Bouncing Boston: There’s Something About Juliana
Juliana Hatfield has been consistently releasing music since the late 1980s, but has never really tasted any widespread success, despite having a moderately large fanbase. Hatfield’s deeply personal song-writing style has made her a hero for the outsider, and the themes of her songs often cover intimate issues such as loneliness, disillusionment and relationships. In a magazine interview in 1992, when she was 25, Hatfield claimed to still be a virgin, and thus furthered her status as an alternative icon
She began her music career as singer and bassist in the band the Blake Babies, where her distinctive, girlish vocals gave the group a memorable and youthful sound. A superb technical musician, Hatfield quickly garnered a reputation as an innovator of bass-playing, often unusually playing the instrument harmonically and melodically, rather than just holding down a bass line. The Blake Babies disbanded in 1991, opening up the door for Hatfield’s solo career.
Hatfield released her debut album ‘Hey Babe’ in 1992, and the record earned her excellent reviews The album was one of the highest selling independent albums in America that year, but in later years, Hatfield disowned the album, and was openly critical of herself for writing and releasing such personal songs. The album included songs with titles such as “Everybody Loves Me But You” and “Ugly”.
Her second record ‘Become What You Are’ was something of a breakthrough, coinciding with a rise in other female-acts such as Throwing Muses, Hole, Veruca Salt, The Breeders and PJ Harvey. The track “My Sister” would become Hatfield’s biggest hit, and the video received a lot of airplay on MTV. Another track, “Spin The Bottle” was used on the soundtrack to the Ben Stiller movie, ‘Reality Bites’.
Hatfield’s next album, ‘Only Everything’ was a much heavier album, and she followed it with the EP ‘Please Do Not Disturb’, whose lead track was an ode to Juliana’s friend and fellow musician Jeff Buckley, who had recently passed away after drowning. Hatfield’s next album, ‘Beautiful Creature’ was a stripped down record, mainly dominated by acoustic songs, which many saw as a direct reaction by Hatfield to the lukewarm response ’Only Everything’ received. In 2004, Hatfield released ‘In Exile Deo’, her most mainstream sounding album yet with production from the team behind Pink and Avril Lavigne. Critics loved it, and called it her best work to date.
Hatfield set up her own label, Ye Olde Records, and self-released all of her following albums, including 2005’s raw, lo-fi sounding ‘Made In China’.
Hatfield has become associated with other bands from the Boston area, many of whom she has toured and collaborated with other the years. She lent her imaginative bass-playing to The Lemonheads’ landmark record ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’, as well as having a relationship with the band’s frontman Evan Dando, with whom she attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music. She also provided backing vocals to albums by Belly, the band formed by Tanya Donelly following the break-up of Throwing Muses. She also teamed up with Donelly to record a duet, covering the theme tune of popular TV show Josie & The Pussycats, for the soundtrack to the movie version of the cartoon.
Boston’s music scene remains healthy today, with a whole new wave of talent waiting to be recognised as well as more established acts continuing on the live circuit there. A wide range of hotels in Boston are available for anyone eager to visit the city for themselves.
Andrew Regan is an online, freelance author from Scotland. He is a keen rugby player and enjoys travelling.
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