Natasha Jane Julian – Happily Ever After

By starrymag | November 7, 2018

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

A) My sound is silky and smooth with sometimes underlying angst, but always leading with the themes of hope and empowerment.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

A) Madonna, Lana Del Rey, Sia, Christina Perri and Lady Gaga. These amazing women have moved me in different periods throughout my life and in different ways, but there’s a sense of empowerment there. Madonna in her chameleon like behavior. Lana del Rey in her sensual moody vibes. Sia, is just like wow, with her powerful lyrics and music that moves me beyond. Christina with her heartfelt storytelling and Lady Gaga in her fierce power. I feel I am a piece of them for sure.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Happily Ever After.”

 

A) “Happily Ever After” was written in one of the most hardest periods of my life. Things were falling in every direction and I didn’t know how my heart was going to hold up honestly. It’s a raw story of an unraveling romance that once was fairytale like. It’s full of beauty, angst and questions. And it definitely has a moody vibe. I want to take my listeners on ride of emotions, kinda like through a dance, as the lyrics say “waltz with, dance with me…”

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

A) This song is all about connection. I love to be uplifting in my music, but this song is different. It meant so much to me and I felt so strong singing and writing it, that I wanted people to feel me, to see it and to connect. This is real, raw emotions with a beautiful story to it, no hype, and that’s why I think fans connect to it.

 

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

 

A) Absolutely perfect. I always pictured it to be a really intense, but beautiful visual and to have this dance like trance that I’m stuck in. And the director took it to an even greater level after hearing my idea of what I wanted. It goes back and forth between the light and the dark world. Me in reality, me remembering the better times and then me almost stuck in this dark world in a trance. And it’s visually stunning! He killed it and I fed off his great energy and together made something very special.

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

 

A) It’s always different. But initially I like to be alone. I think better and am able to be really creative without judging. Sometimes I come in with a melody I sang that day in the car and I come to the piano and build the song from there with the chords, etc. But sometimes I sit and just play chords I love from another song and almost always something comes to me. Then, once the initial idea is down, I like to collaborate and have someone suggest a change that I would have never thought of or really smooth out the transitions or give it a beat. I’ve never really liked to be alone pre-music era, but music has taught me that I’m quite good being alone and really creative. I had to give myself the space to think and I couldn’t always do that when people were around.

 

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music? 

 

A) This area is quite new to me, but slowly I’m becoming more involved. For now, I usually put together a simple demo for partners to hear, but I have an idea in my head for how I want it to sound. And I’m learning to go with my instinct, because I’m the only one who can hear what’s in my head.

 

Q) What can fans expect from a live Natasha Jane Julian performance?

 

A) They can expect a very expressive, beautiful and almost cinematic show. Performing is where I really come alive. All the technical stuff is stuff I have had to learn but being up on stage is where I always felt the most comfortable. I feel the lyrics, I move around a lot and dance or roll around on the floor a lot. [laughs] And I feel like I am in a movie, a story telling movie, which is why people have said my music sounds a bit cinematic. I see what they mean. It might be my musical theatre and dance background. But I want it to be a show, not just a great voice on stage.

 

Q) What songs off your Happily Ever After EP are you looking forward to performing live?

 

A) Well, besides “Happily Ever After” the title track, for obvious reasons of being a close story to heart. I really look forward to “Say What You What” and “Empty Spaces,” too!  “Say What You Want” has a lot of attitude and is all around a great song to do acoustic or not! And “Empty Spaces” has another great story relating to bullying and it starts off soft and makes a complete turn and becomes this intense killer guitar ridden song. I’ve done “Empty Space” live already once and it came alive!

 

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from listening to your new EP as a whole?

 

A) I hope listeners take away that I’m here not just to be one of the others. I’m here to stay and I want to move people and help people and show them something different through my stories and I’m not just a singer trying to fit into the pop music scene.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you? 

 

A) I think academies and amphitheaters are best suited for me. I love big stages where I can move around without the worry that I might fall off the stage, but it’s not always like that!

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) Oh, where do I start! But I name just a few. I have dreams of collaborating with Bruno Mars and Sia!

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

 

A) I’ve going back and forth between Sia’s 1000 Forms of Fear and Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die because I feel the production on some of the songs is well suited for things that I have in the works for 2019…

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) [laughs] I found social media to be a lot of work at first. But I see how you can really be connected to your fans through it. You don’t have to have the perfect picture, that’s not what fans are wanting. They just want real. So, I’ve gotten more used to it now and don’t see it as work but just sharing my life. Some people might find me weird or whatever, but the ones that do like me will stick with me till the end. [smiles]

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) Thank you!!! Thanks for finding me and taking time out of your day to download or comment or just follow me. That’s incredible really. I feel so special. And just know that’s this is a long journey. I’ll never give you the same throughout the years because I’m a chameleon.  But I will give you my same heart, it just may be expressed in different ways. XOXO

 

 

 

Follow Natasha Jane Julian:

Official Website / Twitter / Instagram / Youtube / Reverbnation / Soundcloud

 

Listen to Happily Ever After: