Venezuelan heavy psychedelic-rock outfit Joudy have had a storied past few years.
The band formed in youth under the growing threat of one of the most corrupt authoritarian regimes in modern history, with each band member forced to flee their homeland at the height of the band’s success. Joudy relocated to New York City in 2017 and have since become staples of the Brooklyn rock scene.
Joudy are now releasing their previous Spanish-language records on DSPs for the first time and are gearing up for the release of their brand new English-language record, Destroy All Monsters. As a sneak peek for what’s to come, the band have also shared their new single, “Uneasy.”
New Noise had a chance to catch up with the band to talk more about the transitions of the past few years, their new album, and the future of the band and their sound.
Hello! With the upcoming record, how has this year treated you all so far? How are you feeling as this new chapter unfolds?
It’s been a great year for sure! We finished recording and mixing Destroy All Monsters, produced videos for each single, and finalized the cover art for the album earlier this year. Patience has been the biggest lesson, but it’s been gratifying watching everything fall into place little by little. Signing to Trash Casual was a big highlight for us. We feel very excited about what’s to come.
Your story and collective strength is really incredible. The band saw a new start after fleeing Venezuela and resettling in New York. What was that initially like? As the band came back together, did you find it challenging to insert yourselves into the local music scene?
It was very challenging for sure. We didn’t know how or where to start. We had no connections or friends on the New York music scene, so we had to break into it as strangers. Dealing with the cultural aspect of connecting with people in a tongue that isn’t native to us was brutal; not being fluent and getting lost in conversations at shows didn’t exactly help build connections, so it took us a while to adapt and get to know other bands here on a deeper level.
The real artistic exchange started to flow when we began recording live sessions for other bands. We have been a self-produced project since day one, so we’ve gotten really serious about producing audio and video content over the years. We met a lot of people this way and eventually started to understand the local scene, it helped us connect with everyone artistically. Looking back now, it feels especially amazing to finally have a space in this community.
That’s amazing! And now that it’s been a few years, the band have reunited and found a place in the Brooklyn scene. How do you look back on this shift in retrospect after all these years, both personally and professionally?
In Venezuela, there wasn’t really a big living underground scene towards the end. We were all fighting to keep it alive because everything around us was collapsing. Many of our friends had fled the country already, and most of the venues and festivals were shut down because of the economic collapse. With no resources, it was very difficult to stay focused and motivated. The Brooklyn scene has always inspired us. In Venezuela, the rock scene was more reserved.
Coming here to Brooklyn and seeing bands perform so expressively and with so much intensity was key for us to feel artistically inspired, free enough, to be ourselves on stage in a new environment. That translated into confidence to start working on new music: our live sound, stage presence, and songs all became something new.
Especially in the midst of making a new home in a new place, did you find that reconnecting to Joudy and your music helped in adjusting to this change? What role did music play in your lives during this time?
We are cousins, so we’ve been making music together from a very young age. To find ourselves together in a practice space, no matter where in the world, made us feel like we were at home again. Music is our core and how we channel our emotions. We’ve had amazing experiences together thanks to the music we make, made amazing friends, traveled many places, and learned a lot about ourselves and each other.
Totally, I think a lot of those creative forces can really drive us and our lives in ways we wouldn’t necessarily expect. Can you tell me a bit more about if and how these experiences have translated into your music as a whole and your new album, Destroy All Monsters?
Moving to New York City was a huge change for us. We are from a small city in Los Andes, Venezuela, and life there was pretty green—a lot of mountains and rivers. New York City is massive, and you can feel its density everywhere. There are so many buildings. It made our music more raw and aggressive, less technical and more expressive. An honest window into the soul of the band.
Joudy used to be a five-piece band with three guitars back home. When the three of us found ourselves here, we decided to keep the band as a three-piece. That was the biggest challenge we had to face musically: having to translate ornamental old songs into a new format.
Each album we’ve put out tells the story of where we were at the moment, and that’s what Destroy All Monsters is. We faced transmutation and the consequences of that can be felt in the songs of this album. We decided to create the most direct version of Joudy. We didn’t want to bury what we had gone through under layers of instruments, we present now exactly what we are.
This is also your first English-language release. What prompted that decision?
We wanted our new community to be able to understand what we have to say. It makes sense for us to make songs in English and in Spanish since our world is both now.
Can you tell us a bit more about the themes and sounds explored in the album?
Destroy All Monsters tells the story of us as individuals… Through the lens of a mystical epic story, the main theme is overcoming the unexpected challenges we’ve faced through different cycles of life. This album’s lyrics are meant to be understood as one continuous developing story, divided into different chapters by each song. Sonically the album explores a minimalist setting with different rhythms set against more hypnotic bass parts and melodic guitar lines.
You’re also sharing the new track “Uneasy.” What was the inspiration behind the track, and how do you see it fitting into the larger collection?
It’s the first song of the album. “Uneasy” is about the first chapter of our new life, our fears about what might or might not happen in the future. It’s about acceptance of conflict and acceptance of self, an ode to uncertainty.
What do you hope listeners get out of the new album?
Encouragement, inspiration, understanding, strength, acceptance.
It feels like this release is the culmination of this new start for the band, really honing in on this chapter and all of the trials and triumphs it took to get here. Where do you see this conversation, and Joudy as a whole, heading in the future?
That’s exactly what this is, it’s a new reality for us. We’re really grateful for the lessons we took from everything we’ve been through, and it feels really good to be sharing them with people on this record.
We’re gaining perspective on the future we have never had a chance at before, first because of the political strike in Venezuela, then because of our separation. We feel ready for it now.
That’s awesome to hear! Of course the LP is on the way, but do you have anything else in store in the future you’d like to mention?
We recorded a live session in Queens at Silver Cord Studio to be released early next year after Destroy All Monsters drops and are busy working on new songs for a new album. We’re definitely going to be touring a lot in 2023 and we’re really excited about that too.
Anything else you’d like to add?
We have a residency this month at Berlin Under A here in New York. Catch us on September 15, 22, and 29 of September along with some of our favorite local bands.
—
Watch the official video for “Uneasy” here:
For more from Joudy, find them on Instagram, Bandcamp, and Spotify.
Photos courtesy of Joudy
