Second place in top 10 2008
Ongekend Talent

OngekendTalent (translation: 'unheard of - talent') is a Dutch radioshow and also one of the largest online communities for bands and performers.

Nearly every magazine, website or radioshow has their own little top-... list near the end of the year and ofcourse: OngekendTalent has one too!

Their top 10 so happens to feature a number two spot for Junior Eats Alone! Yeah, it's lonley at the top, expecially considering the total number of bands out of which they made their selection: A staggering 11,500 bands.

The review reads: 'One of the best dutch bands. The arrangements (including hornsection) are sublimely created. Dynamic, colorful and convincing. Amazing.'

What's JEA doing, really?

About a month and a half ago, Junior Eats Alone went into a recording-studio / live-venue (Qbus, Leiden) for two nights in a row, to record new material. Record? Didn't they just finish their last album? True that.

In July of this year, their debut-album 'Love Will Slow Me Down' was released (available through itunes or this website). Now it seems as though they just can't get enough of it. In the two nights they were at the Qbus, 10 songs were recorded, 'live'. 'It went really well, and there just was an incredible atmosphere', says frontman Ronnie Verton.

Thus was layed the groundwork for JEA's yet to be titled second album: an album that will be released in 2009, if all goes well. Whether or not this record will be released by a major record company remains to be seen of course, but the band is confident they'll turn some heads at the upcoming 'Noorderslag' festival. You would have to give these guys a pretty good chance of going the distance, if the quality of their second album is anything like the quality of the first.

And the band is working hard right now to achieve just that. 3-4 days a week, someone's in the JEA-studio, mixing, recording (because let's face it: you can never have enough tracks), polishing and throwing stuff away. Does JEA find the time to play live shows at all? Sure...check out the upcoming gigs page!

Interview in LOS Magazine

Junior Eats Alone (Leiden, The Netherlands) can't wait to break through internationally. Their debut-album Love Will Slow Me Down, that came out in June 2008, was very well-received and radiostation 3fm labelled the band 'serious talent'. We had a talk with frontman Ronnie Verton, during a bandrehearsel. He tells us of a band without ego, living for music.One by one, the eight bandmembers of JEA (Junior Eats Alone) arrive at the studio at the industrial grounds near the Rooseveltstreet in Leiden. The atmosphere is relaxed as the gear gets set up for practice.

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Review Speaker

Junior Eats Alone presents Love Will Slow Me Down: their debut-album, but you can hardly call it that. Why? Well for one thing the band have been making a name for themselves (and quite successfully too), with their previous bandname 'Id', for several years. Now, under their new name, their record is finally here. The eight members of the band have worked on it for as long as five years.

The cd is designed to look like a menu from a restaurant. The fourteen tracks are divided into four apetizers, six main courses, three desserts and a housewine. The appearance of the record is clever, but does the album sound as a well-balanced piece of music? I decide to put the record on and listen to it as if my gustatory papillae were in my ears.It starts of great, mainly because the dreamy sound of Chef cook Ronnie Verton is very easy to listen to. In fact, after a couple of songs, it starts to remind me of Thom Yorke.

There's a lot of diversity in the different tracks, where the brass (that often appear througout the album) deserve some extra credit.The laidback pace and the wonderful trumpet-solo in Anadine linger in my mind, while the modest Down And Lonely and the up-beat All Around really continue to impress me.

During the intro of Living Below the record almost starts to rock, but not too much. That's okay though, because the strength of this album is secured by the accessable melodies, the diverse rythms and the irresistable voice of Ronnie Verton.The cd-booklet includes a set of toothpicks: keep 'em. You'll need them later on, because Love Will Slow Me Down has a lingering taste! RICHARD