Written and recorded in three cities, the follow-up to the NYC artist’s 2019 EP is an intimate set of songs brought to life with the help of some talented friends
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If there were a soundtrack to the last year and a half, it might be the OG best-bud anthem from a little band by the name o’ The Beatles:
“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends // Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends // Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends…”
(At times with a little extra emphasis on line 2.)
While times have been not-exactly-not-tough, for many of us, it’s been our friendships that have gotten us through, as we’ve reached out to our pals and been called upon by our companions for the standard friendship shit: the deep conversations, venting of frustrations and, in the case of many artists, creative collaborations.
Since dropping his last EP two years ago, Jupie (that’s Julius Bowditch), has been bouncing between cities while working on the follow-up, with songs not only written and recorded completely alone, but many that were started solo and then brought to life with a little help from his (very talented) friends.
From solo artist to member of BK band Marinara and bassist in Sipper, I’m a fan of Julius in all his musical forms, and with the EP out today, I couldn’t be more thrilled to premiere it here.
This is 20,000 Leagues (Under the Seat).
Ahead of the release, four-fifths of which dropped in single form over the summer, Julius offered some context on the record as well as the pals who played a part in bringing it to life:
“20,000 Leagues (Under the Seat) is the follow-up EP to my 2019 release Deep in the Seat. It was written and recorded over a few years in Brooklyn, Chicago, and Baltimore, primarily during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is my most intimate and most collaborative release, containing songs recorded completely independently and other songs developed with artists including Austin and Brooklyn musicians Kaíoti (Carter McNeil, formerly Ghost King and Active Bird Community) and Lazylazy (Avinoam Henig, Sipper collaborator). It was also mixed by San Fermin’s Allen Tate. While some of the songs have taken years to get right, and some songs came out of the experience of quarantine and isolation in the past year, they all share a common feeling of hope in loss. While they hold true to the intimate, bedroom sound I have developed, they are not confined to it.”
Listen to 20,000 Leagues alone, with your roommates, in the company of your cat (Jupie’s, pictured, is named Pajama), or in any state in between, and catch the songs LIVE(streamed) TONIGHT at 9 p.m. when Jupie and friends take over the Bands do BK Instagram.
I’ll catch you in the (virtual) crowd.
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Follow Jupie at @jupiefullyloaded, grab music on Bandcamp and add songs to your Spotify playlists!
Feature image (provided by the artist): Peter Hoblitzell