Julieta: "I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie."

BarcelonaThe passage of time, or rather the fleetingness of lived experiences, is the backdrop for 23, the new album by Julieta Gracián (Barcelona, ​​​​2001), the first she has published since signed to the Sony record label. A diva of romantic club pop, she now takes refuge in more intimate tones, seeking her own path, but without losing the rhythmic intuition that made her a Catalan dream, while keeping Catalan as the album's main language. She spoke with ARA on the terrace of the Laie Bookstore in Barcelona.

Are you ready for the album release?

— Yes, very nervous and excited. Very excited.

You recently published the second preview, the song I forget to forget youYou comment on Instagram that it's one of your favorites. Why?

— Because vocally, she shows a more mature Julieta, and musically, it's a slightly more alternative pop, with the strings and everything. She's definitely one of my favorites.

How was the process of creating that song?

— I create all the original ideas at home. It's very important for me to go into the studio with a clear idea. And I composed that song at home on guitar, because it's more indie. Then I went to the studio with Phoac, the producer with whom I made the entire album. I had the entire structure that same day, and the return also came to me super intuitively. And it was so honest that the lyrics came out while the melody was being created. These are songs that resonate more, and you can tell they're very sincere.

Is it one of the songs that gave you the concept for the album?

— No. The one that gave me the concept of the album is rather Tornado, which talks about the passage of time and how to grow older. Tornado It was the starting point, but I forget to forget you marks the sound direction of the album.

Of Tornado the title comes out, this 23, is that still your age?

— Well, now I'm 24.

And of I forget to forget you the sound of the acoustic guitar comes out, which has a much greater presence on this album.

— Yes, in the end I come from that, because I started making more indie music. I really wanted to go back to the guitar, because I came from something more rain-rain And I was feeling a bit stressed in the studio from all the hard work. I really wanted to do something more intimate, more signature, but without losing that pop edge. It was important for me to create a mix between the electronic and guitar parts.

I don't know if you've thought that these songs are like you and María Jaume have come together. She comes from a more indie background, but on her latest album, Nostalgia Airlines (in which you collaborated), came closer to the pop that you proposed, and you are returning a bit to that indie, without losing your danceable essence.

— Absolutely, I think so. Yes, I love him! I admire him so much. I've been listening to him for many years. My project has many faces; I have one more. pop star and more kick-ass, but I also have that more lyrical, more intimate side.

There is more unity in the songs of 23, although there are interesting departures from the bachata The love of my life.

— Yes. I was clear that I wanted to make a pop album, and I analyzed the types of pop I'd liked throughout my life. Bachata has been a genre that has been with me for a few years, but there's also a more Afro song, a more indie one. It's about dismantling the octopus a bit, or what the octopus has been for me, which is a super-flexible genre.

A few months ago you were talking about Tate McRae as an influence.Have you accumulated other references over the months that you think are noticeable in your music?

— On that album, I would say Lady Gaga. Kylie Minogue has also been very important to me. And from more recent references, Tate McRae, who is a great performer And I love her music. Allison Rae is also a really cool artist... I like that they take pop and make it more conceptual and personal, like Charlie XCX does. I'm aiming for that direction, and that's where I want my project to go.

As for production, I read that you were interested in Timbaland and Pharrell Williams' production style.

— There are touches. For example, Taxi Yes, it has been a lot in that direction. dance, more performative, I like to approach it from this point of view, but in the more ballad part it is not so noticeable.

Heartbreak does more hits that love?

— I think so. I'm a very nostalgic and melancholic person, and I love it. This album is very melancholic, very nostalgic, but it's not just about romantic love; it's also about my friends, my mother. They're different ways of seeing love from different voices. We have the voice of Julieta, younger, more adolescent, and the one I am now. I enjoyed playing with these different narrative points.

In this sense, the Juliet of the song Wolf It has nothing to do with the most nostalgic of I forget to forget you.

— Wolf It's like the evolution of the character, a representation with a more killer, more sensual image, which is something I feel very identified with right now. The other one talks more about the Juliet of the past and now I'm vibe Wolf.

Is the success what you expected?

— No. Success is very different. It's a very complex thing. Now I think I'm on a good footing with success; maybe I haven't always been, but now I think I am. For me, success now means being happy with what I do, being proud of what I do, growing as an artist, and going to bed happy every night. Not projecting my project so much onto people, but more onto myself and my art. And respecting my work and what I do more.

What do you find most difficult?

— Maybe the pressure. When you start making music, you do it in a very genuine way because no one expects anything from you. When I started, it was more innocent and more fun, and now people really expect things from you. You want to feel aligned with your project and your art, and you don't want to give up anything artistically, and there are people who expect something else or don't like it. Perhaps that's the hardest part: not looking sideways, looking ahead, and staying focused on growing as an artist and giving your best.

As you grow, so does the number of people who depend on you. Does this add extra pressure?

— Yes. I also love working with friends, with people I care about. Giving them opportunities and being able to grow professionally is incredibly important to me. In this sense, I do put a lot of pressure on myself because I want things to go well for them too and for everything to work out.

Brunette What is a tribute song to all these people?

— It's an ode to friendship. I have a super-cool, super-healthy environment, and we've known each other for many years. Bruna and I have been friends since we were eight months old; we grew up together. I forget to forget you and Brunette are two of my favorites. And at the end of the album there are Friends forever, which is a kind of conclusion, of saying: well, I will always have my friends and they will always be by my side.

How did you come up with the idea of making such a lower tone and rhythm version ofFriends forever, from Los Manolos?

— It's one of my favorite songs. It also reminds me a lot of Barcelona. We always sang it in chorus at school, and it's also a great karaoke song with my friends. It's very much our song, and I think the lyrics are spectacular. And I thought I had to make it into another little ballad. chillin'I saw it as very obvious that this song also has that more intimate, more beautiful point.

What do you like most and what worries you most about Barcelona?

— What I like most is the people. And artistically, there are some really cool things going on, some really cool projects, even though some people don't know that. Obviously, the city is beautiful; for me, it's one of the most beautiful in the world. And what I like least, perhaps, is that there are so many people now, too many people in general. There are places I don't even go to anymore because I'm too lazy. In that sense, I do feel sad that it's not so much ours anymore. Sometimes I don't feel so much like my city anymore, and that makes me sad.

We were talking earlier about Maria Jaume, who is from Mallorca and lives in Barcelona. In her songs, she conveys her unease about this very thing, about losing the city, about losing the country to tourism. You don't express that in your songs.

— No, because I don't feel comfortable communicating these things through music. If you want to go to a bar and talk, I'll do it perfectly, or in an interview, but musically, I don't think it's my best way to communicate it. Musically, I talk to you about love, love, and love. Beyond that, I don't like it, because I think I express myself better speaking these things than singing. But she thought it was superb and did something really cool that had a really great impact.

In one song on the album you say you're not satisfied with a basic guy... You're not satisfied with a basic career?

— No. I'm a bit of a busy person and I like things to happen. I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, which has a good and a bad side. I like to try lots of different things. I love change. My career will go where it will as long as I'm aligned with what I want to do. Yes, I'd like to go to Europe, Mexico, Argentina... To experience new cultures and work with producers from different parts of the world; I already have that in mind.

You have it in your head, but you can't explain it yet?

— Well, something European. I'm working on this roadmap, in the area of sound and production. I was in Sweden a while ago, because pop music is amazing there and the producers and songwriters they are very good...

Do you see yourself giving up the writing part of the song?

— No. I'm a bit complicated about that. I have a hard time writing with people in the studio. In fact, I have a hard time being in the studio with more than one person. As soon as there are three people, I get stressed. I'm very much my own person. I also have a hard time connecting with the producer, because I seek a more intimate, deeper connection. If I go to the studio and have to work with someone I don't know at all, I don't know how to do it because I get anxious and can't work. Melodically, I'm a little more open and I start to listen to others, but not with the lyrics.

Maybe you're working with slightly longer melodies now?

— Yes. I think this is because I have lost a bit of inspiration. urban.

In I forget to forget you, in addition to lengthening the melody, you manage the dynamics by postponing the climax of the song.

— I see songs as a roller coaster. I know what each part should convey and how I should explain myself. In both the lyrics and the melodies, I like to think of everything as a in crescendo with different spaces. It's super important that there are dynamics in the song, that it's not flat, but that things happen.

Of the new songs, which ones do you think will end up taking center stage at concerts?

— You never know. I think we'll close with Friends forever, because I think it's like a very emotional song and it goes well with an ending. And then I tried to put them together by blogs. It's true that it's a much more emotional album. chill, in the sense that it is not so sugarcane grower, and I had to make an adaptation for the live show because I didn't want it to be a live show with me standing there, because I really like moving around. But anyway, I added this more narrative and theatrical aspect, which is a bit of a translation of the more cinematic vision of the videos. There's also a stage set with a tree, and another narrative voice with the camera more... acting. It's more movie however, something more narrative.

Maybe you dance less?

— When I dance, I dance more than before and I've worked harder. I've worked on the choreography a lot more, but there are songs where the choreography isn't... pop star, but more conceptual. For example, in Brunette, the choreography is much more conceptual, with the girls braiding their hair.

Are you going to try this now to have it ready for summer?

— We've already shown off a few bits and pieces. We'll be premiering the entire album in Tàrrega on May 16th. This year I'm doing fewer shows than last year because it was crazy: I played 57 concerts!

Did you play so many shows last year that you could reinvest in the album?

— No. I think I did so many shows last year that I was able to build up my skills. I've learned a ton on stage. Every show I do will make the next one better and make me a better artist and a better dancer. Obviously, it's helped me save money, but I invest a lot in touring because I love it.

In a song, you say you have to learn to love things that don't last. Do you also consider music something that doesn't last that you have to love?

— Sometimes, yes. I don't see myself doing this my whole life either, that's for sure. Nothing happens. Well, I don't know, because now we're already considering that maybe it does. One of the things I like most about music is that it makes me very present, it makes me live so much, I love it so much and enjoy it so much that I disappear from the world. When I'm on tour, I don't even remember where I live or where I'm from, and when I'm on stage, even less so.

What books, movies, or series have you enjoyed lately?

— I'm watching the series The White Lotus, which I like a lot. I was recently reading All about love, by bell hooks; it's a feminist reflection on love that's also closely related to the album, and it's cool how it presents love. I'm also playing the Switch; I'm in my era. gamer.

With what games?

— Now I play in theOvercookedI'm a little obsessed, I can't stop. It's cooking, but it's very difficult.