Exclusive Interview: Soul Juice Finds their Flow
Updated: Sep 15, 2021
Bouncing back from a short hiatus, Soul Juice supplies another round of tasty tunes with their latest album Perpetual Reflections.
Released on March 13, 2020, Perpetual Reflections is a 12-track odyssey into the nether-regions of your mind.
Full of psychedelic textures and hypnotizing grooves, the project is a step forward for the group, graciously placing them among the current soundscapes coming out of the LA and OC areas. Formed by Vocalist/guitarist Adam Upton while he was still in high school during 2014, Soul Juice started out as recording project inspired by the likes of Tame Impala and Vinyl Williams. About a year later, Adam united with a few friends to play shows all around California which allowed them to quickly gain recognition within the local indie communities.
Based in San Diego at the time, Soul Juice often collaborated with visual artists to create an immersive experience for their live shows. Notable artists like Stranger Liquids added another element of psychedelia to Soul Juice's performances which helped create a culture of its own. Long live analog media.
True DIY pioneers, Upton and his good friend Daniel Gayler from the band Shaman Rock decided to develop a full-fledged festival near Joshua Tree that could act as an oasis for the newfound culture they helped create in Orange County; thus, the Liquid Earth Gathering was born in 2017. To their surprise, the original turnout was more than expected which is why it still stands as a yearly pilgrimage for many people within the psych rock world. Over the years, Daniel has taken full reigns of the festival and rebranded it as Socal Psycheout. Don't fret, this years rendition hasn't been entirely canceled due to the spread of Covid-19. Wake us up when September begins, the fest has been rescheduled to Sep. 18 - 20th.
Soul Juice had big plans for this year. A West Coast tour in support of their new album was all planned out and a reunion at Socal Psycheout was also on the schedule. It's safe to say plans don't always go accordingly, especially when a global pandemic arises. With time, things will become more certain. The silver lining in this case is that Upton now has more time to write new tunes and rehearse a set for their upcoming slew of shows. We're juiced for what's to come.
I had the opportunity to chat with Adam Upton before the release fo Perpetual Reflections.
Here's what he had to say:
Q: So you started up the band in 2014, how did you all come together that year?
A: Well, really what started it was, I was in high school and heard Tame Impala’s first two albums and was absolutely blown away by it. I listened to all sorts of music growing up, but something about Tame Impala’s music just really blew my mind. I was like, man he’s doing this all by himself, lemme try it. So then, I literally just downloaded GarageBand on my iPhone and recorded one song. I was like, that’s pretty tight sounds cool. From there, I went to audio engineering school for a little bit, dropped out, and got all my studio stuff. From there, I’ve just been recording. I get very bored very easily, so I’ve got grooves going through my head at all times.
Q: Other than Tame Impala’s first few releases, were you inspired by any different artists/bands?