JBL Emerging Interview: Juls on her latest single ‘Heartbreaker’

In this Emerging Headliner interview powered by JBL, up-and coming pop singer-songwriter Juls sits down for a chat with Headliner to discuss songwriting, her personal career highlights to date, and the release of her latest single, Heartbreaker...

Can you give us the lowdown on your most recent single, and how it came together from a writing standpoint?

Heartbreaker is this badass, empowered, but kind of deeper, darker song. The song I put out before was a bit more lighthearted and lovey-dovey, but with this one I feel like I really got to showcase a lot of the Lana [Del Rey] influence in my writing. So that was really exciting for me, and really cool, because that's what I love to write the most. I just wasn't sure how people would vibe with that.

It's scary and exhilarating, and you get this wide array of emotions every time you put out music, especially when you're trying to define your sound as a new artist. I was really blown away by how many people were sending me love about the song in my DMs, because for me that was validation on some level that it’s okay to showcase different parts of my voice and my sound, and people dig it.

The song was written because I started observing this really interesting cycle that happens when somebody is really heartbroken, they kind of go off on this tangent of breaking other people's hearts, just so that they don't get theirs broken again. So it was that cyclical nature of heartbreak that really interested me, and I was thinking about that in my bedroom one day in the middle of summer – how can I turn that into something catchy? What it turned into was, heartbreak makes a heartbreaker – it's kind of looped on repeat throughout the hook.

How do you usually go about songwriting?

It's so different every single time it happens. I very rarely, at this point, sit down with the intent of writing. I kind of just go about my day, and all of a sudden it's like an alien is zapping me, downloading this amazing chorus in my head. With Heartbreaker, it was so special to write because it was very natural. Most parts of the song I wrote in my bedroom, and the lyrics came very organically. I usually start by messing around with melodic structures on my voice notes app, and then I fill in the blanks with the words.

I think that the reason why I love songwriting so much is because it feels so organic and pure and untainted. To me it often feels raw and vulnerable, like inhabited emotion. It’s like pulling down the mask, letting yourself feel whatever you want to feel in the moment, and not worrying about how that's perceived. I always go back to my bedroom to write, because that’s where I'm most vulnerable.

Can you tell us about some moments in your career so far that have been particularly special for you?

In the music industry, you work for two years behind the scenes getting a song to the point where it feels right and you’re ready to release it. At the start of my journey I was working in a lot of different studios with a lot of different producers, trying to find my sound and the right person to help me bring it to life. One of these magical moments was meeting the producer that I worked on the EP with – Alex Fumo.

It's rare to come across somebody who can just take what you hear in your head and interpret that so beautifully, and make it tangible reality. Alex is precisely good at what I'm not good at, which is production. Although I feel like I’m a very confident songwriter, I always had a very distinct production vision in my head, and I could never really find the right person to bring that to life with me. And so the day that I finally found someone who just understood everything I had been trying to describe to different producers – that was a really special day.

What advice would you give to emerging artists who are looking to break into and navigate the music industry?

I would just say, try to sit back and relax. I know that sounds so counterintuitive, but with me, I felt like I was trying so hard to make things come together. The truth of the matter is, all you can do is get as good at what you do as possible. Sit in your room, practice your guitar, write your songs, list how you want everything to play out and how you want it to sound. We have this inclination as human beings to want to push harder to make things go a certain way, but sometimes the best you can do is put yourself out there and work as hard as you possibly can.

What’s in the pipeline for you?

I love dreaming and I love daydreaming. The next song I’m working on I think has some really cool ideas exploring what’s coming next. I have this fascination with the trajectory and evolution of our society – the meta, what clothing might look like in 30 years and stuff like that. So I'm really excited to see how that gets imbued in my musical journey moving forward, because a lot of the visual content that I have planned – once I'm able to bring it to life in its fullest capacity – is going to be very futuristically driven. My music however is very romantic and old school, so it will be cool to see how that dichotomy works. There's just so much to come, so stay tuned!

Listen to the full interview with Juls on Headliner Radio, here: