Sophia Sullivan
Contributing Writer
The incredible women of the indie rock band Juno are taking Isla Vista’s (I.V.) music scene by storm. The Bottom Line (TBL) had the pleasure of speaking with the band members: singer Leah Hetteberg, drummer Emily Lombardi, guitarist Dylan Johnson, and bassist Dora Ung. They discussed their origin story, their experiences in breaking into music as women, the impact it’s had on their personal sound, and the advice they have for those who might want to follow in their footsteps.
TBL: How did this all start?
Hetteberg: Me and Emily met at one of the Sounds of I.V. musician meetups [a get-together for I.V. musicians held by Sounds of I.V., an outreach instagram page for I.V.’s music scene]. We connected there, and then a few days later, Dylan sent out something in the I.V. musicians GroupMe asking if anyone was interested in doing an all-girls indie rock band. I was like Emily, we should try this, we should hop on this, so the three of us got together. We jammed out for a bit, and then a couple of weeks went by, and we needed a bassist so we threw something out again, and Dora responded, and then the rest is history.
TBL: How do you think being an all-girl group has affected your experience with the I.V. music scene and getting into music as a whole?
Johnson: I just transferred here as a third-year and purposefully in my message, I was like, okay, “all girl group.” I want those vibes, you know? And it helped us connect with another band, Ex-Girlfriends Anonymous who is also an all-girl group in I.V., who let us open for them, and that was our first show. I think it’s a special camaraderie among women that sometimes you don’t get, especially nowadays. I think it’s giving sisterhood.
TBL: Would you say your experiences as an all-girl group have had an impact on your drive or passion?
Johnson: Oh yeah. We’re all pretty comfortable around each other, which is nice. We’re all pretty excited — every rehearsal — to see each other, and we rehearse at least once a week — twice a week.
Hetteberg: I think, being an all-girls band, it’s definitely been a big attention-grabber. I guess, in terms of us entering the I.V. music scene, people see that and they kind of take special interest in us, so that’s definitely helped drive our passion. People get excited about that, so that excites us more. So I think that’s definitely been a big part of it..
TBL: Have your specific experiences as an all-girl group affected the kind of music you guys make?
Johnson: I feel like the fact that we’re all women doesn’t affect the music we make. We just make the music we wanna make. And we all just happen to wanna make indie rock music and perform a lot of the same covers. A lot of the covers we’re doing are male artists’, but I don’t think the fact that we’re all women really changes our style. It’s just our style, you know?
Hetteberg: I think that the genre we do is very universal. I feel like both men and women alike are pretty equally into the genre of music we typically play, but I think that us just being all girls, the way you hear us play any of the covers we do is gonna inherently be a little bit different than if it was an all-guys band. I think it’s the inherent nature of it, which is just kind of cool. I don’t know if I can put my finger on what it is, but the way girls approach music, the way that we approach collaborating with each other, I think it just gives it our own little unique twist.
Johnson: I think we’re also super unique in the way that we use heavy distortion, like Emily on the drums. She’s awesome! She’s loud, and women are taught to be the opposite of everything we’re doing. It’s like, oh, be demure, don’t be loud, so, I think that what we’re doing is very inspiring to me and very heartwarming to me because it’s kind of like the subversive of expectations.
TBL: Do you have any advice for girls, or people in general, who might see what you’re doing and want to follow their dreams in the same way?
Hetteberg: I feel like, especially being a girl in I.V. or the music industry, or like any industry, it’s just scary to get your foot in the door, especially when you’re new to performing or you’ve never done any of this before. But I think that starting out with girls who are all very understanding and more compassionate than some more intense guys, who might just have higher standards, who might be a little more belittling, has helped ease all of us into it, because it’s all of our first times in an I.V. band. I feel like I would advocate for going forward with the all-girls thing, but, in general, just full sending. Know that you’re going to stumble with your first steps, it’s gonna be messy, but you’re not going to move forward any other way.
Ung: Just do it. Try something new, put yourself out there, and push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Be creative and be bold. If you wanna be a rockstar, be a rockstar. Don’t let the boys intimidate you because, in reality, most of them have been in the same spot. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes, whether in practice or on stage because, in the end, the frustration of one musical mishap will never amount to the joy of watching people dance and sing along to your set.
If you’re interested in learning more about the band or maybe catching one of their shows you can check them out on instagram at @thebandjuno.