Editor’s Note: JULIANA. is making quite the name for herself as of late. She’s released music videos for “Burn” and “Call It Quits”, and very recently her and Izzy Pollak reimagined the Ariana Grande Christmas song “Santa Tell Me”, in which it will appear on Izzy Pollak’s debut EP “It’s Never Too Early”, which is due out December 18th. All the proceeds from “It’s Never Too Early” will be donated to CASA of Los Angeles, which helps children in the welfare system. JULIANA. was an American Idol contestant and she make it past the infamous “Hollywood Round” on American Idol. JULIANA. uses her personal lyrics to talk about body empowerment, sex empowerment, and female empowerment. In this mental health conversation with Madness To Creation, JULIANA. talks about suicide prevention, her music videos for “Burn” and “Call It Quits”, and her experience on American Idol. Fans can find JULIANA. at the following locations:
www.facebook.com/juliana.musician
Madness To Creation: The song and video for “Call It Quits”, WOW, how do you do the things that you do with your vocals?
JULIANA.: Thank you so much!! I have to credit my dad for my voice because it clearly did not come from my mom’s side… sorry mom, love you.
Madness To Creation: What’s the mindset that you have when you go into the studio?
JULIANA.: The initial feeling I have is excitement and a motivation to work hard and give it my all. While I’m laying down vocals, I always want to tap into the lyrics themselves and really feel every emotion I felt when I initially wrote the song, so when I record, it tends to be a different mindset depending on what the track is about.
Madness To Creation: Give us your favorite memories on American Idol, and you should’ve won by the way!
JULIANA.: Love this question! And thank you! The highlight for me was definitely when Steven Tyler said I had the “IT factor.” I didn’t really know what he meant considering I was only 16 at the time, but any compliment that came out of Steven Tyler’s mouth was a win for me. He’s always been an idol of mine. I also vividly remember winking at him, mid-performance and I thought to myself, “did you just wink at Steven Tyler??…”, but yes, I did, and apparently the judges liked it because I ended up getting 3 yeses. I’ll never forget that moment. Shoutout to Steven Tyler – I still love you.
Madness To Creation: You’ve also released the music video for “Burn” – take us into that song and video.
JULIANA.: Yes! “Burn” was such a strong and powerful song for me since I wrote it after having gone through a time in my life when my mental health was compromised, and I had also gone through a very difficult breakup. With all of that going on, this song was meant to be a breakthrough moment for me to gain my strength and self-love back and essentially ‘burn’ down all the negativity in my life. Since the song had such an emotional tie to it, we wanted the music video to also encompass a similar style filled with empowerment and confidence. The entire music video is meant to be a daydream where I go through horrible thoughts of burning everything down in my life and feeling negative emotions, but at the very end, I wake up from the dream and laugh to myself because, in that moment, I’m so far removed from that feeling of despair and sadness and I’m in such a better place in my life.
Madness To Creation: I love that you talk about empowerment. What does it mean to be a strong woman to you?
JULIANA.: It means EVERYTHING! Unfortunately, women in our society are suppressed by cultural norms and often times criticized for not falling into those straight and narrow lines of ‘normalcy’. With that, comes a lot of self-hate, insecurities, embarrassment, and negative effects on our mental health. We are all different in our own right, and that is what makes each of us beautiful. To me, being a strong woman means being kind to yourself and to others. People and society can sometimes be cruel, so the last thing we need is to be hurtful to ourselves. Self-love is SO important. Being a strong woman to me also means supporting other women on their journeys and lifting them up instead of tearing them down. We are all battling something, and we are hands down more powerful together than apart.
Madness To Creation: At Madness To Creation, we focus on mental health and suicide prevention. It’s so important to us that I’ve personally have lost four people to suicide what helps you get through, and you’re a such a strong woman.
JULIANA: First off, my heart goes out to you and the family/friends of the lives who were lost to suicide. I am deeply sorry for the pain you must have gone through. For me personally, I have found a rewarding outlet in music. When I write, I am able to express any pain or hurt I may be feeling in that moment and it gives me the ability to find closure on that specific experience that I went through. I also go to therapy consistently. I’ve been going for years and I always advocate for that because I think it’s a great way to talk about anything that’s on your mind and take specific time to just focus on you and your mental state. I also read a ton of self-help books as well as meditate and practice yoga, because I personally find them extremely helpful. I’ve always found it impactful to work on breathing techniques too because if I ever feel stressed out or anxious, that seems to be one thing that successfully calms me down.
Madness To Creation: What’s the soundtrack to your life, who would narrate it and what band or artist would be featured?
JULIANA.: After a lot of thought, I can confidently say the soundtrack to my life would be the album “~how i’m feeling~” by Lauv. Just like the album name, each song is extremely straight forward and addresses a mix of different emotions. There’s simplicity to every lyric, which I absolutely love because sometimes life is simpler than we give it credit. I also enjoy talking about my feelings, if you couldn’t already tell ;). The realness that Lauv shows in each track is refreshing and I could definitely see this playing as the soundtrack to my life. Will Ferrell would narrate it because I laugh at basically every joke he’s ever made, and let’s be real, laughing is the best medicine and I could always use more of it. And last but not least, Hailee Steinfeld would be the featured artist because I want to be friends with her…
Madness To Creation: What’s the first thing you want to do when this Covid-19 pandemic is over?
JULIANA.: First perform, then travel! I love performing in front of a live audience and now that I have my first few singles out, it only seems right to have that be my next move when Covid ends! I also thoroughly enjoy traveling because I love to explore different cultures and meet new people. Plus, I’m going a little stir crazy in my one-bedroom apartment so a hotel room doesn’t sound too horrible.
Madness To Creation: What’s the thing you love the most in your life? What makes you smile and be happy?
JULIANA.: My family. I genuinely wouldn’t be where I am today without their guidance and support and I’m beyond lucky to have them by my side. I may get annoyed with them randomly, but there’s no doubt in my mind they are what I love most in my life.
Madness To Creation: What else would you like to add in regards to JULIANA.?
JULIANA.: Thank you so much for these amazing questions and your time! I will be releasing more new songs coming up, so I hope you enjoy them and I hope we get to do this again soon! For everyone reading, you can find my music on all streaming platforms and I’m on every social media channel as well. So much love to all you beautiful people!
And there you have it! Check out the Christmas single for “Santa Tell Me” featuring Izzy Pollak and JULIANA. below:
