Julieta: "I feel like my career needs to take a bigger step."

Barcelona2025 was a special year for Julieta Gracián (Barcelona, ​​2001). The album 23The signing with Sony opened a new horizon of popularity for club pop. Catalan dreamAfter touring extensively, he'll close this chapter with a special concert at the Sant Jordi Club on February 13th. Then will come a break to redefine future goals.

What's your assessment of 2025?

— It's been a super intense year. We released the album and did a tour of about forty concerts in Catalonia, but also in Spain: we were in Galicia, Asturias, Seville, a little bit everywhere. It was an incredible, amazing year. We focused the live shows a lot on the album, and I feel like it's been something more personal, more intimate, which I've been able to develop with a more conceptual or artistic show. The overall result is positive, but at the end of the year I decided to take a break. Apart from the concert at the Sant Jordi Club and something smaller, there won't be any of those 50-concert tours I used to do in 2026.

You've spent almost two years reinvesting money in live performance. Can you afford this break now?

— Yes. I pay for the live shows myself. I put on a very elaborate show, a pop show that requires a lot of money: there's a big investment in dancers, costumes, and set design. But it's my decision to experience concerts this way because it makes me happy. Obviously, I've saved money, but now I'm doing this concert at the Sant Jordi Club and I'm not making a penny, because it's a one-off show, but these are the kinds of risks you take as an artist. And the unemployment benefits are also so that we can do things much better later on. I feel that my career needs to take a bigger step, both musically and in terms of the show. I've achieved some really great and cool things, but I want to take the next step even further.

And do you think musical aesthetics should change too?

— Yes. My project has always been about trying new things. Each album has had a distinct, special sound. Now I'm coming from a sound that's a bit more indie pop, more intimate. In the last album, I talked about my adolescence and youth, and now that I'm working on new things, I feel like going for something more optimistic, more pop, and making music more for people, with that sense of community that pop has. In fact, it's how I connect with music, how I enjoy it and feel joy. And pop, which lately has become somewhat subdued, should be marked by happiness, joy, and light.

Lately, the great pop albums mainstream They have a rather confessional side. For example, Lily Allen's latest.

— I was blown away.

And the same thing happens with Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, and Taylor Swift, as if pop music were a tool to explain the artists' personal lives. I don't know if that's the case for you.

— Although what I write is personal, there is always some fiction in it.

But it's not so obvious that your songs can be interpreted in a personal way.

— When I say I make pop music for people, I mean telling my own stories, but telling them in a very universal way. Talking about the feelings and emotions people have with a song. Going to a club and hearing a song that everyone knows makes you share an experience with everyone else. That's the kind of pop I like.

These artists I mentioned have shown that heartbreak songs can also be danced to and enjoyed.

— Yes. I myself have many songs where the lyrics are incredibly sad, but the melody is incredibly upbeat. Over the years, you understand what you're doing better, and I'm becoming increasingly clear about what my project is. I can talk about experiences that might be sad, but from a more optimistic perspective, from a place of light and hope. I want to focus on this idea.

Professionally, what did you gain from being Aitana's opening act at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys?

— It was a great learning experience. It's true that it was a show we did in the middle of the tour, and in some ways, it did feel a bit like a tour show, but in terms of experience, singing in front of so many people always adds to your stage presence. I'm the kind of person who cares less about the crowd. If there are only a few people, I get nervous. If there are a lot of people, I enjoy the show more, I believe in it more, I'm more immersed in the character. It was a really beautiful show.

Aren't you scared of these huge settings?

— Not me. I like them. When I have a show this important and this big, I try not to think about it, I try to disconnect from reality a little. For example, half an hour before the concert at the Olympic Stadium, the more than twenty people on my team were in the dressing room, all shouting, and my mother said to me, "Don't you want to be alone for a while?" No, I need to be distracted and talk normally with the team; that way I only get nervous for a minute before going on, because otherwise, I overthink things too much.

And what has 2025 been like for you as a spectator and listener?

— It was the year of pop. I mean, the year of divas; of artists like Addison Rae... I've seen some very personal and special pop projects. I've paid close attention to these divas and felt very, very influenced by them.

I was also interested in your perspective as a spectator, in case you saw anything live that inspired you. I don't know if you saw Billie Eilish's concert at the Palau Sant JordiOr artists who show you the path you'd like to follow, or ideas you'd like to make your own.

— Live, I'm anything but minimalist, as you'll see at the Sant Jordi Club concert. For example, my main influence is Lady Gaga rather than Billie Eilish. I love Billie's live format, which is more solo, with musicians, and a stage design that relies heavily on screens. But I'm different. At the Sant Jordi Club show, I'll lay all my cards on the table: I've been inspired by so many... popstarsLike Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and Tate McRae, whose live shows I absolutely love. The stage design I'll use is like a tree. It's part of the imagery from the stories on the album. 23We're talking about very organic and earthy things, but with a dreamlike quality, seeking fantasy but from a more organic foundation, and the entire stage structure is designed to be special. Look, if I could, I'd fly off on a zip line and I'd love for it to rain on stage, but then it would completely ruin me.

Will there be any special collaborations?

— There will be surprises, and collaborations are part of those surprises.

It will be the first time you perform your own concert in front of 4,000 people.

— And that's why it will be the best show I've ever done. But whatever happens, it's already worth experiencing and sharing with my fans. My career is mine, but also belongs to the people who have supported me. I've always had a very beautiful and special relationship with my fans, who have always wanted me to grow and for Catalan pop to reach far and wide.

Regarding the music production, how has the album motivated you? Lux Rosalía's?

— Rosalía is in a league of her own. The album is super maximalist and incredibly elaborate, and musically it's amazing. In this sense of breaking the mold, she's a major influence. I really appreciate that she's paving the way for people, that people are much more open to consuming other kinds of music. Because Lux It's pop, that is, it's pop sheetI would never in my life set out to do a project like Rosalía's, because I'm not that ambitious in this artistic sense, and because I couldn't. I know my strengths and my approach to music. I work with simple structures because that's what I'm looking for. In that sense, I'm more into classic pop.