Judason Void / Courtesy photo
A Fayetteville band will celebrate the release of their brand new album this weekend.
Local indie outfit Judason Void released their debut EP on Aug. 30 on streaming services, and the band will celebrate the release with a performance on Saturday, Sept. 14 at Smoke & Barrel Tavern.
The band is made up of Skylar Johnson (guitar/vocals), Cody Martin (guitar), Erik Ebsen (bass), Raif Box (drums), and David Wyant (saxophone/keyboard/vocals). The self-titled record includes five tracks the band recorded themselves in their home studio.
They’ll have CD copies of the new album at the show Saturday night. Fellow locals Claw Marks American will open the show, and admission is $5 at the door.
We got in touch with Skyler from the band, and he was nice enough to answer some questions for us.
What have you been listing to lately?
Pink Floyd, Bon Iver, Nothing, Turnover, Jessica Leigh Mayfield, Neil Young, The Beach Boys, David Bowie, Motorhead, Oasis, the Pulp Fiction Soundtrack and lots of spoken word poetry.
Tell us a bit about how you guys started playing together?
I actually joined Raif’s band playing drums back in my senior year of high school. We had a couple gigs, disbanded and eventually got it back together again in a different variation. I posted a status on Facebook looking for a ride to band practice and Cody ended up giving me a ride there. We were looking for a bass player and he ended up taking that spot. We played together for about a year and him and raif have been playing music together ever since in different bands. (From The Wreckage, Vessel, Barren, Bones Of The Earth)
I had moved to Oregon to persue Judason Void after spending some years working under that title in a few different variations and renditions. Oregon didn’t work out and I ended up back here. I got a job working at the same place Raif works at and we would talk about music all the time. About a month into working there not only was my life completely falling apart but Raif at the time was playing in Barren and Auric both of which ended up disbanding. Him, Cody, and Erik (from Auric) ended up starting Bones Of the Earth and I ended up being around for alot of that at the beginning. Raif offered to help me demo some of the material I had to try to help me get this JV thing moving. Cody ended up coming into the fold soon after and before I knew it the Bones crew was also the JV crew. David and I went to school together; we go way back. Hes always been one of my favorite people and I always wanted to play music with him. He was living in Seattle trying to play music and having about as much fun as I had in the northwest. I told him about everything that was going on with JV, and long story short he has claimed that a big reason why he came back is because of Judason Void; and then there was five. Theres a long history and musical development between us all and I whole heartedly believe that’s part of how and why it works how it does.
The new record sounds great. How long have you been working on it / where did you guys record?
Thank you! That means alot because we recorded it ourselves! Raif and I were looking around at places to record and it was so expensive everywhere. We also really wanted plenty of time to get it right and to experiment with different sounds, tones, textures, additional takes, things like that. We knew that the production of a record really effects the overall vibe and mood. So literally Raif one day decided he would figure out how to record it all himself. I saw him watching how-to videos at work every single day for months. Their other band, Bones Of the earth was his first time making a record, and the JV record was the second. I worked right beside him throughout the entire recording process and helped/offered as much as I could throughout, but Raif was the one running the technical side of things. He mixed and mastered it as well.
In total I had started persuing this album and band five years ago. The band as we know it started a year ago, and we spent seven very long months in a windowless room recording this record.
It sure seems to us like there’s a lot of good music happening in Fayetteville right now. How do you perceive the scene right now?
It is such a beautiful thing how things are blossoming around here as far as the music and art scene. Every week and weekend there’s plenty of amazing local acts and we ALSO get great national acts coming through all the time. It’s really a great time around here, I love it and think it’s such a blessing.
Tell us a bit about the album release party this weekend. (Who’s playing, cover, how much for a copy of the record, etc.)
We are playing this Saturday, September 14th at Smoke & Barrel here in Fayetteville with Claw Marks American. $5 at the door, CD’s are $10 and for that night only if you buy a shirt ($20) the CD comes free with it.
What’s next for you guys? Any touring plans or anything?
We are plotting out a small tour in November, and we will be playing around locally as well. We are writing the next record currently and are hoping to record again in February/March 2020.
Lots of rockin, rollin, cold beer and good times.
