Artist Insight| Julia Adrian Interview
May 15 | Written By Shayma Noorashour
The Music Mag recently interviewed Julia Adrian, a Nashville-based indie/pop singer-songwriter. Julia has released three singles to date, including "Taxi Light," "No I Do," and "The One Before The One", with more plans to release further projects soon. She has already gained thousands of streams combined on these tracks. With these promising tracks, Julia is excited to expand her musical presence. In this interview, she discusses her musical career, inspirations, navigating the industry and future plans.
What is the story behind you becoming a musician where did it all start?
Julia mentioned that she has been passionate about music for a long time and that creating music has given her a sense of purpose. She further explained that in the past, she had considered a corporate job but eventually realised that it was not the right fit for her.
'’’I have been in the music industry forever. I think the best thing for me where I can help people and do something I love is music. Everyone makes music to be harder than other professions, and in some way, you have to deal with personal rejections because you feel like it's rejecting you, your views, your opinions, and your personality.
I feel like my purpose is helping people, or connecting with people, or giving advice, and doing something I love helps me do that''.
2. Who inspires you as an artist?
Julia expressed that she is inspired by several female pop singers. ''Right now, I very much love the music of Sabrina Carpenter, and Rene Rapp both kind of rising stars. I also really love Julia Micheals. To me, lyricism is really important what I like about those artists is that they are talented at having songs which are very catchy but also lyrically clever and witty. I mean of course also Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande’’.
3. What is your creative process in the studio like?
‘’So, I have a couple of different processes I guess, when I am doing co-writes it's me another artist or writer and producer in the studio.
I have also been writing for other people as well recently, I have been writing for my friends we show up to the studio we either have a song title or some chords and go off what the chords feel like. Sometimes you start humming like a melody into these chords and then words just pop up I don’t even know how to explain it, but words just come out and they could be cheesy, they could be bad like you know basic, but you start somewhere.
I am personally someone who also loves wordplay, metaphors, and double entendres and most of my sessions have gone pretty well. For myself, I think a lot of my songs at least the first ones I have put out I just thought of the lyrics and I kind of got a rhythm and that gave me the melody and all that came first. I figure out the chords and the sound later which I feel is a less common approach because most people you know start the guitar or piano and have the chords first and then come up with something.
‘’For a lot of my songs I just kind of have the full song with the melody and the lyrics to no music and then I bring it to a producer, and we work it out together’’.
4. How would you describe your music in three words?
‘’ I would say vintage because there is a jazzy element that feels like old Hollywood. Then I would say camaraderie something along the lines of empathetic because I feel that we are all in this together. I guess the third thing I would say is universal’’.
5. The music industry can be a challenging place to be especially for a young, upcoming artist so how do you deal with disappointments and difficult situations?
‘’ Yeah absolutely, I mean I know it sounds cheesy, but I have adopted the mindset that everything works out how it's supposed to. I think that helps me deal with a lot. You know because I have no idea what the future holds in store. I just moved to Nashville a few months ago and I have met 75 new people, worked with 4 new producers, and written for other people. I just try to reflect on what I have done the accomplishments that I have made and telling myself that it is going to work out.
Also, just instead of comparing myself to others I think everybody has their own set of individual characteristics and understanding there is a space for everyone helps me not to be comparative and to be happy for other people, especially friends’’.
6. If you had a dream collaboration with any artists who would that be?
‘’That is such a good question. Honestly, it might be Alec Benjamin who is just like a little bit different from my style but still similar. I find a lot of his songs comforting and that's the comfort I want to bring to other people. I have seen him live a few times and I think he’s an amazing artist and would love to do some type of duet or collaboration with him’’.
7. Where have you performed live, and do you have any upcoming shows?
‘’Right now, I am mostly working on new music to put out on Spotify, Apple Music, etc. I have performed in my hometown with my acapella group. I have also done different festivals like St Agrippina, and Boston Green Fest. The goal is to have songs that are popular enough so people want to say that song is so good I would love to go and see Julia. I think another goal would be to also play music festivals because these are my favourites to go to. I know a few musicians ready to back me up so I should have a few shows this year coming up’’.
8. What is next for Julia, will there be an EP or album?
‘’I do plan to release a few more singles, but I also do have enough songs written, and I have categorised them in my head as like the same style for an EP. So, I hope to release a few more singles and then an EP.
I am also hoping towards a publishing deal because I love writing for other people as well as myself. I think that is where a lot of the emotions come from.
So, in terms of my goals, I have a few singles in the works for an EP that should come out in the spring or summer’’.
A special thank you to Julia for taking the time to chat with The Music Mag!