MOJO JUJU | POWER, GLORY, SUCCESS & ATTITUDE

Mojo Juju has been living out the golden edged dreams of a gypsy blues-cum-rock&roll greaser lord.

With countless tours under her belt, she has performed at some of the best events & venues in the country, travelled her music through Europe & successfully resurrected a fresh life into the sounds of our music swinging ancestors. Her latest album ‘Seeing red/ feeling blue’, created with producer Ptero Stylus (Mantra/Diafrix/Joelistics), is an ultimate testament to her ability to play between genres & haul something different to the table every darn time!

Her deep connection to Newcastle unwavering, she tells us it was the creative cocoon that helped to develop much of her current career. It was here, in our steely seaside city, that Mojo took up the artistic residency at ‘The Morrow Park’ that ultimately led to the formation of The Snake Oil Merchants.

Since leaving, the now Melbourne based musician has strongly established herself as a solo artist, released an album in Germany & even provided (w/ The Snake Oil Merchants) the soundtrack for German film ‘Bestefreunde’. As of next month Mojo is embarking on a huge national tour to celebrate the release of ‘Seeing red/feeling blue’, kicking off with shows at the annual Vivid Live Festival at the Sydney Opera House.

We caught up with Mojo to talk about her new sounds & the strange Newkie-Melbs connection.

Tell us a little bit about your Newcastle story. What benefits & opportunities did living in Newks afford you as an artist?

Newcastle was a great place for me to form & develop ideas.

I’d been living in Melbourne prior to Newcastle and it was an exciting, but slightly overwhelming place to be (for me, being in may late teens/early 20’s).

So many gigs, scenes, cliques, genres… so many distractions and temptations.

Moving to Newcastle was a breath of fresh air. It allowed me just enough isolation to achieve clarity & focus, at the same time as having an incredibly supportive, tight nit arts community.

It was also close enough to Sydney to remain connected to that ‘metropolis’ that is so inspiring as a young artist, but also removed enough to generate it’s own culture.

What benefits/ops have you found in moving on from Newks that you feel you couldn't have gained here?

Leaving Newcastle was more of a personal decision rather than a professional one.

But it came at a time where I felt that as an artist, I had matured to a point where that I wanted to be placed in a bigger city where I could generate consistent work for myself in different fields.

Where I could collaborate & connect with new people in order to challenge myself creatively and to be pushed outside my comfort zone. To not become complacent, but to constantly be growing and evolving.

I think that a city like Melbourne is good for that. But I do also think that Newcastle’s reputation for producing great talent is growing all the time. Newcastle is fast becoming one of the cultural hubs of Australia.

Your new album has some very sweet new directions - quite unexpected in some ways - what's behind some of these new genre explorations & sounds?

I’ve always found it difficult to stick to one particular genre when it comes to songwriting. And I’ve always maintained that I don’t ever want to make the same record twice. I’ve always been nostalgic, so yes, there are throwbacks to older musical traditions & genres in all of my music, but I hope that I bring something new to everything I do.

I learnt a lot about the art of ‘pop’ songwriting from my good friend and Snake Oil collaborator / drummer / Newcastle celebrity ‘The Duke’.

For me, I was listening to a pretty broad range of music during the making of this record. Artists like Frank Ocean & Beyonce at one end of the spectrum and then Stevie Wonder & Betty Davis at the other end.

You have achieved some quite phenomenal successes in your career - apart from the obvious elements like (incredible) talent etc - what are some of the keys to these successes from your perspective?

Haha, well thank you. The music industry is a rollercoaster with endless ups & downs. I don’t think there is any fixed trajectory that you can pinpoint and guarantee is going to work.

Really, more than anything I think it comes down to hard work. Hard work & tenacity. Some people say luck is involved and when you’re talking about people who really breakthrough and become mega famous, yeah, sometimes luck is a huge factor. But I’m not on that path and there are also a lot of different ways to have a career in this industry. You don’t have to be a superstar.

So I guess for me, it’s just been about working at it. Consistently, persistently and with determination

What fundamental piece of advice would you give to any up & coming musos in Newks?

Get out there & gig. Go on tour and promote what you do. The industry has changed so much in the last ten years and it’s always changing & changing quickly. You've gotta stay present & visible. Make sure that you are recognisable amongst all the other bands out there. The rest is about making good music. Write good songs and push yourself creatively.

And most importantly of all, enjoy yourself - enjoy what you do.

Mojo Juju will be playing at the Cambridge on June 19th.

Supports from The Duke of Erlington + Betty & Oswald.

Buy tickets presale - www.bigtix.com.au

Photos: Provided by artist