The Juliana Theory is a five man band from Pennsylvania that is one of the better bands
of the emo/punk/indie genre to hit the scene. The band started back in 1997 and have
eight releases to date. Interview done with Juliana Theory frontman Brett Detar.
In past interviews when asked about the significance of
the name “The Juliana Theory”, you have said the band
was thinking about changing the name to “The Theory”.
What was the original concept of the band’s name?
There was never a real concept behind the band’s name.
We used to have an elaborate story that we told involving
sociology students and a huge experiment involving music
and people’s responses to it, but we got tired of telling the
story. Now we tell the truth. The band was supposed to be a
side project that wouldn’t last and we just came up with a
name before our first show. It has no meaning at all.
What was the main band that Juliana Theory was a side
project from?
We were not a side project of any band per se, because
most of us were in different bands. Chad and I were in a
band called Pensive. Fiedler and Kosker were in a pop punk
band called Noisome. Kosker was also the lead singer of a
band called Dawson High. I was playing guitar for Zao at the
time as well.
What caused the band to part ways with Tooth&Nail
Records?
After Emotion is Dead was out for a good while, the label
stopped doing anything at all to promote our band. Most
things that we asked them to do for us they couldn’t do or
didn’t do. Now, almost everything we asked for at the time is
just protocol for the label. They do all of the stuff we wanted
them to do back then very well now. We just wanted to
spread our wings a bit.
Juliana Theory does a lot of touring and as a result you
meet a lot of your fans. What is the craziest fan
experience you’ve had?
I can’t think of anything too crazy. Our fans are the best fans
in the entire world though. They are very dedicated and
extremely loyal. We have a huge number of fans that
continually come to see us every single time we are in their
area for years now. I love our fans.
What bands are you currently listening to?
That’s a tough question because there are five of us and at
most times all five of us are listening to very different things.
Currently, I am digging listening to Lovedrug every night on
this tour. I am also on a big Waylon Jennings and Bob Dylan
kick. For the past year, it has been a lot of The Takeover UK,
and I have to admit I like the new System of a Down record a
lot.
In past interviews you’ve stated that you don’t like
explaining the meaning behind your lyrics because you
like people to formulate their own thoughts. Who was the
song “Understand The Dream Is Over” directed at and can
you expand at all on the meaning of the song?
I can not pinpoint exactly who I wrote the lyrics of the song to.
I am pretty sure I meant it in a somewhat broader sense. A
lotof it is about not believing everything you are told or taught.
It is a song about questioning authority. At least, that’s how I
see it right this second.
You’ve been playing songs off the new album at shows
and getting a good response. What should fans be
expecting with the new release in comparison to “Love”?
The reaction has been awesome so far. We are very excited
by how kids have been digging the new tunes when we play
them live’s really more of a live record than we have ever
made and the songs seem to come across a lot better at
shows. Deadbeat SWEETheartbeat is quite a bit different
from Love. First off, it is upbeat and fast. Love was mostly all
mid tempo. Deadbeat is a good bit more raw and a lot more
stripped down. The songs have less overdubs and layering
and have a lot more urgency and excitement. The record
soundsl ike we do live, not all processed and overdone like
Love was at times. I look at Deadbeat is a culmination of all
of our first three records but with a more explosive edge and
a lot less friendly vibe, it’s like Emotion is Dead on crack.
You begin a tour tomorrow, what are you looking forward
to most on this tour?
Well, we are just excited to be playing a new set of songs
every night. It’s been a good couple of years that we have
been recycling songs in our set. We are finally debuting all
kinds of new songs and really changing the set list up every
night. It is great to be finally bringing in some fresh blood into
the setlist. We still do lots of the old classics, but we get to
add in a good bit of the new record every night. We are also
extremely happy to be able to tour with Lovedrug. We
absolutely love that band. We plan to tour as much as we
can in support of this record. We’ll be doing the whole US
and then heading over to Europe and then Australia and
Japan. Hopefully we can just make this thing work.Thanks a
lot for the interview.