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1) What is the first song that sticks out in your memory?
‘Tea and sympathy’ Janis Ian
2) How do you aim to effect and touch people with your music?
Music is one of those things that can bring strangers together. I like the idea that the music we make could bring strangers into each other’s arms.
3) What song or musician has touched you most in your life?
It changes all the time. At the moment whenever Angus puts Bon Iver on, I feel like I am in a movie of my life… with all the colours of an old road trip movie like easy rider… I stop thinking and enjoy the pictures flying past the windows…
4) Which one of your own songs is your favourite to play at full volume after a long day?
I would listen to little bird… I love that song.
5) What is the key to good a live performance?
Being comfortable. Being in a room that feels nice… like an old theatre… or church… where the acoustics are wonderful… Having a great monitor guy and front of house engineer… and then having good people in the room to share the experience.
6) Music is an inspiration for many fashion designers and artists what elements of these creative areas inspire you?
I love both fashion and art. Colour and music are fundamentally interwoven… like major and minor chords… they both create different colours behind your eyes when you play them on the piano… so whole compositions no doubt can inspire whole pieces of art… as in return looking at a piece of art can sound like a song … so much of writing is inspired by how the things we see make us feel.
7) Was there a defining moment in your life which made you realise music was your path and if so what was it?
I remember once being in an abandoned house in Santiago (chile) with a group of people who were using the space as a creative oasis….. They built drums, they painted... everyone would sit in a circle passing a joint around and talk about all sorts.…. I remember being really excited... I had spent the year before working really hard in hospitality with a few different jobs to save money… and here were crew with little money that everyday were finding out new things about themselves and the world they lived in through music, art, dance and drama …I dream of having a place like this… a big old farmhouse where all the gang can hang out and make music…right now we make our place wherever we set up the instruments… one day….
8) What gets your inspiration ticking?
The snow on top of a mountain range… a good meal with friends… a peaceful lake… an old house with crows on the roof… … .. the sound of someone with a low voice telling a story while I fall asleep… a kiss… raw cacao…. a hot cup of tea… a black and white photograph of a young girl, an old man… a really old woman with a cigarette in her mouth…the smell of mangos and sunscreen in summer…. the feeling of the sun on my skin when it is freezing…. Anything and everything.
9) What else do you do/where do you go when you’re trying to put together an album to keep the mood alive?
I cook a lot…. I like cooking for everyone who is recording with us…. mostly everyone forgets about eating when we make music… but somehow it is the time I most love to be creative with cooking and make up big feeds.
10) What is your favourite memory of your live performances?
A couple of weeks ago we played in an old theatre in Hamburg, as part of the reeperbahn festival… it was such a cool gig… the place was so cosy with all red velvety seats… the stage is normally used as a performance space for plays, and the theatre shows were all over the stage… old books and chairs… it was one of those shows where everything feels electric… there is a heightened sense of excitement for no particular reason… which makes it so random and wonderful.
Find out more about Julia- http://www.yenmag.net/ywya/finalists_profile.php?name_id=23
Interview By Rhiannon Bulley
