Juva On the Making Of “Crossroads”
What was the creative process like for this particular "Crossroads?"
For this one, I was in a place where a lot of things had suddenly changed in my life and I wasn't sure where I was going or what I was doing. The lyrics were an outpouring of these feelings and the mixture of uncertainty and opportunity that I felt.
In terms of the overall track, I had written the lyrics before going in the studio with JSD (part of bass music legends Virus Syndicate and a Manchester legend known for both as a rapper and producer) who produced the track. The idea was for the music to sound edgy and raw to help to add more tension to what I was sharing in the track and JSD captured that perfectly to create what you hear today.
Were there any challenges or breakthrough moments during the songwriting process for "Crossroads?"
To be honest with you this one pretty much just poured out when I wrote it. Sometimes you feel like it's hard to get across what you want to say and do it in the right way, but with this track, I had a moment where everything that was in my head just came together.
Are there any future plans or projects related to this single that you're excited about?
Yes, this is the first track I've released in a while since 'Don't Hide', that came out in 2021 and it's the first of a new set of tracks I'm collectively calling 'The Journey Vol 1'. These are stories from a time in my life when I went through a number of major life events that many people can relate to. These included a break-up, dealing with and understanding some health issues, and family bereavements followed by coming out of the other side and starting to feel good again and meeting someone new.
In terms of when you can hear more, there's already another single in the pipeline, 'Sun's Out', which I'll release on 29 September, and then 4 more that will make up the set. I think a couple more will be singles over the next couple of months and then I'll drop them all as an EP in chronological order to help capture 'the journey' more clearly.
How is the music scene in Manchester?
I feel like the scene is good. The artists are amazing. There's so much talent in the city but I do feel like more could be done on a grassroots level to support the talent that's here.
Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great people, events, organisations, venues, etc that go out of their way to champion and support local and upcoming music but I do think that more could be done by people in power to help Manchester's music scene (and other creative industries) to thrive.
How do you continuously grow and evolve as an artist?
I guess being consistent with doing it and creating new ideas. Over the last couple of years I haven't outwardly looked like I'm doing anything but now, when the music sees the light of day, the persistence to keep going, keep trying new things and not stopping have all got me to this point.
To be honest I don't always feel like I am continuously growing and evolving but I love doing music so I just try to persevere and enjoy what I'm doing and hopefully then everything takes care of itself.