Souls Conflicting
Japunga
Heavy in sound and content, Japunga’s new release Souls Conflicting covers some intense subject matter set amid throbbing guitars and soaring vocals. Forceful and passionate, this work hits hard. I got in touch with guitarist/vocalist Jef Carter to get some comments on this potent set of tracks.
Waiting
“One of my favorite and heaviest riffs to open, I wanted a song that had everything in it to open the new album, Heavy riffs, deep lyrics, low and high vocals with huge atmosphere in it.”
Go Alone
“Was the turn of Japunga’s sound, once I had written this song I really felt a difference in my song writing ideas. It tells the story of how I felt during a break up but goes a bit deeper. I suffered from a bad case of depression following a break up. But it wasn’t just the break up. The depression brought out a lot of problems I had pushed down inside over my life.”
Hundred Years
“Very heavy riff with nice melodies and lyrics. This song represents a number of feelings and people in my life. The name of the song was taken from the lyrics “time changes in front of us, a hundred years look at the things you have done”. The line is about my Grandfather who sadly hasn’t long to live. The line explains that things change and happen but don’t be afraid or sad, just look at the life you have lived, the people that care about you and all the great things you have done. All the lines in this song follow a similar story about different parts of my life.”
Theory Of My Life
“There’s always going to be heavier tracks on Japunga albums and this is one of those songs. Like most of the band’s heavy songs on previous releases, there is some aggression with the first of only two songs with a heavy vocal chorus. This is one for the Men.”
Souls Conflicting
“Depression is when your soul conflicts with yourself”. This is my theory on depression. Anyone that has suffered from this condition will relate to a lot of the lyrics on this album. When it hits hard you suffer from all sorts of things like hazy vision, not knowing where you are or going, shortness of breath and vomiting, but most of all you feel so sad that you just want to leave this place.”
Forever Doesn’t Take That Long
“Pushing the boundaries of the band’s sound was a big challenge on this album. This song is more epic and rock compared to anything the band has done previously. Everything from drumbeats and vocal melodies and pitch were experimented with on this track.”
Suddenly
“Is a very special song for me. I was in the midst of a bad time of depression and I picked up the guitar to try getting my mind off the bad thoughts, which is almost impossible to do. I just started playing and the whole chorus that’s on the finished song came out word for word. I had written the chorus to this song with out pre-thinking of it. I then found myself for a moment feeling a little better. I then snuck in and slept on my roommate’s floor so I wouldn’t be alone.”
This Is Real
“A fairly heavy song with a nice melody in the verse to show both sides of my personality. Another track for the fans of the heavier Japunga songs.”
Falling
“Japunga still love the heavy side of things. There is an old school riff with a different kind of beat and a nice melody. The song explains the trouble I was having getting over my past and trying to get on with my life with someone else.”
Just Say Goodbye
“I went all out on this one. Japunga is a reasonably heavy band but with this song I really wanted to push the softer side of my songwriting. It’s one of those songs written as if you were talking straight to someone that you never thought you would. It’s quiet a sad song but that’s life I guess.”
Thanks Jef.
Rob Hudson
www.japunga.com