June Road - Honestly


October 24, 2022

It is rare that you find a band with the sort of natural chemistry that resides in June Road.  Their music has a heartbeat and a breath to it that pulls you in and lives in you long after the song is done.  

Maia and Harry met on tour. Maia, playing with Marillion with her string quartet, and Harry the supporting act. “It's our common love for music that got us writing together, it was a natural flow. We simply met on stage (in the Royal Albert Hall!). At the end of the tour, we fell for each other.” Harry moved right away to Brussels to live with Maia. 

Their common passion not only for music but for each other is evident in their music.  Their latest release “Honestly” (the fourth song on their EP “Landscapes”) starts with Harry’s unmistakable rhythmic fingerpicking style and Maia and Harry humming the first hook.  Maia’s warm violin joins the melody and the harmonies take us on a journey through the rest of the song.  It’s a sad break-up song, boldly proclaiming, “I’m never, never coming home to you”, which lies in contrast to the love they obviously share. Their songwriting process is collaborative, with Harry usually contributing the lyrics (“I help”, says Maia, “but it’s not my mother language”) with Harry also adding the guitar riff and Maia the melody.  “I’m always really good to find the harmonies to the melody, and obviously my violin parts that are more present on a live set than on the studio version.  And then we just share ideas until it becomes a song.” 

With already nearly 3000 monthly listeners, part of the reason for their quick traction in gaining a following (along with their work ethic and touring) has been their waterfall release pattern, starting with their first single, “Seize the Day” released last February, they followed up with “Little Bird” in April, “Glow” in June, and finally “Honestly” on September 29th.  “We are releasing a cover on the 4th of November; a 90’s classic ‘My Favorite Game’ by the Cardigans.  We have a lot of material written and on demo and we plan to release our second EP with 5 tracks in April”.  They plan to release two singles prior to that and will record the second EP in December with the help of a crowdfunding campaign (so keep an eye out for the big announcement to be a part of it!).

Their backgrounds are quite different.  Both started with music from an early age.  Maia has a classical background and studied violin, piano, music theory. She sang in her dad's studio since the age of seven.  And although she had a path that clearly led to a career in music: playing in a classical orchestra (she's playing now in the Royal Opera of la Monnaie, Brussels), she always felt like something was missing, because her love for folk, pop, rock music was very strong. Harry is a self-taught guitarist. He was inspired at a young age by witnessing his dad playing guitar, jamming, and listening to artists like Damien Rice, John Martyn, Paul Weller, and Bob Dylan.  He started performing in bars and small venues from the age of sixteen.  “When we met, it was like our dream came true!”  Maia was looking for a guitar player to start a band, and Harry always loved the idea of sharing the stage with a violinist (inspired by bluegrass music). “So not only do we love each other but we really complete each other musically.

Their musical style is born from these contrasts.  They find inspiration from such a wide variety of genres and styles of music.  “We like to mix all of them to create our own style. The different influences that we have blend together well!” The result is quite unique and diverse, and as a curator lends to easily adding them to any number of playlists quite naturally.  They are currently on all three of my top playlists which have a slightly different feel to them but the blend is quite natural.

They are presently on tour in France, Netherlands, and Germany, and plan to continue throughout Europe supporting Marillion in the near future. “We would love to play as many shows as possible, as we have a serious passion for playing live!” In addition to their upcoming EP, they also have a full album in the works and hope to gain exposure by getting featured in film.  “Our dream is simply to gain a nice solid fan base that appreciate what we do and be able to live out of it!”  

And you too can be a part of that dream.  They are such an amazing band and couple and I truly hope you’ll start down the road I have by listening to their music and following them on this journey.  And I know you’ll really enjoy seeing them perform so do make sure to check out their YouTube video of their single, “Glow”.  Also be sure to check out “Indie Music" and our "Artist Pick" Spotify playlists to support June Road and our other great artists, and make sure you follow the playlists below to discover incredible new music every day.

Reach out to June Road

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Written with love by Joe