Speaker 1: Hi, guys, I am so excited for you to listen
Speaker 1: to this week's episode because Julia Michael's is my guest,
Speaker 1: which is still crazy to say. Her music help me
Speaker 1: get through a very hard time with my anxiety last year,
Speaker 1: and so it just meant a lot that she agreed
Speaker 1: to come on. UM. This episode was actually recorded in
Speaker 1: two different sessions. The first one was in person, and
Speaker 1: then we did a follow up over the phone just
Speaker 1: a couple of days ago, since she has a lot
Speaker 1: of new stuff going on in her life. I hope
Speaker 1: you guys enjoyed this episode. I'm so happy that you're here.
Speaker 1: I'm happy to be here. Last time I spoke to you,
Speaker 1: it was during the American and I saw you on
Speaker 1: Inner Monologue Part one tours, and I have to say,
Speaker 1: I think that was the best concert I've ever been to.
Speaker 1: I have never cried, laughed, and screamed all in the
Speaker 1: same concert. That makes me so happy. It was like
Speaker 1: after the concerts, the weirdest thing. I felt like took
Speaker 1: a big breath in, but it was like a refreshing thing.
Speaker 1: It was so interesting, like I've never felt that before
Speaker 1: at a concert. That is the most beautiful thing anyone
Speaker 1: could ever say to me, so thank you incredible, Like
Speaker 1: it was the most amazing energy. It was just karaoke
Speaker 1: basically what it was. Now, I'm I really am grateful
Speaker 1: my my fans are, you know. I like to say that,
Speaker 1: like you attract like minded people. So if you're a
Speaker 1: very open, vulnerable, honest person, you're going to attract those open, vulnerable,
Speaker 1: honest people. And that's the that's the kind of energy
Speaker 1: that comes to my shows. And that's the kind of
Speaker 1: energy that I wanted my shows. I want people to
Speaker 1: feel free to have these beautiful cathartic experiences and cry
Speaker 1: and laugh and scream and like really scream, you know,
Speaker 1: like I love so therapeutic. Yeah, because it's also a
Speaker 1: therapeutic for me, you know, Like I love to help people.
Speaker 1: That's my thing, you know, I'm like, I'm a songwriter.
Speaker 1: I like I love to help people. So when I
Speaker 1: get to see I'm helping people in the crowd, like
Speaker 1: they're helping me too. So it's like it's just a
Speaker 1: full circle thing for me. For those who don't know,
Speaker 1: you've written for some of the biggest stars. You've written
Speaker 1: for Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Britney, spears and that's just
Speaker 1: a few. So I'm curious, what is it like, you know,
Speaker 1: writing for so many different artists that have so many
Speaker 1: different styles, how do you connect to them individually? You know,
Speaker 1: I think I think it's just a personal sort of
Speaker 1: connection and then the sonics sort of form around what
Speaker 1: we write. Um, you know, I've I've found that a
Speaker 1: majority of people all sort of have the same problems,
Speaker 1: and you know, we all think the same things. And
Speaker 1: you know, even if you know, like take heartbreak for example,
Speaker 1: like it's something that everybody can talk about. The experiences
Speaker 1: may be different, but it's something that we've all sort
Speaker 1: of experienced, you know. If it's not love, it's you know,
Speaker 1: losing a friend, it's losing a dog or something like that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So there's always something that you can connect to somebody with.
Speaker 1: So it's easy to sort of crush genres because you can,
Speaker 1: you know, you kind of can you can do that
Speaker 1: with anybody. Well, before you were your own artists, you
Speaker 1: work for these people. Was there like a specific moment
Speaker 1: You're like, I'm going to be my own artist, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna be behind the stage anymore and friends center. Yeah, Actually,
Speaker 1: when I wrote Issues that was like the first time
Speaker 1: where I was like, m I think I want something. Actually,
Speaker 1: I had written a song for somebody and I was
Speaker 1: sort of supposed to be on it, and UM, I
Speaker 1: wasn't signed to a label at the time, and UM,
Speaker 1: the label that the song was attached to, decided to
Speaker 1: go with another person, UM to be did it? I did,
Speaker 1: and and UM, yeah, you know, like it wasn't something
Speaker 1: that I originally wanted. And when they told me, just
Speaker 1: for political purposes, they wanted someone that was on their
Speaker 1: label to be a part of the song, I got
Speaker 1: really sad and it made me realize you're like yeah.
Speaker 1: So I was in a session with a good friend
Speaker 1: of mine, Justin Tranter, and I had been in the
Speaker 1: bathroom for a while and he was like, wow, Julie
Speaker 1: has been gone for about forty five minutes. This is
Speaker 1: not like her. And he knocked on the door and
Speaker 1: and he and I let him in and I was crying,
Speaker 1: and he's like, what's going on? And I was like,
Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm I'm just like sad. And he
Speaker 1: was like, well, maybe this is your brain saying you
Speaker 1: know you want something more than you think you do
Speaker 1: when you're just scared. They're just scared of it. And
Speaker 1: so when I wrote Issues, I was like, I'm never
Speaker 1: doing that again. And now you know, now that you've
Speaker 1: wret an issue, I know it's about a breakup. How
Speaker 1: long after you read the song? Did you break up
Speaker 1: with that guy? Because he did not seem like he's
Speaker 1: supported to you the way you're so right? Uh, we
Speaker 1: broke up, Oh dear, we broke but didn't he hear
Speaker 1: the song? And then he was like, oh I'm in trouble. Yes,
Speaker 1: But he wasn't too upset with me because I had
Speaker 1: written it on the on a day where where like
Speaker 1: it was acceptable for him to be like, Okay, I
Speaker 1: deserve this. You know. It was like one of those
Speaker 1: where it's like I get a pass your paths. Well,
Speaker 1: even in all these songs, do you regret ever, Like,
Speaker 1: do you wish you kept one for? You know? I
Speaker 1: wish that you say that one for yourself. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: there's songs that feel more special to me than others.
Speaker 1: But um, if I'm in the studio with that person
Speaker 1: and even if I love it like that's there's like
Speaker 1: I'm not how do you separate that? Um? You know,
Speaker 1: I guess you could you sort of, don't, you know.
Speaker 1: Writing for other people is my first love. That's like
Speaker 1: something that I started with. And there's something so incredible
Speaker 1: to me about having somebody that you just meet trust
Speaker 1: you so much to you know, get their thoughts and
Speaker 1: feelings out on paper and and put it together like
Speaker 1: a little puzzle, you know, and then that builds this
Speaker 1: just this beautiful relationship with somebody, and you know, I
Speaker 1: just love that so much. Um so like for me
Speaker 1: writing for someone someone else and you know you and
Speaker 1: if I love the song, it's like, you know, I
Speaker 1: know that you're going to love this song just as
Speaker 1: much as I do, and you're going to do it
Speaker 1: just as much justice if I did. It's given when
Speaker 1: you're your kids for adoption, but you know that your
Speaker 1: kid is going to a good home, you know. So
Speaker 1: it's when I came up with the idea for this podcast.
Speaker 1: I was going through a really rough time the school
Speaker 1: and I listened to anxiety. It just came out because
Speaker 1: I everyone was talking about it, and for some reason,
Speaker 1: I just burst it into tears. I was like what
Speaker 1: And I've never felt a connection to lyrics like I
Speaker 1: felt with your music. It's truly incredible. And you know
Speaker 1: there are two songs in particular that especially live, Anxiety
Speaker 1: and Happy. Those songs Live were amazing one. So I'm
Speaker 1: curious that your song Anxiety, which features Selena Gomez. UM,
Speaker 1: I know you've talked openly about you having anxiety. What
Speaker 1: was the story about creating that song in particular? Well,
Speaker 1: when I was about nineteen now, I used to have
Speaker 1: panic attacks every day. Panic attacks are the worst thing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: They're terrifying, and I used to have them all the time,
Speaker 1: literally like everyday fetal position. I thought like if I
Speaker 1: stopped rocking, I yeah, I would pass out or like
Speaker 1: something would happen to me. Do you feel like the
Speaker 1: word Like when I've had it before, it feels like
Speaker 1: like things are just like closing in like that you
Speaker 1: feel like claustrophobic. My hands shake, Mike gets sweaty, Like
Speaker 1: it's the weirdest feeling. It's bizarre, and it's like all
Speaker 1: in your mind. It's so wild, And um, I was
Speaker 1: having them so much, and you know, I always try
Speaker 1: to be really honest with everybody, you know, like about
Speaker 1: how I'm feeling and what I'm going through. And I
Speaker 1: always knew I wanted to write a song about anxiety.
Speaker 1: And I think it just took being in the right
Speaker 1: place with the right people and me feeling comfortable to
Speaker 1: talk about it with those people. And you know, I
Speaker 1: wanted it to be sort of like, um, I didn't
Speaker 1: want it to be were heavy, you know, I almost
Speaker 1: wanted it to be like slightly comedic, like because like,
Speaker 1: you know, I just sort of wanted to like laugh
Speaker 1: at myself, like I am that kind of person that
Speaker 1: will like get ready and and then like no, I
Speaker 1: don't want to go. And then like I see all
Speaker 1: my friends out having a good time. It's like they
Speaker 1: went without me. Yeah, I mean like and it's like,
Speaker 1: why are you doing that? You're so ridiculous. You were invited,
Speaker 1: So like I just wanted to like talk about those
Speaker 1: silly things that you do when you have anxiety, and
Speaker 1: like it's it seems like a big deal in the
Speaker 1: moment when you look back, like this is comedic. It
Speaker 1: doesn't logically make sense. It doesn't. Okay your first verse,
Speaker 1: can you sing it so people can know it or
Speaker 1: I can read it? Okay, it's my I just try
Speaker 1: to be social. I make all these friends with friends
Speaker 1: with plans and hope they call and canceled. Then I
Speaker 1: overthink about the things I'm missing now I'm wishing I
Speaker 1: was with them. To a logical person, that does not
Speaker 1: make sense at all. But the person you're like, oh,
Speaker 1: I totally get that. That's been there, done that. That
Speaker 1: line like it's it depicts it so perfectly. Thank you.
Speaker 1: It doesn't make sense. But why wouldn't you just go out?
Speaker 1: Did it just like did it just like come out
Speaker 1: like out of like it was so easy to write?
Speaker 1: Were those lines hard to you know, figure out? No,
Speaker 1: it sort of was pieced together pretty fast. I think
Speaker 1: because it's something that I deal with on a daily basis.
Speaker 1: We were just sort of talking about and all and
Speaker 1: the people that I wrote it with two are like
Speaker 1: highly neurotic, So I think, like it's just a perfect
Speaker 1: It just like made it so easy for us to
Speaker 1: just like go back and forth with things that we
Speaker 1: do on a daily basis that we're we just like
Speaker 1: why do we do those things? How would you describe
Speaker 1: anxiety to someone who doesn't have it? It's sort of
Speaker 1: feels like, well, you know, everybody experiences anxiety completely different,
Speaker 1: but for me, um, it's sort of feels like an
Speaker 1: earthquake that just won't stop, like and and almost like
Speaker 1: there's like a million natural disasters going on in your
Speaker 1: body and there's no cure for it, like you have
Speaker 1: no idea how to fix it, and it's it can
Speaker 1: be so overwhelming. But I'm not going to therapy and
Speaker 1: it changed my life. Same. Yeah, Okay, I think it's
Speaker 1: so underrated. It's so underrated, and I think people are
Speaker 1: afraid to go because it makes them think they're crazy. Yes,
Speaker 1: you know, like there's something wrong with them. But it's
Speaker 1: the opposite because you're just wanting to better yourself. What
Speaker 1: strategies that have you learned that have helped you? I
Speaker 1: have learned mostly to talk myself out of things. Um.
Speaker 1: That's hard to do, especially when you're in your own head.
Speaker 1: It's hard to do. UM. Like when I get really
Speaker 1: anxious before I go on stage or something, you know,
Speaker 1: I go, Okay, why am I nervous? Or like, why
Speaker 1: do I feel like this? It's probably because you know,
Speaker 1: like X, Y and Z from when I was eight
Speaker 1: and that was then and that's not now and I'm
Speaker 1: okay now, you know, or like if I've been doing
Speaker 1: so much and I'm just like super anxious, Like why
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, okay, I haven't slept, blah blah blah blah. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm I need to let my people know that I
Speaker 1: need a second to sleep and take a breather and
Speaker 1: then I can, you know, come about this much better,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's yeah, I've learned a lot of
Speaker 1: like little baby coping mechanisms. Yeah. I feel like those
Speaker 1: are the little things that help you get through the day.
Speaker 1: I think of anxiety is like, okay, like when you
Speaker 1: have it, like you always have it such to some degree.
Speaker 1: I think I think of it like a glass of
Speaker 1: water and the waters like half filled, and that's just
Speaker 1: it being moderate. When something that makes you anxious, it's
Speaker 1: like the water overflows and it comes out, and that's
Speaker 1: the anxiety. And that's an anxiety. It's like that's how
Speaker 1: my picture, and that's a that's a really good, good
Speaker 1: mental picture. Right. I feel like, okay, it's really good.
Speaker 1: Do you remember the first time you ever experienced it? Um?
Speaker 1: You know, I was about seventeen. I had just signed
Speaker 1: my first publishing deal, and I think I experienced like
Speaker 1: this immense pressure to perform and um, and then the
Speaker 1: more songs that I had written for other people. The
Speaker 1: more pressure I started to put on myself because I
Speaker 1: was like, you know, I feel like people are looking
Speaker 1: at me a certain way and they know I can
Speaker 1: write a certain thing, and if I don't go in
Speaker 1: there and I don't do what they're expecting, like, am
Speaker 1: I like, am I gonna ever work again? Am I
Speaker 1: going to be able to ever write a good song again?
Speaker 1: And you know, yeah, and I it just overwhelmed me
Speaker 1: so much that I just started having them all the time.
Speaker 1: For someone who's debating on going to therapy, what do
Speaker 1: you say to them? Go seriously? Yeah, no, literally if
Speaker 1: if you like, you know, it takes somebody with a
Speaker 1: lot of courage and a lot of self awareness to
Speaker 1: be like, you know, I think I really need to
Speaker 1: talk to somebody. My dad actually was like super against therapy,
Speaker 1: super against it, and I think that's a generational thing.
Speaker 1: And um, when he saw just like how much it
Speaker 1: changed me, it actually it made him want to go.
Speaker 1: So he started going to therapy and it it opened
Speaker 1: up his mind about so many from things. And you know,
Speaker 1: now he does the same thing. He'll talk himself through
Speaker 1: things and stuff like that, and I just think it's
Speaker 1: super insightful It helps you figure out who you are
Speaker 1: and why you have, you know, these problems that you
Speaker 1: deal with on a daily basis, And I think it's beautiful. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I completely agree with you. You did a
Speaker 1: Cosmopologan interview UM and he talked about how m you
Speaker 1: didn't want to live your life in fear and you
Speaker 1: want to try things. And I'm sure, is there one
Speaker 1: thing that you're still like fearful of that you just
Speaker 1: haven't got the courage to you quite yet? For a
Speaker 1: long time? Performing was that for me? But you I
Speaker 1: you know, conquering your fears, man, it's the thing. You know.
Speaker 1: When I saw you on stage during the toy it
Speaker 1: was just like you could see how happy where it
Speaker 1: was genuine. Well, you know, I've I've found with performing
Speaker 1: that the thing that makes me feel really calm is
Speaker 1: when people sting with me. So that concert must have
Speaker 1: been everyone say like those those moments for me are
Speaker 1: just like Okay, I can breathe now, you know, Like,
Speaker 1: I think there's a big part of me that feels
Speaker 1: like what if they don't like I feel very like
Speaker 1: alone and isolated and like they're trying to figure out
Speaker 1: if they like me or not. And that can be
Speaker 1: like so scary. It's like a blind date with six people.
Speaker 1: You know, that's actually what it is. Yeah, oh my god,
Speaker 1: that must be terrifying, be really scary. But then when
Speaker 1: you see everyone singing with you, you're just like, Okay,
Speaker 1: they liked me. So, like, I know you got over
Speaker 1: your fear, and I know you talked about how you
Speaker 1: had it in a panic attack at the Billboard. Ward,
Speaker 1: how did you how did you get back on stage
Speaker 1: after that? Because like, I don't know if I could
Speaker 1: have done that, because like that just seems it's, you know,
Speaker 1: the worst thing to overcome. I have run away, I've
Speaker 1: hidden in staircases. People have had to try and hunt
Speaker 1: me down before performances that after the Billboard Yeah, um,
Speaker 1: but you know you just keep trying again, you know,
Speaker 1: like I want to conquer fears. I don't want to
Speaker 1: be afraid, you know. I think that's a big part
Speaker 1: of anxiety. It's it's just all based on fear and
Speaker 1: also the fear of yeah, of course, And and I
Speaker 1: think also people are always afraid to to reach their
Speaker 1: full potential, so they'll you know, sabotage things, so they'll
Speaker 1: create problems in their heads. That aren't there, and you
Speaker 1: know all that stuff, and I just have always wanted
Speaker 1: to conquer fears. I don't want to live in fear.
Speaker 1: I think one of the reasons why your music is
Speaker 1: so relatable to so many people because you know, you
Speaker 1: don't try away from stigmas. You talk about everything mental health,
Speaker 1: you know, anxiety, depression, sex, all of it, and I
Speaker 1: think you just normalize it in a fun way. So
Speaker 1: in a lot of songs you talk about love and heartbreak.
Speaker 1: I'm curious. I'm sixteen, never been in love. I love
Speaker 1: the idea of it. How would you describe it love?
Speaker 1: Oh boy? You could just because I just want to
Speaker 1: imagine it, like close your eyes, can imagine what it is, okay, okay.
Speaker 1: Imagine going on a roller coaster, okay, okay, and you're
Speaker 1: about to like get up to the drop like it's coming,
Speaker 1: and you're like, oh my gosh, like this is happening.
Speaker 1: I don't I'm a little scared, but like I know
Speaker 1: this is probably gonna be really fun and blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: And then when you drop, instead of like that like
Speaker 1: horrible like throw up feeling, you feel like butterflies, like
Speaker 1: like going through your whole body and like all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, like weird hearts are like flying out of
Speaker 1: your eyes and you're just like, this is just the magic,
Speaker 1: like magical feeling on the planet. You should write a
Speaker 1: song called roller Coaster and it should just be that
Speaker 1: totally honestly, maybe their love is a little bit like
Speaker 1: roller coaster, lots of lots of twist and turns. Do
Speaker 1: you remember the first time you ever experienced love? Um? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was probably around eighteen, I think. And I met
Speaker 1: my first boyfriend who worked at a coffee shop and
Speaker 1: he was making my latte. That's how it always started, right,
Speaker 1: It's such a move, it's so l a. It's like
Speaker 1: such a movie, a movie about it, right, Um yeah.
Speaker 1: And I met him when I was eighteen, and and yeah,
Speaker 1: we broke up when I was twenty. Is that your
Speaker 1: first heartbreak was my first? No, not really. I think
Speaker 1: my first heartbreak, my first real real heartbreak, came after that.
Speaker 1: I was like super in love with someone for three years,
Speaker 1: which is the guy wrote issues about. And I think
Speaker 1: when we broke up, that was the one that was
Speaker 1: like I can't get out of bad, I can't sleep,
Speaker 1: I can't eat, I can't do anything, and that one
Speaker 1: was pretty crushing. Did your heart actually hurt me a heartbreak? Yes?
Speaker 1: I think it's the closest thing to like to grief,
Speaker 1: like losing somebody, only you have to see them around
Speaker 1: with their new girlfriend. Like definitely. It's one of the
Speaker 1: deepest pains I think you can you can, you can
Speaker 1: feel but worth it because love is great. So you
Speaker 1: wrote us on body, which I think it is so
Speaker 1: vulnerable and beautiful and I'm curious people at all ages
Speaker 1: are self conscious with themselves. How do you get through it?
Speaker 1: And how do you love? Oh, that's a good question.
Speaker 1: It's a deep question. Um. You know that's something that
Speaker 1: I still struggle with every day. I think with social
Speaker 1: media culture and makes it really easy to be insecure.
Speaker 1: You know, you click on your suggested posts and it's
Speaker 1: a model in turks and cacos, and you're just like,
Speaker 1: I don't look like that, and I know that like
Speaker 1: this kind of person or whatever like likes that or
Speaker 1: wants that, and I'm not that. And you know there's
Speaker 1: things that like, you know and mean girls. Have you
Speaker 1: seen mean girls? You know when they're like looking in
Speaker 1: the mirror and they're like, oh, like my nail beds suck,
Speaker 1: and you're like, my thighs are bad, right like you
Speaker 1: you over analyze every part of your body. And you know,
Speaker 1: I I wrote it because I was just like I
Speaker 1: can't be the only one that like completely picks myself apart,
Speaker 1: you know, And and I do do the things like
Speaker 1: in the second verse, it says, you know, um, like
Speaker 1: I'm sorry I don't let you go out with your friends.
Speaker 1: And it's like, so I put a sweatshirt on because
Speaker 1: you gave up, um watch TV still in your makeup,
Speaker 1: and you stayed in it until you waked up. You
Speaker 1: wiped it off and we made up. And it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, you in that like toxic inner turmoil with yourself.
Speaker 1: And that's something I definitely do all the time. Um.
Speaker 1: But you know, I think the thing that really helps
Speaker 1: is not being on social media. I think social media
Speaker 1: really makes you question lots of things, like things you're
Speaker 1: doing in your life and the things that you eat,
Speaker 1: and the things and like the way that you look.
Speaker 1: And I think it helps. How do you think social
Speaker 1: media plays a role in anxiety and all that? I
Speaker 1: think it plays a huge because for me, I think
Speaker 1: so too. I know a lot people that are really depressed,
Speaker 1: um because of social media. You know, like they see
Speaker 1: their friends doing, you know, some sort of amazing something
Speaker 1: and they're not a part of it. Or like they
Speaker 1: see their friends with their other friends and they're out
Speaker 1: at a party or something like why was I not invited?
Speaker 1: Am I not good enough to like hang out with people?
Speaker 1: And you know, it's like there's so many things that
Speaker 1: it contributes to that I think, I completely agree can
Speaker 1: be very negative. And the thing is, especially with snatch,
Speaker 1: I don't think Snapchat has talked about enough, especially teens
Speaker 1: and like young people. Um is that snap maps you
Speaker 1: can do? You know what? Like snap maps you can
Speaker 1: share your location so people you can see where anyone is,
Speaker 1: so you can see you in the last time someone
Speaker 1: is on. So let's say someone snatchats you and you
Speaker 1: snatch with them, like, hey, h do you want to
Speaker 1: hang out? You can if you go on snap maps
Speaker 1: and there are locations on you could see that these
Speaker 1: two people are together in this moment and they're on
Speaker 1: their phone and they're not responding to horrifying? How toxic?
Speaker 1: Is that? Horrifying? That is so horrified? I feel like
Speaker 1: that part isn't talked about enough because like it's creepy,
Speaker 1: like you can see people's locations. Obviously you can turn
Speaker 1: it off, but people choose to have it on and
Speaker 1: you can see so and so and so and so
Speaker 1: are together. They were on their phone two minutes ago,
Speaker 1: you sent that five minutes ago, so they definitely saw
Speaker 1: they're not responding. It's that endless cycle. I just have
Speaker 1: to shut it. Or like when you're when you check
Speaker 1: your d MS on Instagram and you respond to someone
Speaker 1: and it's seen, its like respond but knowing that they
Speaker 1: saw in their not responding. Oh, it's the worst, so
Speaker 1: so much anxiety. It's so bad, especially like it's someone
Speaker 1: you talked to or whatever comments on your photo and
Speaker 1: they don't follow, and you were there, why didn't you follow?
Speaker 1: It's like it's that toxic even that you know. It's
Speaker 1: like people like can check how many followers they have
Speaker 1: every day and like they get like so consumed over like, oh,
Speaker 1: this picture didn't get as many likes as this picture.
Speaker 1: Why didn't that happen? Okay, I'm going to delete it.
Speaker 1: I've done that. It's so hard to get not get
Speaker 1: in that cycle. So what I did actually did this
Speaker 1: last week? I turned off my notifications because I was
Speaker 1: just I posted them and I was like, you know what.
Speaker 1: I talked to my brother about it. It's like Mark, like,
Speaker 1: I don't know what to do. Like people aren't seeing this.
Speaker 1: He goes, why do you care? Do you like the photo? Like? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he goes, keep it up, Like who cares? More like it?
Speaker 1: I think social media's pros and cons. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: like I get to talk to people all over the world.
Speaker 1: I get to, you know, really connect with people from everywhere,
Speaker 1: and you know, most of the time when I do
Speaker 1: meet and greets, I know a majority of them by
Speaker 1: name because I run all my socials and I talked
Speaker 1: to all my Twitter fans all the time, you know,
Speaker 1: So that part of it is amazing. And I think
Speaker 1: you've definitely your community that you've built. It's definitely I
Speaker 1: think a group of just non judgment of people that
Speaker 1: it's I think it's so beautiful. I think that energy
Speaker 1: just like a resonate, especially at the concert. You know,
Speaker 1: I've seen you on social media and you love drawing.
Speaker 1: I love drawing too, So we are going to draw
Speaker 1: a few shirts and then maybe one of your fans
Speaker 1: will win them. That sounds super fun. I'm really down
Speaker 1: for that. We have an option of hats and shirts
Speaker 1: whichever you'd like. We have markers, many colors. Let me
Speaker 1: do the hat. Okay, I'll do a hat with you.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do the hat. Yeah. We have some fabric markers.
Speaker 1: Julia is choosing pink. I think I'm gonna go for blue. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure. What are you gonna draw? Um? I
Speaker 1: don't know. I like drawing, like these little doodle characters. Okay,
Speaker 1: I might, I might do that. Okay, I feel like
Speaker 1: we should switch halfway, so then we could do one
Speaker 1: half one half and I'm super dunblant and we can
Speaker 1: sign it afterwards. I'm super down fort Okay, let's do it.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go a little squiggle line. Okay, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do a heart right over here in the corner. What
Speaker 1: is your songwriting process? Like? Well, it varies. It's very
Speaker 1: and it depends really. If I'm by myself, sometimes I'll all, Um,
Speaker 1: I'll just go on the booth and I'll just sing
Speaker 1: down what I feel. Um. If I'm with somebody, it's
Speaker 1: all about listening and being you know, like attentive to
Speaker 1: their feelings and their thoughts. Um. Yeah, it really kind
Speaker 1: of just very Sometimes I'll go in with an idea.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I'll I won't go on with an idea at all,
Speaker 1: and then three hours later I'll come out with something
Speaker 1: so completely different than I anticipated. Yeah. Wait, I want
Speaker 1: to ask you a question. Okay, how did you get
Speaker 1: started in like interviews? Okay? So I was writing for
Speaker 1: my school newspaper. I was at the end of seventh grade. Amazing.
Speaker 1: And then they have a family friend who um works
Speaker 1: at my Heart. She's like you kind of a good
Speaker 1: like you have a good personality, Like what do you
Speaker 1: want to do like a test thing? And I was
Speaker 1: like yes, but like okay um. And then it was
Speaker 1: with Jordan Fish Sure before he released his first EP
Speaker 1: or anything. Incredible um and that kind of started it.
Speaker 1: And then I did some other stuff. And then in
Speaker 1: September of I was at I Heart Music Festival in
Speaker 1: Las Vegas and I saw Jordan and he introduced me
Speaker 1: to Phil Radio and then EVER said and love him.
Speaker 1: It's just that's what's happened. That's incredible, That is so magical.
Speaker 1: That is he is an incredible person. Phil. You know
Speaker 1: who you are. Phil. We love you the best honestly. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I find I think, you know, this is
Speaker 1: like therapeutic for me. It's fun and I get inspiration
Speaker 1: from it. Like what where do you get inspirations? Um?
Speaker 1: You know, I get a lot of my inspiration through conversation.
Speaker 1: I think, um, you know, listening to people. And I
Speaker 1: know some people that get like inspired by going on
Speaker 1: road trips, are going to a cafe and sitting down,
Speaker 1: you know, somewhere and you know that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: But I think a lot of my inspiration comes from
Speaker 1: relationships and just listening to people. It's so therapeutic. I
Speaker 1: feel like marthy Craft is so underrated. Agreed. What's the
Speaker 1: best advice you've ever received? Um? I think the best advice,
Speaker 1: which is so interesting now that I think about it,
Speaker 1: was from um it was from Chester, from Lincoln Park.
Speaker 1: He would tell me not to take things too seriously
Speaker 1: and to have fun, which is I received. Have fun. Yeah,
Speaker 1: not take life too seriously. I think that's you know,
Speaker 1: I think means even more to me now. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I have a deep question for you. Go for so
Speaker 1: years to come and you've created many more albums, probably
Speaker 1: when if your Grammy's how would you like to be
Speaker 1: known as an artist. Um, I think I'd like to
Speaker 1: be known as someone that's sort of stuck to her guns.
Speaker 1: Was always like always try to you know, be honest
Speaker 1: and open and um, you know, I just want to
Speaker 1: be authentic. I think I think that's the most dumb.
Speaker 1: I think you're doing that. Well, thank you very much.
Speaker 1: I try very much. I try. Okay, I think I'm done. Okay,
Speaker 1: do you want to switch sides? Yeah? Okay, I think
Speaker 1: I've think I've I've done it. I did some color
Speaker 1: and hearts and smiley faces. Oh my goodness, Julia, I
Speaker 1: feel like this could be another career for you. I
Speaker 1: actually think we're going to start making some rich here
Speaker 1: with those I think you should, which I'm pretty excited about.
Speaker 1: What's okay? What's your spirit in all? I feel like
Speaker 1: my spirit animal would be like a person. Do you
Speaker 1: know who Goldie Hawn is? Of course? Okay, I think
Speaker 1: Goldie Hawn is my spirit? Well, how did you come
Speaker 1: protect recusion? Very curious. I just think she's really vibrant
Speaker 1: and like and she's just really spunky and I just
Speaker 1: love that about her. I just I just I think
Speaker 1: Goldie Haunt is my spirit. No, I wish. Okay, if
Speaker 1: you met her, what would you say? Um? I would
Speaker 1: tell her that her and her me and her daughter
Speaker 1: getting mistaken for each other. Um, and that I'm pretty
Speaker 1: sure I'm related to her and some I really wouldn't
Speaker 1: surprise me. I think that's so interesting. Yeah, she's so awesome.
Speaker 1: What would you tell your younger Nothing? I just see
Speaker 1: what happens, you know. I feel like if I had
Speaker 1: advice when I was a kid, I one't have made
Speaker 1: the mistakes that I've made, and my path would be
Speaker 1: completely different. So I I don't think I would tell
Speaker 1: my my younger self anything. I think I just let
Speaker 1: myself learn. I think everything sort of happens for a reason.
Speaker 1: But I'm sort of glad that I've learned how I've
Speaker 1: learned the way that I've learned it. Okay, I'm done.
Speaker 1: This is really cute. We've we've done it. We've done it.
Speaker 1: We've done good. That's so beautiful and we've did it.
Speaker 1: So if you want to see what it looks like,
Speaker 1: I will be posting on my Instagram, So make sure
Speaker 1: you check it out and you guys can possibly win it.
Speaker 1: So wait, look at that. How would you say? How
Speaker 1: has music changed your life question. Oh my gosh, no,
Speaker 1: it's amazing. Um, music has changed my life in so
Speaker 1: many ways. I mean, for me, it's it's an outlet
Speaker 1: of expression. Um, you know, I've I tend to be
Speaker 1: a very non confrontational person. So for me, you know,
Speaker 1: writing is just as cathartic for me now as performing is.
Speaker 1: And um, I mean, music is such a huge part
Speaker 1: of my life. I don't even know what I would
Speaker 1: do without it. Would you ever write a book? Oh?
Speaker 1: I don't know, See I always I always think about, um,
Speaker 1: like there's so many different types of writing, but but book,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I have the capacity to write
Speaker 1: a book because I'm as your writing is so like
Speaker 1: well beautiful the way that I write, I guess, like
Speaker 1: so like movies. I love to watch movies, Like I
Speaker 1: like watching movies sometimes more than I like watching shows,
Speaker 1: because I like that it's like everything sort of condensed
Speaker 1: into one like two our movie. And I think it's
Speaker 1: because my brain has been trained to write, you know,
Speaker 1: like a certain amount of sentences and then into a
Speaker 1: song and you know it's like it's three minutes, but
Speaker 1: it takes you know, it can take sometimes six hours
Speaker 1: to write and you know that three minutes has to
Speaker 1: be impact full enough to make a statement, which is
Speaker 1: the same thing as a movie. You know, you get
Speaker 1: two hours to tell the story, and it tried to
Speaker 1: make some sort of impactful statement. Um, so like for me,
Speaker 1: that's how I don't know. I don't know. Music is
Speaker 1: just amazing. It's just amazing and it's changed everything about
Speaker 1: my life. Well, I don't know, have you ever seen
Speaker 1: Hamilton's I haven't yet, Okay, but book, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Have you musical probably that I would love to try,
Speaker 1: But book. Have you listened to the Hamilton sound check? Yes? Okay,
Speaker 1: so you know brilliant it is. Oh, I mean I
Speaker 1: feel like you should. I could totally see you and
Speaker 1: lit my mom, we're into the creator that doing. Like though,
Speaker 1: that collaboration I feel like would be incredible. I've never
Speaker 1: attempted to do musical, but that's something that I feel
Speaker 1: like in the future. Yeah, she did Waitress and I
Speaker 1: actually saw Waitress and it was super super good. And um,
Speaker 1: I've seen like Deer Evan Hansen, which is like the
Speaker 1: best musical I think I've ever seen. No musical I
Speaker 1: would totally do. That was my initial conversation with Julia
Speaker 1: from late last year, and she is simply the best.
Speaker 1: Since then, she's had a lot going on and I
Speaker 1: wanted you to hear about it directly from her, So
Speaker 1: we caught up on the phone just a couple of
Speaker 1: days ago. We talked about what's to come in her
Speaker 1: dream claps and falling in love. One of the biggest
Speaker 1: things that's changed since we talked last is that you
Speaker 1: found love. Yeah, that's so weird, dude. Okay, so you
Speaker 1: wrote a lot about your toxic relationships and now you're
Speaker 1: freaking in love in a healthy relationship. What is that
Speaker 1: difference like and has your songwriting changed? It's super different. Um.
Speaker 1: It's funny because a lot of the topics that I
Speaker 1: usually right, I just can't and I'm just like, who
Speaker 1: am I now? No? But it's it's wonderful, you know.
Speaker 1: You you sort of adapt your you sort of adapt
Speaker 1: yourself to your surroundings. And when you're in a constant
Speaker 1: state of toxicity, that's just sort of where you think
Speaker 1: you're always meant to live. And then you meet somebody
Speaker 1: that completely changes your mind about everything, and you had
Speaker 1: no idea that it could even be that lovely and
Speaker 1: it's it's such a it's such a it's such a
Speaker 1: mind fuck in a great way. I don't mean to cuss,
Speaker 1: but it is. It's such a mind fuck in a
Speaker 1: great way. I can only imagine. And also you get
Speaker 1: to sing with him too, and you have a song
Speaker 1: with him, so thats so when you perform it, that
Speaker 1: just must make it so much more special. It does,
Speaker 1: and it makes it that much more special because I've
Speaker 1: definitely done songs with other x is in the past,
Speaker 1: and this one like just feels right different. It just
Speaker 1: feels different, and it's great. And I hope he doesn't
Speaker 1: break up with me. I'm sure because you were a
Speaker 1: literal angel. Oh thanks, my love. So okay, not only
Speaker 1: has twenty story, but you also just released a song
Speaker 1: with Diblo heartless I did. You are a busy, busy woman.
Speaker 1: I try, I try, Sammy. I mean, I can only imagine.
Speaker 1: How many songs have you written so far in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: I don't even know, probably about We're only one month in,
Speaker 1: I know, so that's crazy. I toured for seven months
Speaker 1: last year and I didn't really get the chance to
Speaker 1: be home and and write and just be in my
Speaker 1: zone and now I'm not touring this year so far,
Speaker 1: and I'm just home and I'm writing and I'm and
Speaker 1: I just it feels good. It feels good to just
Speaker 1: be back with all my friends and just creating again.
Speaker 1: So I want to just be in the studio as
Speaker 1: much as possib but while I can. Okay, so you're
Speaker 1: writing a lot. Could there be music coming or an
Speaker 1: Internet three or a new album. I don't know if
Speaker 1: I'm going to do a Part three. I hope I'm
Speaker 1: going to do an album. I don't know what I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do, but I'm definitely gonna put out some more
Speaker 1: music and and just you know, like you try new things,
Speaker 1: you know, just be expansive with my creativity. Yeah. One
Speaker 1: of my goals is to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. Yes,
Speaker 1: I love that. So what's one thing that you want
Speaker 1: to do that you haven't done in that either makes
Speaker 1: you anxious or you want to push yourself to do.
Speaker 1: I think I want to push myself to kind of
Speaker 1: do more genres. I think doing this country pop song
Speaker 1: with Morgan and Diplow has been so cool, and I
Speaker 1: love just the combining of worlds. I think it's so
Speaker 1: much fun. And you know, we're in a time where
Speaker 1: we can do those things. We can, you know, push
Speaker 1: the boundary reason, say what we want and and blend
Speaker 1: all kinds of different sounds and perspectives. And I think
Speaker 1: that's so fun. So I think, I think is going
Speaker 1: to be just the year of of trying different things
Speaker 1: in different sounds and different genres with people that I love. Okay,
Speaker 1: So to put it on the universe dream collab, Um
Speaker 1: dream collab, I think probably Chance the Rapper or Rosalia.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, I that would be incredible. I would
Speaker 1: die or both at the same time. Imagine Sammy, Holy
Speaker 1: sh it, wait start writing. I'll start writing a picture
Speaker 1: to that. I need to manifest. To Sammy, I need
Speaker 1: to manifest exactly, That's what do. I made a vision
Speaker 1: board and that's what I'm doing perfect, Julia. I cannot
Speaker 1: stress how much you have just changed my life, not
Speaker 1: just with your music, but this podcast won't be happening
Speaker 1: without you. And I'm so so so grateful, and well,
Speaker 1: I believe in you so much, and I'm so i'll
Speaker 1: be You're living out your dreams and I know how
Speaker 1: busy you are, so thank you for taking the time
Speaker 1: to town of course, I love you, dude. I love
Speaker 1: you dude too. I hopefully will see you soon. Yes,
Speaker 1: please hit me up man, of course. All right, love
Speaker 1: you Annie, bye bye. I just want to thank Julia
Speaker 1: Michaels again for coming on my podcast. It means the
Speaker 1: absolute world to me, and just make sure you follow
Speaker 1: her on all our socials. It's at Julia Michaels and
Speaker 1: also follow me on Instagram It's at It's Sammy J.
Speaker 1: That's I T S S A M M Y J
Speaker 1: A y E. I also recommend you follow our podcast
Speaker 1: account if you guys want to get those hats, that's
Speaker 1: Sammy J. Dot. Let's be real, all right, you guys.
Speaker 1: I'll see you next week. By