So there’s a popular Seattle indie-rock band, and it plays lots of shows. People come to the shows. The band puts out a 7-inch and discusses doing something longer with several indie labels. The band continues playing shows, and suddenly four years have gone by, and there’s still no full-length record in sight.

The band we’re talking about is Juno, and finally the wait is over, with the release of the intensely good This Is the Way It Goes (Pacifico/DeSoto). We asked Juno guitarist Jason Guyer what the band’s been doing for the past four years. Here’s what he told us:

“Why did it take us so long to put out our first record? The story is obnoxious, petty, and above all, boring as fuck. Instead, let me give you some highlights from those four years:

“On our summer tour in 1997 we somehow got billed to play two shows in Michigan with everyone’s favorite Alice in Chains rip-off band, Days of the New. Needless to say, it was a fiasco. We ended up playing to our four friends from the opening band. The next night when we pulled up to the club in Grand Rapids, the DOTN touring van and horse trailer were parked in the alley. We opened for them that night, but didn’t escape unscathed. During load-out, DOTN’s bassist spilled his entire pitcher of beer into the speakers of my guitar cabinet, and when I asked him what he was going to do about it, his reply was, “Sorry, dude, casualties of war.” After those shows we referred to Days of the New as Days of the Dudes.

“It hasn’t all been bad though. Playing the CMJ conference with Chavez and Burning Airlines in NYC made us feel like we had finally arrived even if we had yet to. Playing a house party with DC’s the Most Secret Method in Santa Cruz changed our lives forever. They were the friendliest, most supportive and rockin’est band we’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing a bill with.

“Now that our CD is finally out we can say that we are proud to be associated with the labels that released it and proud of the music we recorded. I don’t know if that would be the case had it been released any sooner. For us at least, it was worth the wait.”