We asked up-and-coming young mega-shredder Juno Devere to tell us in her own words about where her life led her to pick up the guitar.
At ages 7-10 I was a competitive figure skater. These early days of competition really helped me organize my time and enjoy the challenges of daily exercise, practicing, time management, dedication, goal setting, and above all performing. I continue to implement many of these practices today in my daily routine. These early days of working on my flexibility have really helped as I use many of these moves in my performance today. Figure Skating helped develop my balance and coordination and my love for performing! Currently, I am practicing 4-5 days a week on average to 10 hours per day (40-50 hours a week) and the remainder is dedicated to my schoolwork at Berklee College of Music.
I started playing guitar hero at the age of 12. I liked the idea of playing music and performing. It introduced me to rock music. I decided to get a guitar and take lessons. At the age of 16, I had a unique opportunity to work with Eddie Kramer, legendary producer, of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. He was a valuable insight to the music industry and producing my own music and encouraged me to get a formal education in music and music theory.
Over the years I have taken lessons from different teachers, watched videos online, and purchased many books and videos to continue to learn. I took classes at Berklee Online and was encouraged by my professors to audition at Berklee College of Music Campus in Boston. I auditioned in August 2019. I was awarded a Full Scholarship in December 2019 and moved to Boston in April 2020 to begin my studies. Much of the subject matter is familiar to me. Berklee is just building on foundations and knowledge I had already gained through other avenues. I can read music, tabs, and charts.
My main mentors are currently Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Stump, Richie Blackmore, Jason Becker, Niccolò Paganini, Shawn Lane, Don Lappin, John Petrucci, Paul Gilbert, and Shaun Michaud.
I express art into my life by designing and creating one-of-a-kind guitar skins (see guitars below) The skins were clear coated by Pat Wilkins in CA at www.wilkinsguitars.com. He is meticulous at preserving my art.
My most recent guitar, the JUNOCASTER shown below, is a hand-painted guitar. I decided to try my hand at painting my custom guitar, the JUNOCASTER. It was certainly a labor of love consisting of over 80 hours of painting and detail work. The time-lapse video of me painting the guitar body can be seen on my Juno DeVere Facebook business page
JUNOCASTER 2019
Gear: Strat, Marshal Amps, YJM strings, I prefer analog vs. digital. I use an old-school pedalboard. I am still experimenting with equipment to see what works for me. I have two Custom guitars built by Dean Cascione, master luthier, at DC custom Guitars. (www.dccutomguitars.com) He also customized the fretboard to a smaller radius to fit my hand more ergonomically and fully scalloped the fretboards.
I have an instrumental called ASENSION that should be ready to be released by May 1st. It incorporates a neo-classical rock/metal style. It features Siobhan Cronin on violin and Paul Wandtke on drums. I am very excited and proud of this composition.
I am currently looking to join an established band that will be touring. I will continue to record and produce my original music and lyrics. I am also looking for a vocalist to sing on my original music. What I love the most about my music is performing and writing music. It gives me such enjoyment.
Interstellar mechanism
Currently, I am working on a collaboration with James Moody. The first musical release was called Cosmic Odyssey and was posted on our Facebook page and YouTube site called Interstellar Mechanism.
We are a virtuosic shred metal sci-fi-themed duo.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
JUNO DEVERE
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JunoDeVereOfficial/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/junodevere/
YouTube Personal: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIa5ayqV1XOyKHO6P_hSDLA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JunoDeVere