In an effort to make the most of the lockdown, June Body has taken the opportunity of an open schedule to work on a project they had long been wanting to complete. With Negatives, Vol. 1, the band has released six acoustic, stripped-down versions of some of their existing tracks.
Prior to the lockdown, the band had been fully prepped to begin recording its next full-length album. However, that project inevitably needed to be put on hold once the pandemic hit. Itching to still be able to release new material for fans, the group decided to rework some of their existing material instead.
June Body has followed in the footsteps of bands like Brand New, Alkaline Trio, and Dashboard Confessional by releasing a six-track volume of acoustic versions of June Body originals. Their new Negatives, Vol. 1 EP, as you’d expect, relies heavily on acoustic guitar, but the fan-favourites now come accompanied with some shiny new harmonies.
Honestly, the fresh acoustic take on these June Body songs might just be the best version of them.
“We demoed songs, and were feeling a sense of momentum and excitement from these new recordings. It quickly became clear that the record was going to have to be put on hold,” says Connor James, June Body’s guitarist.
“Weeks went by practicing songs acoustically on the couch, when the idea to remotely record stripped-down versions of songs from our catalogue came to mind. Bassist Alex Callaghan and I had been itching to do more performances acoustically. After all, June Body’s first show was an acoustic set when our drummer at the time broke his arm on show day, forcing me and Alex to adapt the set. And so, we bounced ideas back and forth, made revisions, created new harmonies, and Alex mixed and mastered what is now the first volume of acoustically-performed June Body songs.”
And since June Body seem to perpetually have a videography team on hand, they incorporated Alex Boyd and Jordan Haines into the project – filming interviews with the band for their “COVID Diaries” mini-documentary.
With bands looking for new ways to reinvent the music industry in a way that can connect with audiences despite the necessities of social distancing, the documentary set out to “give viewers insight into what our lives are looking like in the wake of a full shutdown of the live music scene,” says James.
The band discusses the struggles of operating during a pandemic, the effects COVID-19 has had on the Halifax music scene, including the closure of one of Halifax’s popular venues, and how the lives of the bandmates have changed on a personal level.
With the absence of live music, the combination of the mini-doc and acoustic album works for us. While the band does touch on the divisive subject of live-streaming and the future of the industry, the tried and true release of an acoustic album is something we would have shown up for even during the best of times. Consider us intrigued for Vol. 2.