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Sep 22, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Peter Hoblitzell

Jupie is the indie rock project of Baltimore-based musician Julius Unger Bowditch. Over the last few years, Jupie has been moving between Chicago, New York, and Baltimore, writing and recording his forthcoming debut album, Brick Hill. At the onset of the pandemic, Jupie returned to his native Baltimore for the first time in years, moving into his childhood home at the titular Brick Hill. That homecoming unearthed buried memories and pulled Jupie inward, where he began meditating on the people, places, and feelings that make something a ‘home,’ one of the enduring themes of the album.

Brick Hill also sees Jupie teaming with his longtime collaborator, Tommy Ordway, who co-produced and mixed the album. Aside from his work with Jupie, Ordway has also produced for Pom Pom Squad and played in Brooklyn indie outfit Marinara. Meanwhile, Justin Pizzoferrato mastered the record. His previous production credits include work with Wild Pink Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. Jupie has already shared the album’s lead single, “Annie,” and today he’s back with another new track, “Sandbox,” along with an accompanying video, premiering with Under the Radar.

“Sandbox” is a dreamy and reflective effort, one that centers upon Jupie’s meditative side. His vocals float above a gauzy bed of synths, twinkling melodies, and watery percussion, with each element perfectly balancing hints of melancholy with waves of blissful dream pop melody. As the track winds onward, that underlying bliss takes center stage. The synths steadily crescendo into a climactic moment of heavenly catharsis before the track descends into a wild drum solo to close out the song. All along, Jupie’s lyrics explore the conflicted territory of self-acceptance and self-actualization, wondering “I don’t know how to be / I don’t know what to do with me.”

Jupie explains of the track, “‘Sandbox’ was the first song I wrote when I moved from Chicago to Baltimore in late summer 2020. I was goofing around on my friend Nick’s omnichord, and I found myself repeating the lines “Would you go” and “I could go”. I found it funny to sing about going anywhere, given my circumstances, being back in my childhood home I hadn’t lived in since I was 11 in the midst of a global pandemic. I felt so stuck. But talking about change playfully through this little tune, while still addressing the struggles of all the uncertainty I (we) were facing, was really cathartic. I had been struggling to write music at that time and had never written a song on the omnichord before. Suddenly one just started to happen. When I wrote the ending of ‘Sandbox’ I felt like it tied together all of that uncertainty. Then it felt right to just blast a drum solo to tie it off. I kept the drum solo since nobody could stop me when I’m recording my own songs, for better or worse. I really needed ‘Sandbox’ to be fun and it is a really special song to me.”

Along with the track, Jupie has also shared an accompanying music video, made in collaboration with his friend and fellow Baltimore native, Jake Armstrong. Armstrong already has a number of music videos under his belt, having animated videos for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard side projects, Tame Impala side projects, Yellow Days, Paul Cherry, and others. Jupie explains of the video, “When Jake and I became friends that year and began sharing our art with each other, I loved the music videos he had made. Jake is a self-taught animator, which is hard to believe considering how incredible all his videos are. With total trust in his creative brilliance, I gave him the freedom to do whatever he wanted for the ‘Sandbox’ video. What he made exceeded all expectations, and I am still so blown away that I get to have such an amazing video to share a story built around my song. It really feels like it’s part of the song. Jake also graciously made the cover art for Sandbox.’”

Check out the song and video below. Brick Hill is out everywhere this December.