June’s Diary: U.N.I.T.Y

First things first, please introduce for me the members of June’s Diary…

Hi! I’m Ashly, from Compton, California.

I’m Gabby, and I’m from Glendale, California.

Hey Kristal here, from Charlotte, North Carolina, 704!

I’m Shyann, and I’m from St. Petersburg, Florida.

Hey I’m Brie, and I’m from Trenton, New Jersey.

Let’s hop right into this latest single, “Way Off” — Tell me about this particular track? How did it actually come to fruition?

Gabrielle “Gabby” Carrerio: It was literally the first song we ever wrote together, and that was a huge milestone for us; just realizing that we can write together. And after that was when we really started vocal producing each other and engineering each other, and really fully leaning into being independent.

Ashly Williams: Yeah, I think it was some time around October 2018. We took a trip to Atlanta to record and start planning what’s next. We stayed with one of our dear friends, Ms. Diane, set up a studio in her basement and started to create.

“Way Off” comes courtesy of y’all’s highly anticipated “official” debut album — What all specific details; i.e. title, favorite tracks, producer credits, cameo appearances, etcetera, can you all reveal and / or divulge about upcoming premiere set at this particular point in time?

Brienna DeVlugt: “Way Off” isn’t the official lead single for the album, just a taste of the new direction we’re going musically.

Gabby: We’re soooo excited about our new music! I think as a whole body of work this is (the) most excited we’ve ever been, because we’re very hands on with it and it’s something that we feel represents us in an accurate way. It represents our growth, where we are and where we’re going.

Of course everyone first became familiar with y’all through the 2016 reality docu-series Chasing Destiny, the brainchild of both Kelly Rowland and director / choreographer Frank Gatson Jr., which ultimately landed y’all a recording contract with EPIC Records — Why has this album been so long in the making? What seems to be its delay?

Shyann Roberts: We’ve been working on developing our own sound, and just growing together as a group and individual artists. When we were signed, there were a lot of people telling us what we should look and sound like, some of which we loved and some we didn’t. Now that we’re indie and fully in control, we’re being a bit more intentional about what we put out in the world.

Kristal Smith: We’ve also done a lot since the show and as an independent group. While we’re excited about putting together our first full-length project, we’re taking our time and respecting our process and not going to allow any pressure about a ‘debut album’ interrupt that.

Also, how much overall input / involvement, if any, does Miss Rowland still have when it comes to being hands on with you all and your music?

Kristal: We are still applying the knowledge and insight she shared during that process, to how we approach certain industry situations and our overall creative process.

After being dropped from EPIC in 2018, are you all a strictly independent act now?

Shyann: We were actually dropped from Epic at the top of 2017, a few months after the show aired, and we’ve been independent since then.

Now for those not in the know, where does the moniker June’s Diary originally derive from?

Ashly: June was the month when everything really kicked off for us after the show, and we usually try to put out something new every June.

With that being said, how do you all classify your overall sound and / or style?

Gabby: I don’t know that we would even try to label it. We all have different tastes and are introducing each other to new sounds.

Brienna: We’re singers and love R&B, so it’ll be that influenced by a lot of other things.

Switching gears here, what exactly do you all want people to get from your music?

Kristal: We want people to feel authenticity of who we are as creators and singers.

Gabby: We want to make people feel, and just be honest about our experiences as women and humans.

If you all could collaborate with any one artist, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Prince!

If you all could play any venue in the world, which one would you choose and why?

Kristal: O2 Arena in London. We actually have a lot of fans in the UK, so we’d love to tour there next year and meet them.

In terms of longevity, what do you all feel it is that will continue to sustain you in this grueling industry?

Shyann: I think it’s important for women in this industry to support each other and lift each other up, especially Black women.

Ashly: And for us specifically, it’s just about holding each other down. This experience has taught us a lot and we’re grateful we’ve had each other. We’re having a lot of fun growing through it and creating together. You’ll hopefully be able to hear that with this new sound.

To date, what has been your biggest career moment(s), at least thus far anyway?

Brienna: Having one of our first viral videos rehearsing “Lift Every Voice” in a locker room inspired one of Facebook’s Black History Month campaigns this year, and then being invited to star in the spot was really dope. And, seeing it premiere on TV during the NBA All-Star game was such a cool moment. Also, releasing a song that we wrote ourselves…moments like those make us feel like the hard work is paying off.

Looking ahead, say five or maybe even ten years from now, where do you all see yourselves?

Gabby: We’d love to play more festivals and do our first international tour. We have a lot of fans around the world; from Brazil to Paris, London, South Africa, and we want to meet them all! We’re also all interested in acting and have big personalities, so would love to make some guest appearances on our favorite TV shows. I feel like you saw that a lot with girl groups during the ‘90’s / 2000’s, and we wanna bring that back!

Brienna: Yes! We really want to play The Muses in the live action Hercules! Frank actually choreographed the originals in the cartoons, so that would be such a full circle moment.

As for the immediate, what’s next for June’s Diary?

Kristal: We’re hoping to set up some livestream performances since COVID put a stop to live shows for now.

Ashly: We had an amazing show planned for Essence Fest this year, so would love to find a way to still share some of that with our fans.

Any “closing” thought(s) for our readers?

Shyann: We just want to thank all our ride or die fans, especially the JD Squad! And if you haven’t done so, check out our new single #WayOff out now!