The Juliana Hatfield Three / Whatever, My Love — PledgeMusic campaign

In October 2014, Juliana officially reformed the The Juliana Hatfield Three with Todd Philips and Dean Fisher to make their second album, more than two decades after Become What You Are (1993).

The announcement came in the same week David Lynch confirmed the return of Twin Peaks so I could resist making these images. (The My Sister video always reminded me of the Black Lodge!)

Juliana, writing on the campaign launch at PledgeMusic:

Todd, Dean, and I have just begun recording with the lovely and talented Tom Beaujour (who worked with me and Matthew [Caws] on the Minor Alps album) at the Nuthouse in Hoboken, New Jersey, and so far it is going great. Some of you may have previously heard some version of some of the songs we are working on. For example, one of the songs we are exploring is “If I Could”. We have always loved this song but there have only ever been demos of it; it has never been properly finished or produced. There are multiple attempted versions of it but the nut has never been quite cracked, and this has always sort of haunted me. Now I feel like I finally have the chance to get it right with Todd and Dean. We are also exploring electricized band versions of a couple of the punchier acoustic home-recorded songs from my last album, “Wild Animals”. And there will be some other surprises.

See the Whatever, My Love discography page for more song details, personnel and recording history.

Music updates

During the campaign, Juliana released a backwards version of her 1992 song "Rider". At the time she said:

it sounds like a whole other song. with a singer singing an unknown undiscovered language. for a while (back when i was still recording everything to tape) i was kind of obsessed with turning taped recordings backwards and seeing what i could do with the sounds that were created by listening this way. 

Juliana also shared a previously unreleased song "Rocket Science" from the 1995 Only Everything sessions, and a different mix of "If I Could" from the recording sessions for the ongoing campaign.

Incentives

There were 60 incentives:

Music

• AccessPass: new album download — Download of all new songs with access to campaign updates.
• New Album on CD — The album on CD, with the download and access to exclusive updates.
• New Album Signed CD — A copy of the new CD signed by the band, with the album download.
• “God's Foot” demos download — Eleven demo recordings from the unreleased project, with the new album download.
• “My Sister” sheet music — Sheet music with a note from Juliana.
• Your Name In The Liner Notes + Signed CD — A signed CD with the supporter's name in a special thank-you section.
• 5-CD package 1 — Signed CDs including the Universal Heartbeat EP, “My Sister” CD single, Become What You Are advance CD with alternate artwork, Forever Baby EP and Spin The Bottle EP.
• 5-CD package 2 — Signed CDs including the 1995 Live at Fort Apache EP, “My Sister” CD single, Become What You Are advance CD with alternate artwork, For The Birds EP and I See You EP.
• Signed CD, T-shirt, Print Bundle — Signed CD, T-shirt and print.
• Exclusive JH3 Tee — A new T-shirt design, including the album download.

Merch

• Vintage JH T-shirt — Grey cotton shirt with Juliana's name repeated, size medium.
• Vintage JHJHJH T-shirt — Grey cotton shirt in a youth size that fits approximately as an adult XS/XXS.
• Vintage Made In China T-shirt prototype — A limited prototype designed by Hannah Keefe.
• Vintage Some Girls muscle T-shirt, size M — Sleeveless cotton shirt.
• Vintage Some Girls muscle T-shirt, size S — Sleeveless cotton shirt.
• Vintage rare tour T-shirt — A Made in China tour shirt drawn by Juliana.
• Exclusive New T-Shirt — A new design made for pledgers.

Artwork

• Unique early-1990s JH3 live photographs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5a, 5b, 6, 7 and Todd on bass — One-of-a-kind film-developed snapshots by J. Raspe; 5b was separately listed.
• 1993 JH3 glossy publicity photo — An official Atlantic/Mammoth Records 8 × 10 photograph signed by Juliana.
• Glossy 1993 publicity photo — An original Mammoth/Atlantic Records 8 × 10 publicity photograph signed by Juliana.
• Rejected Become What You Are cover-art prints, alternates 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 — Signed paper copies of rejected designs; alternates 3 and 5 misspell Juliana's name, and alternates 1, 7 and 8 feature a young sibling holding a Budweiser.
• Limited Edition Signed Album Artwork Print — Artwork from the new album, with the album download.
• Limited edition band poster — A heavy-paper poster designed by Nicole Anguish for the campaign.
• Original contact sheet from the 1990s — A randomly chosen sheet of mostly unused photographs by Michael Lavine, signed by Juliana.
• Handwritten Lyric Sheet — Handwritten lyrics for a song chosen by the supporter.
• Handpainted paintings of Todd and Dean in wigs — A unique signed watercolor on heavy watercolor paper.
• Limited Edition Artwork — A one-of-a-kind watercolor portrait of the band by Juliana.
• Hand-customized Polaroid self-portraits — Unique Polaroids customized by Juliana.
• Rare JH3 1993 German tour poster — A large folded poster with slight fold lines and wear.

Miscellany

• Drum sticks signed by the band — A drum stick used by Todd in recording the new album, signed by Juliana, Todd and Dean.
• Signed JH3 Atlantic Records bio — The 1993 band biography with a note from Juliana.
• 1993 JH3/Grant Lee Buffalo tourbook — The remaining small European-tour schedule booklet, signed with a note from Juliana.
• Signed JH3 1994 tour book/itinerary — A band-and-crew itinerary with notes in Juliana's margins.
• Handwritten JH diary from 1993 — A signed, five-page diary about recording Become What You Are and beginning its tour.
• Soundcheck VIP 2015 Tour — Soundcheck access and guest-list entry for a chosen JH3 US-tour stop, subject to venue restrictions.
• Drum head — A drum head used by Todd Philips in recording the new album, signed by the band.
• Skype guitar tutorial with Juliana — A lesson on a chosen song from the JH3 repertoire.
• Band studio work/progress board — The one-of-a-kind foamcore board used to chart the recording progress of the songs.
• Todd's snare drum — A Yamaha maple custom snare signed by Todd on the inner shell.
• Juliana's cream-colored SG — The damaged and repaired guitar Juliana used onstage and on the Juliana's Pony album and tour.
• Royalty check for $1.14 — A one-of-a-kind authentic Juliana Hatfield royalty check with personal details redacted.
• Royalty check for 55 cents — A one-of-a-kind authentic Juliana Hatfield royalty check with personal details redacted.
• Royalty check for 70 cents — A one-of-a-kind authentic Juliana Hatfield royalty check with personal details redacted.
• Royalty check for 71 cents — A one-of-a-kind authentic Juliana Hatfield royalty check with personal details redacted.
• One-of-a-kind authentic Juliana Hatfield royalty check — A royalty check for 30 cents with personal details redacted.

God's Foot Demos

On December 5, 2014, the campaign made the God's Foot Demos (early versions connected with the unreleased 1996 God's Foot project) available to pledgers. The eleven recordings came from an old cassette made from earlier reel-to-reel transfers; Juliana saying these were the only version of these recordings she had.

See the God's Foot history page for more background and this eleven-demo release.

Release

PledgeMusic subscribers received download access to Whatever, My Love on February 10, 2015, one week before the general CD and download release. Vinyl was arranged separately from the PledgeMusic campaign through American Laundromat Records. See the discography page for more.