Introduction to the Music Modules

The following music modules simply contain ‘nice-to-know’ information for those music enthusiasts who are interested to learn more about music and what it means for our JOE-culture.

The first module covers a short history of music, what it can do to your body, and how JOE uses music to represent and influence our culture. Furthermore, you will understand why we play the music we play, during the different hours of the day and what we strive for in terms of excellence.

The second module will be about our music community and an ambitious project called JOE Records.

The last module will especially be good reading for any potential music ambassadors. It’s about how we produce the best sound by using the best equipment. But before we get to the more technical aspects, let’s start with the evolution of music.

A short History of Music

Before evolution had developed our brains to the point where we could combine words and form language, some cultures used sound/music to communicate with each other. Inspired by the animal kingdom, humans would mimic the whistling of birds and found it to be very useful to carry sounds over long distances where people often couldn’t see each other.

An entire language took form from this whistling. Even to the extent where children would be given individual names in the form of a special whistle. The whistle language was widely used in the Americas, Asia, and Africa. This extraordinary language still exists to this day in small societies throughout the world. A small village in Turkey by the name of Kusköy (translates to bird-village), is famous for its whistle language and is on UNESCO’s list of world cultural heritage. Here, the skill is still passed on from generation to generation.

With training, sounds produced by the human vocal cords can travel up to 10 km and reach up to 130 decibels. That’s equivalent to the sound of a jet engine! Flutes were later carved out of wood to enhance the whistling powers of humans.

Initially, they were used as an instrument to create sounds for more practical tasks and then much later used to create music – Art was created.

Drums were also used as a form of practical communication. Later they were used as a way to induce a variety of emotional feelings, from fear to euphoria. Often used in traditional African ceremonial or religious contexts, the soundwaves created by certain drums would give the participants emotions, that would heighten the experience. On the other hand, drums were also used for military purposes, serving as a tool for communication and to inspire an infantry with courage.

If you’ve ever been behind the bar without proper bass music during a rush, you can probably relate to this. This is why we often play rhythmic music, such as house music during our busy hours.

Your sense of hearing is always active, unlike your vision, which makes music/sound a very powerful tool. With music, we can constantly communicate, even when we’re not directly engaged with people. So, we can appeal to our guests’ emotions with the music we play.

Music is a language, a tool for communication that predates spoken language.

Music and the Human Body

Turning up the music volume to a certain point, often causes you to become more focused and it can even boost your creativity. This is because our brain uses more energy listening to sound. The more intense or loud the sound, the more fuel the brain uses. There is also a ‘sweet-spot’ for the human ear’s optimal volume when talking about boosting creativity or making you more focused on the task at hand.

When your brain becomes tired of processing information, you can drown out its symptoms by shifting its focus with music. For example – if you are cutting onions, the right music at the right volume can make you ‘forget’ that your arms are tired, and your eyes are burning by spending the brain’s resources elsewhere. It can even make you chop faster because your brain & body will try to match the pace and rhythm of the music.

Take for example being in a night club when it’s late, you’re feeling tired and considering calling it a night. But, because of the loud music your brain doesn’t get a chance to focus on that and instead, you simply enjoy yourself. That’s why you crash hard and fall asleep almost instantly after a good party.

The same happens when you are behind the bar having a blast with your fellow Juicers. Imagine this scenario: It’s Friday and you have a 12-20 shift. You’re in the bar listening to good upbeat music with your fellow Juicers, sparking conversation with our guests, joking around, and generally enjoying your day. Before you know it, your 8-hour shift is over but it feels like you’ve only been there for 4 hours.

You say bye to your friends and get on the train to head home. You feel energized and pumped from your day at work, ready to party all night.

But while traveling back on the train, you suddenly feel tired and you end up staying home because it now feels like you’ve already been out partying. When you were in the bar, the music was pumping and you were having fun. Whereas on the train, your mind shifts its focus to the body and suddenly, you feel tired.

This is one example of the impact music can have on us. It can influence ourselves and others to an extent we don’t even recognize.

Moderate volume levels can promote focus and creativity.

Exclusive Hosts

If you take a closer look at our bars, hopefully, you will notice how every individual element of the store has been carefully selected to enhance the exclusive experience of visiting. From the expensive furniture and customized equipment we use, like our espresso machines with customized black coating and our logo in a grey silhouette. To our products, made from fresh ingredients which we make ourselves in-house. Slowly but surely, we are also transitioning to the use of organic foods, where the goal in time is to be 100% organic.

And of course, our proudest asset – our well-trained Juicers, who each bring their own unique personality to the company and can make our guests feel a little bit better when they walk out the store. We set the bar high in all aspects of our business and culture.

Our music is no different. It’s our way of communicating our persona and lifestyle. By being aware of what, how and when we play our music, we can present ourselves and our culture in a clear way, that represents what we stand for.

This is why the content of the playlists is being chosen by the people hosting our guests – the Juicers.

We have a unique music profile that invites people from all walks of life to come dance with us. Our regulars recognize our music as “JOE” music and even more importantly, can identify it as not being “JOE” music if for example heavy metal was suddenly blasted through the speakers.

Our music is our audible version of our personality

Understanding Joe’s Music Profile

The way we communicate our personality is not defined by a genre, artist or specific type of music as you normally would expect. We are defined by perceived and felt emotions, which are the emotions you can relate to but don’t necessarily feel. We seek to make you feel and think because it is the very foundation of what it means to be human.

What one person feels, is not necessarily what another person feels. This would pose a challenge as to how we present our personality but when creating our playlists, our highly experienced Music Manager constructs an emotional journey and takes the listener by the hand to introduce a set of given emotions. Chances are that our listeners will feel exactly what was intended but even if they don’t, that’s alright. Suddenly you might find yourself nodding your head to the beat of the music you normally wouldn’t listen to. But because it was presented in the right way, it was a new and positive musical experience that perhaps made you add the song to your personal playlist. This is the ultimate pat on the back for our Music Manager – when he successfully expands the musical consciousness of our Juicers and guests.

Presented in the right setting, listeners might find music they don’t usually listen to appealing because it was presented in a good combination. Let’s for example say that you’re not a big fan of house music but when in one of our bars during a rush, it fits the setting because the visual impression of the Juicers running around is fast-paced. House music is a good match and completes the overall experience.

Just like a director of a motion picture will use the right type of music to compliment his movies.

Here is a great way to understand our music in a practical timeline BTC:

MORNING:
We start our day with soothing tunes to create energy, turning up as we get close to rush hour. Regardless of whether you’re heading to a downtown office or sitting behind your home office desk, the morning is where you find the energy you need to power through the day. Music with heavy bass inspires feelings of power, creates a surge of confidence, and amplifies your ability to focus— a perfect way to start any day. We want to inspire and motivate our culture to start the day in an elegant, light and focused manner.

RUSH HOUR/PEAK HOURS:
We play upbeat music during our peak hours to create a stronger feeling of energy, inviting our guests to party with us. The high volume also drowns out the noise from the centrifuge, blender stations and steamers, which all run almost constantly during this period. By turning up the volume we can ‘drown out’ the body’s cry of fatigue, meaning our Juicers will find it easier to stay focused without losing momentum. While the guests will experience the rush as a positive and fun ‘busy-time’, instead of being chaotic, uncontrolled, and noisy.

EVENING:
Finally, we mellow out the day with some slow evening tunes for our guests to unwind and bring their energy levels down. As the day comes to an end, the need for being energized decreases. It has been proven that listening to low-intensity music you naturally enjoy releases dopamine, which feels good but decreases focus. Because it is time to ‘gear down’, we play music with low intensity. We decrease the volume to match the intensity in the store since the number of products being made decreases and therefore the noise from blenders, grinder etc also decreases.

Think of our music as the motion of the sun. Rising, peaking and setting together.

We communicate our personality through emotions

This concludes module 1, which hopefully gave you an understanding of:

1. The history and usage of music. How whistling and later instruments helped humans to communicate and create art.

2. How music can affect the human body to increase focus and creativity for our Juicers and guests.

3. How we strive to be the best in all aspects of our business, including our music by carefully selecting what we play, how we play it and when we play it.

4. The timing of the different playlists and why it is important that we play a specific type of music in the morning, during peak hours, and in the evening.

Next up is Module 2, where you will learn more about our music community and our vision to create our own record label – JOE Records.

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