Elder’s Drew Juergens Is a Band Guy and a Label Guy

Elder's Drew Juergens not only plays drums in the band; he also runs the impressively indie boutique label Translation Loss and mans the U.S. office of Lifeforce Records. Needless to say, Juergens is a busy dude. But it's all in the name of rock, to quote Mötley Crüe.

"Being a band guy and a label guy does have its moments of clarity, when comparing and understand both sides of the coin," Juergens told Noisecreep. "I know how important it is to work together with bands who work hard and tour to help promote the records that we putting our hearts and soul into."

That information translates to the band in many obvious ways. "It helps me understand how much work Elder should be doing to help promote our own record. Unfortunately, the band doesn't have the ability to tour beyond doing East Coast stints around our home area with work, school and other project commitments, so I definitely feel bad about not being to promote 'Reflect' properly for Forge Again Records. But Justin from Forge Again has been insanely supportive of us and our music." For the not-so-informed, Forge Again Records is a one-man operation, which also released music from Balboa, Juergens' other band!

Turns out many of the people surrounding Elder are keeping themselves fully immersed in indie labeldom. Elder guitarist/vocalist Craig Woods has his own indie dubbed Be Happy and has released music by bands such as Rogue State, Algernon Cadwallader and Malegoat. Juergens said, "At the end of the day, the members of Elder love music in every facet and try to be involved in music and the music scene as much as possible."

Musically, Elder, a three-piece, is an amalgam of bands the members love, such as 400 Years, Majority Rule, Small Brown Bike, City of Caterpillar and older Envy. "We aren't necessarily trying to reinvent the wheel, but we are trying to keep the sounds and ideas alive of the music that we grew up listening to that helped change our lives," Juergens said.

The album 'Reflect' was recorded in the Philly suburb of Fairless Hills by Vince Ratti at the Skylight Studio. Elder keep things in the Philly family, as well, and the city of Brotherly Love factors heavily into the band. The artwork was created by Mike Wohlberg of theFatkid Illustration, who also designed the band's self-titled 10-inch.

"Being that we are from Philadelphia, there are Philadelphia image correlations throughout both layouts for our 10-inch and 'Reflect.' It was important for the band to maintain a relationship with the city that helped formulate our understanding and identity as individuals. [Bassist/vocalist] Armando [Morales] is a transplant from Virginia, but he's been in Philadelphia long enough that I consider him a Philadelphia native."