Meet Laurence Juber | Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laurence Juber and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laurence, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I can’t say it was a choice – it chose me. I started playing guitar on my 11th birthday and have never put it down. Call it a compulsion, an addiction, whatever… Music has been leading my life path for nearly 60 years.

The musical muse, the tactile and sonic embrace of the guitar, the creative interaction with the highest caliber musicians –
it’s hard to imagine retiring.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
At 13 learned that it could be income-producing and infinitely more satisfying than earning money babysitting, washing my neighbor’s car or working at the supermarket on Saturdays. It became my career path, and I was paying my dues before I knew of the concept.

I could have become fully professional in my mid-teens, but I felt I owed it to my parents to get the education they missed as teenagers in wartime London. I resolved to study music, not just guitar, with the goal of becoming a studio musician.

At London University, I studied not only music but musicology – I aimed to be versatile, to understand style, recognizing the patterns on the fingerboard, on the page and in my imagination.

I was already making a living, doing what I loved, gigging around London, playing with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, subbing in Jesus Christ Superstar in the West End; jazz and folk clubs, corporate gigs.

Upon graduating, I became a ‘three sessions a day’ studio guitarist. I was a hired gun, with a very focused goal of applying my creativity to others’ art and commercial statements. It was working with Paul McCartney that opened me up to my own creative self, as well as introducing me to the publishing side of the music business, which was not on the curriculum in college.

Since then, I’ve found an artistic niche as an acoustic guitar stylist, as well as continuing my studio career in Los Angeles. Recording and performing artist, composer, arranger, producer – the business has found me wearing multiple hats. I’ve needed to maintain a healthy right/left brain balance and have largely managed my own business.

The ultimate satisfaction is in entertaining people, whatever the creative medium.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In our house, the first order of business is to accompany us while we walk our dogs. Our neighborhood is very pleasant.

I have a studio attached to the house, and staying close to home has been the counterbalance to the touring that I did in the pre-Covid era.

We tend to socialize privately, so I can’t be too helpful. Studio City has an abundance of restaurants, so eating and drinking are well-covered. Mr O’s has particularly fine cocktails.

We are eagerly awaiting the reopening of ‘The Write Off Room’. That was the San Fernando Valley’s hot music club, where I was playing regularly. The Baked Potato is a famous jazz club in the area.

There are some small theatres in the area. The Whitefire in Sherman Oaks and Theatre West on Cahuenga have active stages where we have presented our own shows.

A few days in Big Bear would definitely be on the agenda. Breathe mountain air, watch the sunset, hike in the forest….

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shout outs to:

My wife Hope Juber, my muse and creative partner

My late father-in-law Sherwood Schwartz, whose knowledge and experience of the entertainment business provided wise counsel.

Our daughters Nico and Ilsey who, each have wrestled with creativity and found their voices.

Website: https://www.laurencejuber.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurencejuber/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OM28LJ

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurenceJuberGuitar

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LaurenceJuberOM21

Image Credits
Jill Jarrett Juber Family Archives