Photo by Anyelisse Cruz Pabon / SOC Images.
Walking down the stairs at a venue in Montclair, you’ll see a DIY style space with walls covered in stickers and messages left by the people who host local bands that play alternative genres; welcome to Meatlocker.
The first band to open the show at the Meatlocker on May 5 was Juniper!, an emo band that is based in Hudson County, who has been on the scene for about a year now.
On stage was Jeremy Mendoza, the leader with a guitar doing vocals, two brothers, Christopher Subol, supporting with a guitar, and Christian Subol—who goes by “Kuya”—playing drums, rocking out together.
At first, Juniper! started as a personal project for Mendoza. He listened to Paramore’s album “All We Know Is Falling”, and knew he wanted to make music like that because of its “ really good raw emo sound.
Jennifer Hernandez MD, Mendoza’s girlfriend who also listened to the Paramore album with him, was a big supporter of him pursuing this musical project.
As the project went on, all the members saw it as an opportunity to grow and get better, not putting too much pressure on their mistakes, but knowing what they could do to improve for next time.
This mindset stemmed from a scene called the Screamo or Skram scene from the 1990s that started in New Jersey, where they would just play anywhere; it didn’t matter where they were, as long as they were just sharing their music with the community. And today they are still willing to play any place that will let them.
The journey of Juniper! had a different route for each of the members. When the band first formed in 2024, the lineup wasn’t the same as it is now. Mendoza, who was an official member, would ask people to play with him, having multiple rotating members, especially drummers, but eventually they got to the current lineup that they have now.
Kuya and Chris have played instruments and have been in music for the majority of their lives.
Mendoza didn’t grow up making music, but his girlfriend would listen to emo and metal bands and she had a guitar in her home that sparked his interest.
Mendoza met Chris through another project called the Ben Shotter and asked Chris if he could play guitar with him, eventually becoming an official member. Then Mendoza asked Chris if he knew anyone that played drums, and he knew that his brother did. After a couple of shows, the band was complete.
They expressed how supportive the community has been, ranging from other local bands in New Jersey to their families.
“The support of our partners has been, like, a really, really big thing. I really don’t think as a person and as a musician, I would have gone this far without her,” said Chris about his wife, who makes a lot of the merch they sell.
Mendoza is from Union City and Chris and Kuya are both from Jersey City. They say Hudson County helped them with their vision for their art.
“Hudson County is really diverse. There are a lot of walks of life, and we’re just used to being around different ideas and different ideas spark creativity,” said Mendoza.
While being part of an unknown band, the scene of alternative bands in New Jersey really brought them to where they are. As they talked about the experiences, they talked about how they wouldn’t be here without the local bands of NYC and New Jersey, such as Polaroids, Montage Montage, Homebase, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Bad Timing, Eve Claret and many others.
A local band called Montage Montage helped them a lot in the venues and enabled them to play in the community.
“At the end of the day, it’s a community. All we have is each other… we all care for each other,” said Chris.
Their most recent release, “I thought we were,” is an EP that was just released on March 6, 2026, and more is on the way with more experimentation on their sound.
Juniper! is heading to Hudson County with two upcoming shows:
On May 16, Juniper! will play a free show at McGinley Square Pub, 755 Montgomery St, Jersey City, that starts at 7:30 p.m. with other bands. While this show is 21+, there is another opportunity on May 22, which is for all ages.
Juniper! will be collaborating with Guttenberg Arts for a show at 6903 Jackson Street in Guttenberg, with other local bands. The show is at 7:30 p.m. but doors open at 6:30 p.m. with a $5 entry.
