Juffage is Jeff T. Smith, a solo sound artist and multi-instrumentalist from Leeds, via Chicago, Illinois. He is often seen in bars, art galleries, and basements with a band’s worth of instruments.
A recording enthusiast at heart, he has spent time in some of Chicago’s finest studios including Engine Studios (w/ Brian Deck), and Electrical Audio (w/ Steve Albini). Live shows see him coming up with inventive new ways of bringing his multi-layered recordings to the stage, utilising live looping and multitasking of drums, vocals, basses, guitars, keys, omnichord, clarinet, melodica, and manipulated cassettes. Juffage performances have been compared to a synthesis of Lightning Bolt’s rhythmic ferocity, Radiohead’s lush pop sensibility, King Tubby’s manipulative production, and Andrew Bird’s ability to make a good loop. The result has been described as a “hyperactive and technically accomplished display”, “magical”, and “wildly exuberant yet deceptively delicate”.
His new album, 'Semicircle’, takes his distinctive larger-than-life performance style to an even grander scale, adding even more instruments to the mix. But there’s careful orchestration at work under the surface: couched in a patchwork of sounds and cut-up samples is a plethora of pop sensibilities. ‘Small Fires’ casts layers of whirring keys and erratic, densely-packed drums as the oddball trappings that conceal Juffage’s earworm hooks, and ‘My Weakness’ layers, fuzzes, and distorts its way out of being a straight-forward pop song. ‘Semicircle' and ‘HHV’ combine fragments of layered vocal harmoies, analog synthesizers, and thick slabs of slow-moving melody.
This debut is a perfect distillation of what Juffage is all about – both defiantly experimental and unashamedly pop-oriented, with neither feature seeming out of place or at war with the other. Recorded over a six year period in 22 different locations around the U.S.A. and U.K., ‘Semicircle’ is an ambitious record and a bold statement of the Juffage story so far.
'Semicircle' is released on 6th June via London label Function Records (Maybeshewill, Shield Your Eyes, Cats Cats and Cats, Nitkowski). Juffage will be on tour in UK throughout May. Details and tour dates are on the reverse.
Tracklisting:
1) Semicircle
2) 120/240
3) Small Fires
4) Stop Making Music
5) Under Fanblades
6) My Weakness
7) HHV
8) Drone II
Selected press quotes:
"Crawling around amid a tangled mass of wires he leaps from one instrument to the next with the dexterity of a one-man Mogwai." – Loud & Quiet
“Dreamy anti-folk with layers of distortion and feedback ... well and truly mind-blowing.” – Clash Magazine
“Jeff T. Smith (a.k.a. Juffage) is changing the face of experimental music as we know it.” – Toledo City Paper
"You don’t often find a solo artist as original as Chicago-born Juffage.” – Vibrations Magazine
Semicircle Album Launch Tour Dates:
OCT 4 – leeds @ oporto (w/ sweet williams, magnapinna)
OCT 5 – glasgow @ 13th note (w/ esperi)
OCT 6 – edinburgh @ whistlebinkes (w/ esperi)
OCT 7 – aberdeen @ tunnels (w/ esperi)
OCT 8 – dundee @ drouthy neebors (w/ esperi)
OCT 9 – newcastle @ tyne bar (w/ invisible cities)
OCT 10 – york @ basememt (w/ where’s hollywood?, section 9, aboy)
OCT 12 – liverpool @ mello mello (w/ hope & social)
OCT 13 – barrow-in-furness @ derby hotel
OCT 14 – bolton @ dog and partridge (w/ invisible cities)
OCT 15 – leeds @ brainwash festival – brudenell social club (w/ lite, kong, maybeshewill, etc.)
OCT 16 – manchester @ carefully planned festival – gullivers
OCT 17 – nottingham (TBC)
OCT 18 – derby @ victoria (w/ tellison, little courage)
OCT 19 – stoke @ the smithfield (w/ plank!, amateur assassins)
OCT 20 – sheffield (TBC)
OCT 21 – norwich @ karma kafe
OCT 22 – ipswich @ kai bar
OCT 23 – london @ buffalo bar
OCT 24 – brighton @ the cowley
OCT 25 – (the south UK) available
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OCT 26 – (lille / roubaix / tournai / tourcoing / kortrijk) available
OCT 27 – paris, FR @ l’international
OCT 28 – reims, FR @ au temps des cerises, nouvelle plateforme chapiteau
OCT 29 – strasbourg, FR @ LE CEAAC (w/ balmorhea)
OCT 30 – nancy, FR @ le caveau du grand sauvoy
OCT 31 – (luxembourg / metz) available
NOV 1 – gent, BE @ kinky star
NOV 2 – (brussels / charlerois / mons / liege) available
NOV 3 – antwerpen, BE @ bar nadar
NOV 4 – maldegem, BE @ de walrus
NOV 5 – breda, NL @ mezz
NOV 6 – (amsterdam / urecht / groningen) available
NOV 7 – hannover, DE @ sing sing
NOV 8 – berlin, DE @ marie antionette
NOV 9 – leipzig, DE @ noch besser leben
NOV 10 – praha, CZ @ final
NOV 11 – brno, CZ @ brno club (w/ shield your eyes)
NOV 12 – wien, AT @ e.k. haus
NOV 13 – (budapest / gyor / bratislava) available
NOV 14 – (graz / ljubljana / udine) available
NOV 15 – maribor, SI @ gustaf hall pekarna
NOV 16 – (ljubljana / udine / north italy) available
NOV 17 – riva del garda, IT @ lochness pub
NOV 18 – firenze, IT @ exfila
NOV 19 – faenza, IT @ clan destino
NOV 20 – ferrara, IT @ zuni
NOV 21 – itri, IT @ brigadisco’s cave
NOV 22 – roma, IT @ dal verme
NOV 23 – forlì, IT @ diagonal loft club
NOV 24 – carpi, IT @ mattatoio culture club
NOV 25 – pavia, IT @ spazio musica
NOV 26 – montpellier, FR @ up and down
NOV 27 – barcelona, ES @ kasal de roquetes
NOV 28 – (valencia / girona / zaragoza) available
NOV 29 – madrid, ES @ la faena
NOV 30 – lisboa, PT @ lounge
NOV 1 – don benito, ES @ rincón pío sound
NOV 2 – san sebastián, ES @ sala mogambo
DEC 3 – bordeaux, FR @ les lectures aléatoires
DEC 4 – périgueux, FR @ some dudes living room
DEC 5 – (limoges / nantes / renes / laval / paris) available
DEC 6 – (nantes / renes / laval / paris) available
Juffage - 'I Am Terrified' from Juffage on Vimeo.
