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Last spring, Lauren Juzang was scrolling through Instagram when she came across a guitar loop that one of her old friends from high school had posted. She loved the sound so much that she wrote a verse to sing over the loop and posted a video on her Instagram story, which she quickly deleted.

“That video will never see the light of day,” Juzang said as she chuckled to herself. “I took it down a while ago and never finished the song.”

Over the summer, Juzang, a sophomore in the Bandier program, felt like she was in a “creative rut” for the first time in her life. None of the songs she was writing were working for her.

That was until she remembered the guitar loop video she posted last spring. She listened to the loop and the verse she previously wrote. Then she began to add on. Within a few takes Juzang wrote what would become the first single of her second EP.

“Yeehoo!” is Juzang’s latest and most intimate single since the release of her first EP “HAHAHHAHA” which she wrote when she was 16. Since then, Juzang feels she has grown immensely as an artist and lyricist, and is anticipating her second project to come out early next year.

After she went to college, Juzang asked her childhood friend Jason Harris, who attends NYU, to be her producer. They worked tirelessly to figure out what type of sound, production style and marketing tactics to use for her first solo EP.

“I don’t think I fully understood her sound yet, and (I) was trying to explore every avenue as a producer,” Harris said. “I’m super excited for the second EP because we have both grown so much as collaborators.”

Juzang spent almost every day last summer at Harris’s house working on the second release — they live only five minutes away from each other, within the same neighborhood in Los Angeles.

When August rolled around, it was time to pick what song from the second EP would be the single. For Juzang, “Yeehoo!” was the obvious option.

Courtesy of Eve Friend

She wants the second EP to be a “new era” for her music. To establish this tone, her boyfriend joined on the saxophone to perfect this sweet love song. Additionally, Juzang’s friend from high school contributed his trumpet skills to the song.

“Yeehoo! is the most meaningful song I’ve released because I got to work on it with people I’ve known for so long,” Juzang said. “I’m ready to start this next era with more personal and alternative tracks.”

Eve Friend, also a sophomore in Bandier and Juzang’s roommate, had the pleasure of watching “Yeehoo!” come to fruition. Prior to the release, she heard snippets of the song while walking around their South Campus apartment and couldn’t wait to hear the finished product.

When “Yeehoo!” was released on Nov. 9, Friend decided to throw a release party with their close friends to celebrate. Each person brought a baked good and shared excitement for Juzang’s new chapter in music.

“I think it’s only a matter of time before everyone realizes how special Lauren’s music is,” Friend said. “When “Yeehoo!” came out, I literally played it eight times in a row. She’s just that talented.”

Juzang explores love, heartbreak, mental health and maturity in the second EP. She feels pressure to prove herself as an artist because she doesn’t want to sound like every other indie-pop musician.

“The first EP was definitely on the safe side, because it was much more pop leaning,” Juzang said. “I’m getting more experimental and leaning towards the alternative genre, which is definitely a step up for me.”

Published on December 7, 2022 at 10:58 pm