#will stacey

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Our pit view series is back with Jule Vera from Vans Warped Tour! See what it’s like to be up close and personal taking photos and how what you see with your eyes turns into a final, edited photo.

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Like this? Sonder is an independent music, travel and photography publication at sonderlife.com. We’re currently in the midst of our Vans Warped Tour 2017 content. Give us a follow here or at our Twitter, Instagram or Facebook if you like this!

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Warped Tour sophomores Jule Vera give crowds something good, something different

More than any other point in their relatively young career, Opelika, Alabama band Jule Vera are in the middle of their proving grounds. 

After a period of silence in 2016 following their first EP and some tours (including the Vans Warped Tour 2015, which was their first tour ever), the band emerged with news of an upcoming record, new single, and a slot on Warped Tour 2017.

The new song, “Lifeline,” hit the ears in a dramatically different way than the band’s previous efforts. Musically, whereas the 2015 EP Friendly Enemies was moody and dark, “Lifeline” was positivity and optimism. “Lifeline” dances in a glow of easygoing pop; it whisks you away with its cool, even-tempered melodies, not to mention singer Ansley Newman has never sounded better.

Newman

In short, it clearly marked the entrance into a new era for the band. We had our anxieties about them ditching the unique sound they had found in Friendly Enemies for something generic, but after Waiting On The Sun dropped, and more importantly, after witnessing the new content live, these anxieties have been eased. This is the next chapter: something new, something different, and something great.

See, after a few listens to Waiting On The Sun, you realize how much of a genre-bending album it is. There are layers – you hear the pop and the indie and the rock, but then you peel back a little and hear more nuance: Southern sensibilities, a little r’n’b, some folk, and so much variation.

Guitarist Jake Roland

Waiting On The Sun accomplishes the difficult task of sounding different on every track but still maintaining a sense of cohesion – its variation is perhaps its greatest strength because you can go to it for 10 different feelings. “Show Me” has that r’n’b tinge to it, but one song later, in “Something Good,” vibrant piano lines that wouldn’t sound out of place in a mid-century nightclub cascade over you. “Porch Swing” is a folksy, cute little ukulele song with some genuinely delectable character. “Can’t Help” has some of that Southern dirt we mentioned. And “10,000 Hours” exists in its own entire bubble – everything about the song feels experimental, from Newman’s crooning to the muted guitar lead to the repetitive drums. We’re only halfway through 2017, but mark our words: Waiting On The Sun will be a serious contender for top albums lists this year.

But perhaps what Jule Vera’s greatest strength on Warped Tour is not what they are playing, but how they present themselves while playing it. First off, whereas most bands on the main stages will relegate their day-of promotion to street teams, Jule Vera were right there in the line doing it themselves. Which, considering that it was about four million degrees out, is admirable. But hard work is not foreign to the band – previously, they told us about hauling their merch cart during their first Warped Tour and how often it fell apart.

Bass player Will Stacey

On stage, the band cultivates a different presence than their often rambunctious tour mates. Their set is more laid-back, and you get to hear the range of influences on Waiting On The Sun, even being treated to guitarist Jake Roland swapping his strings for keys. Newman positively glows as a frontwoman, remaining cool, calm and collected with an almost uncanny ability to stay in tune with what you hear on the studio tracks. It’s the band’s strange sense of sonic cohesion that draws you in – their set was entrancing; it drew you in like a good movie does and left you wanting more at the end.

One of the strengths of this year’s Warped Tour is the unapologetic variance in what you can see, from shock rock to punk to pop-punk to hardcore. So Jule Vera, with all their innovation, feel right at home on the tour, but the kicker is that they’ve created their own little space on the lineup, something that defies typical genre categorization, in the best way.

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Article and photos by sonder editor Andrew Friedgen. Enjoy this? Sonder is an independent music, travel and photography feature publication at sonderlife.com. Give us a follow here or at our Twitter, Instagram or Facebook if you like in-depth talk about music, travel, photography and lots more.

Also check out:

All of our Vans Warped Tour 2017 coverage

Our index of every band we’ve photographed

All of our Jule Vera photos and content

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Jule Vera | Vans Warped Tour 2017 | Vinoy Park at Saint Pete | 07/01/2017

Like this? Sonder is an independent music, travel and photography publication at sonderlife.com. We’re currently in the midst of our Vans Warped Tour 2017 content. Give us a follow here or at our Twitter, Instagram or Facebook if you like this!

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Jule Vera saving the day with ice cold treats

Tons of Vans Warped Tour 2017 stuff / follow for more or see the sonder Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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"You Can't Mess It Up" LIVE - Jule Vera on the Gravity World Tour at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, PA on 11.19.15 First of all, I apologize for the part where the screen is black -- I put my iPod down because Ansley was taking selfies and I didn't want my iPod to be in the picture XD But yeah I was so excited because I was hoping they would play this song but didn't think they would but they did! Literally their set was my five favorite songs on their EP and I was so so happy! Ansley is actually so adorable when she talks to the crowd omg I love her so much. This is the last song they sang but I have one more video of them for tomorrow because they did this really cool thing...you'll see! Enjoy :1

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"Light The Night" LIVE PART 1 - Jule Vera on the Gravity World Tour at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, PA on 11.19.15 The ukulele is back! This is my favorite Jule Vera song, and it was one of the songs I was most looking forward to seeing live that night. I was so hype that I accidentally started singing too early XD It's really cool that they self produced and self made the sets for this music video! I totally didn't know that before but the music video is so good and I love it so much! The guitar part in this is really cool, but it and my hella loud singing make Ansley kinda hard to hear in some parts. Sorry about that. But Jake's harmonies are awesome and the drumming part is awesome and Jake standing on the drum is awesome but I feared for his safety the entire time he was up there XD Oh also Ansley sang to me a little bit and I FREAKED omg it was amazing. Enjoy :1 (((Could only upload part of this today because Tumblr only lets you upload five minutes of video a day and this one was longer than five minutes. Part 2 and the next song coming tomorrow!)))

PART 2

Original Music Video