Juna N Joey – Something Good to Miss

By starrymag | July 22, 2021

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

Juna: Well, I would say it is heartfelt, country pop with the productions being as country as it can be and still be appealing to our generation. Some people say we are the “modern day Carpenters” or a lot like Lady A.

Joey: I feel it is catchy, upbeat, positive vibes kind of feel and maybe even sophisticated country. Some people say we sound much older, and our largest demographic is 18-34.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

Juna: Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett and Dan and Shay

Joey: Morgan Walen, Luke Combs and Dan and Shay for sure.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Something Good to Miss.”

 

Juna: It is the butterflies you feel when anticipating your next meet up with that special someone. That is what we were thinking when we wrote this song. Hence, the chorus “24/7 365, on my mind, Something Good to Miss.”

Joey: Young love is tricky, and I think all teenagers go through that first puppy love stage and the apprehensive feelings. It is difficult to navigate for a guy and I think this song relates to that process.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

Juna: It is a song with a feel-good positive energy. I hope it gets them in a better frame of mind this summer after this situation we are all in lately. I think that they can connect to the fact that although we have been away from our loved ones for a prolonged period of time, we will be reunited soon with the family and our loved ones. That this will pass and we will get back to normal.

Joey:  think the guitar solo is very catchy. It is a great summer song – upbeat. We chose this song because we thought the world was missing a lot of their lives these days having to stay home and missing hugging their loved ones. Ya know, “something good” you are missing.

 

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

 

Juna: That is an interesting question because we wanted it to be like a different treatment and our manager is like well the director has a vision for this, so we deferred to his opinion. We wanted it to be a little more literal – the message is specific, and we wanted that to be conveyed.

Joey: It begins with Juna and I in separate rooms thinking of our new love interest and writing a song about it. In the beginning Juna introduces me to her friend and I fall for her and then we end it with our first date and the anticipation of the time leading up to the first date.

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

 

Juna: We absolutely love to write, almost as much as performing. Joey and I are so lucky that we are able to write with some of the top writers in Nashville, LA, and NY and, hopefully, London soon. We wrote these songs several years ago, when we were just like fourteen and sixteen years old, so they are dated to us. The process was exciting, and we drove to Nashville and then met with the writers we knew and then had more writes via Zoom as well. We also wrote in LA when we went to the “America’s Most Musical Family” taping and wrote with our manager’s friend, Midian, who is a big writer with Sony. She wrote on so many cool projects, one that I remember is on Beyonce’s Lemonade album and so many others and she was amazing. We loved that experience, and we cannot wait to write with her again.

Joey: Juna is an amazing writer. We write together a lot. I usually come up with the melodies and sometimes the hooks. Juna is just skilled all the way around with hooks, themes and lyrics. We have recently both written songs by ourselves as well and I like both of them. I am taking courses at Berklee College to improve my skills, too. So, I would say the process is always a little different. There are so many writers we want to work with, and I am not shy about asking any artist I meet. I am looking to write that smash hit as soon as possible–and “practice makes perfect.”

 

Q) On your upcoming EP Ken Royster lent a hand with production. How much of hand do you both though have when it comes to the production side of your music?

 

Juna: He was so amazing and generous with us. He allowed us to have a lot of input. He really listened and helped us to pronounce our words and to be more articulate. Placing the emphasis on the right words is key to delivering the song properly.

Joey: He spent overtime with us, walking us through our first real studio experience. It is something we will never forget–to know we were in the same room as many stars, especially Luke Combs who recorded “Hurricane” there. It was just a special feeling and vibe. Kenny treated us like stars. He will be special to us for a long time to come.

 

Q) What are some themes you’ll be exploring on your upcoming self-titled EP?

 

Juna: Let’s see – undying love, new love, break up love and getting over someone.

Joey: And the nerves a guy experiences when he has to ask his sister’s friend out and hoping it’s more than a maybe. Be nice to us girls. It takes a lot of confidence for us. Having said that, the funny thing is Juna, and I have never experienced half of the themes we write about.

 

Q) What songs challenged you both the most to create?

 

Juna: “Till You Heart Breaks” is one of my favorites and one of the hardest to write because it is so deep and harder to formulate off the EP and “I’m So Over You” was another because we were in LA and wrote with a big songwriter and she was a little apprehensive. But then after we got into the groove, she was happy to write with us. She called me a “beast.” [laughs]

Joey: “Paperheart” and “Anchor” because in “Paperheart” we didn’t think it was a good idea and the theme was lame then we cut it and it turned out beautiful. The same thing with “Anchor.” We wrote these when we were so young, maybe thirteen and fifteen years old, so we didn’t think much of them. Then, our manager heard us singing them and she cried and said these songs are so incredible. When we got into the studio we realized then we had a song that people felt and that was very rewarding.

 

Q) What tracks hold a special place in your heart from this EP?

 

Juna: Definitely “Til Your Heart Breaks.” It is intense and deep, and I sing the lead–the piano parts are so amazing, and it has this pause that just amazes us.

Joey: For some reason I always lean to “More Than a Maybe.” Maybe it is because it’s a little more up-tempo, and I am a guy and guys have to ask girls out. So, refer to the question about themes.

 

Q) With concerts currently on hold, what do you miss most about being on stage?

 

Juna: Just when our career started to take off and we had bookings and big agencies willing to sign us, COVID hit, and they shut down so we had to wait and now we’re trying to fulfill what we had started and then go from there. It was difficult to navigate and accept.

Joey: We made the most of our time by doing a lot of livestreams and interviews. We are honing our skills to be ready to get out there and meet the fans–this is the big goal so we will keep moving in the right direction here. We have some amazing gigs in the UK and The Hamptons for instance.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

 

Juna: Rib Round up is a big concert from our local Billboard Station, so it’s a big deal and Ford sponsors the stage. We have played there several years prior to COVID and it’s in our hometown so it is significant to us. We played Ole Red in Orlando recently and the stage and sound was amazing.

Joey: Sunfest is a big festival here in W Palm Beach and The Coral Sky Amphitheater we have played at Coral Sky and we have yet to play Sunfest so these two are significant. Future stages will be Ryman and Opry, for obvious reasons. Our manager calls it our “Madison Square Garden.’

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

Juna: Definitely Dan and Shay–and Kelsea Ballerini too

Joey: A hundred percent Dan and Shay. Luke Combs would be another.

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?

 

Juna: Morgan Wallen–the songs are amazing

Joey: Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs–Morgan’s songs are pure country–and we like to sing them.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

Juna: Every Tuesday we go live on Insta, and we have loyal fans that show up every single week. They interact with us, and we have become good friends with a lot of them. I love Podcasts too. We really get to know the DJ’s and they support us so much and have big audiences. We hope people will follow and like us from there. We cannot engage on YouTube at the moment our biggest Channel because they censored us by calling us minors, but Joey is now almost nineteen years old, so it is a little unfair to us and slowed our growth a lot–we had to make it up on TikTok– we love to sing there, too.

Joey: Sometimes we go live, and split screen and they will play drums for us, etc. and that is so fun too. We also love doing FB takeovers with DJs and Podcasts they are hilarious sometimes. These guys are funny. TikTok is fun to do and we get to interact a lot with fans we even had a viral video once.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

Juna: First we would like to thank the thousands of fans that have supported us over the many years we have been doing this, especially with our YouTube channel. I am excited to see the reactions to our new songs and we have a lot to put out. Please DM us or comment. We read them and we answer them as much as humanly possible. And to please spread love and positivity. We wish them and their families health and happiness.

Joey: To let them know that we are dedicated to our craft and we will be putting all our efforts into making the best music and production we can–and we would love for them to follow our career with us and we know that we cannot make it in this business without the fans who have the real power in this business. We really need them to always like, follow and share because without that we cannot make it alone. And that we are grateful for the fans and excited to meet them in person at our shows as well as the artists.