bands around doing it solely because they want to/are good at it. That’s not good enough anymore, you have to stand for something, in my opinion.
- What are you most excited about during Hopscotch? I’m still hoping I’ll be able to go to some of the main bill shows but I’m really excited about the Museum Mouth/Kissisippi show. Same goes for the Sarah Shook and the Disarmers set. So many of our friends are playing as well and it’s hard to narrow it down. Stand outs to me would be Through the Tallwoods are playing with us at the WKNC showcase, that band is full of amazing people and they rip.
- For the tenth anniversary of Hopscotch, what would you ten years ago think about you now? I don’t think ten years ago I was aware of the existence of Hopscotch hahaha. I don’t think then I would’ve ever thought I would be entering my second year of playing it so I guess I would be proud of myself. I don’t think anyone in Juxton ever thought we’d be where we are now as fast as we got there, and we’re all really grateful for it.
- Please list some fun facts about your band!
• Our guitarist Matt is in approximately 10k bands(Flood District, Fredfin Wallaby) and they all rip. Same goes for our drummer Parker(Hi-Dive).
• Our name may or may not be based on a drunken Sean Connery accent.
• Juxton Roy will have new music out this year, and it sounds sounds absolutely bonkers. We’re really proud of it.
You can learn more about Juxton Roy by visiting their Facebook page or Instagram (@juxtonroy) and, of course, by attending WKNC’s Hopscotch Day Party. It will be held at Legends Club on Saturday, September 7th and begins at noon!
How else can I convince you other than saying its Prideful, FREE, and on a WEEKEND? BE THERE!!!!
