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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

Juber jams

Sophomore Nico Juber not only grew up with music as a constant presence in her life, she has music in her blood. Her father, Laurence Juber, was the lead guitarist for the Paul McCartney's band Wings. And in addition to being surrounded by guitars during her childhood, this philosophy and psychology major studied the piano and flute.

Involvement with the latter, however, was short-lived. "I got annoyed with the flute because I couldn't play and sing at the same time," she said.

Juber, who grew up in the warmth of Los Angeles, describes her high school self as being a dork. Her small private school embraced differences, though, and while there Juber funneled her love of music by participating in choral groups.

But her tastes changed upon arriving at Tufts, and she started composing music in addition to performing. "When I got to college, I realized that I was much happier playing my own stuff," she said.

Juber describes her songwriting process as subconscious exercise. It usually begins with her making up a chord progression and then writing stream of consciousness lyrics and finally putting the to a melody. "My songs are like my personal diary, and my most random thoughts," Juber said. "They just happen; sometimes they're good and sometimes they're bad.... I'm not writing them for other people, but they're my silly way of psychologically expressing myself."

Often compared to Sarah McLachlan, Juber's sound is a combination of folk, pop, and rock. She shies away from the "angry chick" label put on most solo female artists bearing a guitar, describing her music instead as "straight pop." When home, she and her sister, who Juber describes as "an amazing drummer," use her father's studio to creates mp3s for her website, www.nicojuber.com.

Juber's personal musical tastes range from oldies to punk to techno. But the artists who most influence her writing are the Beatles, Sarah McLachlan, and the Smashing Pumpkins. Juber credits the Smashing Pumpkins with giving her the idea to change instruments and pick up a guitar.

"What I love about their music is that Billy Corgan writes his lyrics as poetry, which is what I always try to do," she said. "I like my songs to stand alone as text."

Last fall, Juber had her first performance at Oxfam Caf?©, alongside several other Tufts groups. She enjoys playing this intimate venue because of the encouraging and friendly staff. Despite a bout with stage fright and nausea before her set (which she still battles with today but to a lesser degree), Juber enjoyed the performance and the support of her friends.

Her most recent performance was at the Oxfam/Hillel Hunger Banquet, where she said she was a little nervous at first because she felt that her music had little to do with the event. But she was gratified to see that her name was used to spark interest in the dinner.

"Suddenly I found my name on posters all over campus saying 'Nico Juber: Live at the Hillel Hunger Banquet'," Juber said. "It was then that I knew I had made it big."

Juber's favorite performance was at last year's Battle of the Bands. As a solo act, she had to rush to assemble the backup band that Concert Board required of all entrants. And it worked, for the most part - Juber and her group tied for second place in the contest. But Juber does not bemoan the loss, as she feels she could not have handled the stress of opening Spring Fling as a freshman.

Outside of music, Juber is the founder and president of the Tufts Mac Users Group. She also enjoys web design - her work can be seen on her own site and the site for the Jumbo Audio Project. As for her life post-Tufts, Juber has made no definite decisions. "I plan to be very happy doing something that I love, which is at this point undetermined," she said, before admitting her ultimate aspiration: "I'd be happy as a rock star, though."