Q&A: Julius Black
He’s only released two songs so far, but there’s a massive career ahead for alt-pop artist Julius Black who’s already getting recognition from the likes of massive tastemaker Majestic Casual and the iconic Complex magazine. His latest heart-wrenching track “Summer” is just a slice of what we can expect from his debut EP “Dopamine” dropping this Friday 22 January.
We’d love to know a little bit about your musical journey so far from when you first started singing!
I started playing a bunch of instruments at a young age, I started getting really excited about music when I discovered punk rock and hip hop.
That kind of snowballed and I started learning other forms of music and that led to eventually writing my own songs. It wasn’t till around 18 months ago that I started really taking my songwriting seriously. I was living in Auckland, and I was lucky to team up with my good friend and producer Struan Finlay and we started working on a bunch of songs together.
Your latest single “Summer” is a alt-pop masterpiece, with gorgeous vocals and production mixed with surges of disruptive distortion. What inspired the concept of this track?
Thank you! “Summer” was a song that took time! When I first started writing it, I was really frustrated because it was a really sad song but I really liked the barebones. It took a lot of editing to find a clear narrative for such a simple song. It wasn’t until Struan put in those over the top aggressive hits in the chorus that I was convinced it was something worth releasing! It was definitely a lesson for me in terms of being patient and learning to work at things until they take shape and become their own thing.
What were your main highlights working on “Summer”?
I think when it finally started to take shape! I had a week in Auckland to produce and finish 3 songs with Struan that I had already started writing - we knocked out 2 songs in the first 2 days (one of which was “Mirrors”). The rest of the 5 days was literally me and Struan sitting around trying to finish “Summer”.
I can be really weird about showing people my unreleased music, but I remember Dad coming in when I was super frustrated with “Summer” and he told me it was his favourite but he wanted it to be more rock. Me and Struan were immediately disagreed, but then subconsciously it seeped into us and it became super distorted and aggressive.
It was later that Struan added in the chaotic hits and I fell in love with the song. It was a big test of creative perseverance.
Also, a huge congratulations on your stunning debut single “Mirrors” with over 160K streams on Spotify alone! Can you tell us a bit about how this track was born?
Thank you so much! “Mirrors” was probably one of the purist songwriting experiences I’ve ever had writing a song! I was kind of in a weird place in terms of figuring out what I wanted to do with my life and I felt super isolated living in Auckland. I just remember writing most of it in around 30-45 minutes and I refined it with Struan later. It’s very chill and honest and I’m really glad I released it!
We’re so excited to hear more of your music! What can you tell us about your upcoming tracks?
My next release is an EP - it’s is coming out on January 22nd and it’s called “Dopamine”. There’s 5 songs on the EP including the singles that are already out. I worked on them from midway through 2019 till around a few months ago - everything’s done and we’re just waiting to put it out at this point. The goal is to follow it up with another EP not long after around may 2021. I was lucky to make everything with Struan, most of it was just us. I have a song called “Electric Blue” that I got to write with my friend Joe Faris (Ezra Vine) and that was special because he mentored me when I was living in Auckland! I’m super proud of it and really can’t wait for it to come out.
Who are your biggest inspirations in music?
Frank Ocean has always been huge for me! Currently I am really into The 1975, The Japanese House, Phoebe Bridgers, Moses Sumney and also Dominic Fike!
What would you say are some of the biggest challenges starting out as a new artist in the industry
I’m not really sure for other artists but for me personally trying to make things that stand out is the hardest thing. Also setting good healthy goals for yourself and learning to take everything a day at a time.
Who are some of your favourite NZ artists right now and are there any songs in particular that you love or connect with?
I’m a big fan of my friend Terry (Blue Nude), he has a song called “20” that came out over a year ago that really inspired me for my project! We also have studios across the hall from each other and we get Korean food all the time haha. I also love Matthew Young, TEEKS, and my friend Josh Naley (Wells*).
What do you love most about living in New Zealand? Do you have any favourite places to travel to or local spots to visit?
Living in NZ’s great, I used to live in Shanghai and it’s really different for sure. I’m lucky to have a lot of creative friends that live here, also coffee in New Zealand is better than anywhere else. My friend Micah used to take me to Piha when I was living in Auckland! One of my fav places in NZ for sure!
Lastly, if you could say one thing to every person in the world, what would it be?
You could die any day so you might as well just go for what you want haha. Also be kind to people!
Thanks heaps Julius! Make sure to keep up with him on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify & Apple Music!
