Q&A: JULITH Reclaims Her Voice and Her Femininity on Debut EP “This Is A Kindness”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA☆
Photo Credit: Emily Entz
CHANNELING FEMININE RAGE AND RADICAL TRUTH — Across the seven tracks of her debut EP This Is A Kindness, JULITH channels strength, healing, and unapologetic feminine rage into a genre-defying body of work that also became a path toward reclaiming aspects of her femininity she felt had been taken from her before she ever had the chance to define them on her own terms.
Formerly performing under her given name Julia Pratt, JULITH represents a creative rebirth born from the making of her debut EP. The mononym marks a turning point toward radical honesty, artistic autonomy and fearless self-exploration.
“Being a woman and making this project helped me reclaim aspects of my femininity that I felt like were taken from me before I even really had a chance to connect with them on my own terms,” JULITH tells Luna. “I hope that any female listener, honestly, any non-male listener, who dives into this world, feels the freedom and the empowerment to talk about their truths loudly. I hope that anyone listening to this walks away feeling as though their story matters and it deserves to be shared. It deserves to be heard. I want to hear it.”
The latest preview of that transformation arrives with her new single “Right From Left,” a sharp and cathartic track that channels frustration into empowerment, following earlier singles “JAB!,” “Pure Spite” and “Cut From the Sequel.”
“I’m becoming less shameful about so many other areas of my experience, and it’s empowered me to start talking to other people about it,” JULITH says. “I think that there's so much pain in the world, and that's just being honest about it and being forthcoming and being open to share those experiences facilitates that deep healing, hence the project name. This really is a kindness, even though it stings to talk about. That's really what I wanted to step into this new artist project with something that feels almost like an expose of myself through the lens of who I am now.”
Photo Credit: Emily Entz
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
JULITH: A lot of self-reflection and self-examination is what inspires my artistry, especially with this new project, JULITH. It was just inspired from making this EP and delving into parts of myself that I've been a little bit scared to confront and sit with. I think just through that process, I felt so empowered by learning more about who I really am as a person and what got me to where I am today, and viewing it through a lens of just openness and nonjudgment and no shame. I think that's what inspires me, is just creating without shame.
LUNA: What kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for your listeners?
JULITH: I want to create a space and an atmosphere that encourages nonjudgment. I think that's the thing for me. The EP is sonically pretty expansive. It's genre agnostic, which is something that I also love. I don't like locking myself into a box. I like to really expand into all facets of who I am as a person, and continue to develop and explore what that can mean for me as I continue to just become a person in the more embodied version of myself. That's the space that I aim to create, giving room for play and for self-examination in a way that feels really authentic and also fun.
LUNA: “Right From Left” is your latest release under the mononym JULITH. How does this new name reflect your current artistic and personal identity? How has transitioning from Julia Pratt to JULITH influenced your songwriting approach or your willingness to experiment musically?
JULITH: I love that question. I think it's just opened the doors to my artistry. I definitely believe that names hold a lot of power, and they hold a lot of history. Julia Pratt is my given name, and I've been living as Julia my whole life. I think that that came with a lot of preconceived notions within myself about what I was capable of and what I could do. I think even just starting this project under a new name, has just given me permission to continue to play and to explore sides of myself that maybe I didn't really give myself the room to explore beforehand, when I was going under Julia. It allows me to be more free and more raunchy with it, and honest and combative or whatever is coming up at the moment. It allows me to embody that fully without feeling judgment towards myself.
LUNA: You are about to release your debut EP This Is A Kindness next month and huge congratulations! It’s described as both deeply personal and socially aware. What emotional or thematic ground did you feel compelled to explore for your debut?
JULITH: I really wanted to explore the biggest piece of my life that I haven't talked about with people in my life or through music, and that is my experience with sexual abuse, growing up and overcoming that throughout the last couple years of my life. Especially given the state of the world right now and the state that our country is in, I felt really compelled to finally step into that piece of myself again without shame.
I think just even giving myself permission to do that has just created this domino effect throughout my life, where I'm becoming less shameful about so many other areas of of my experience, and it's empowered me to start talking to other people about it, and then just seeing that ripple through the lives of the people that I've talked to about it. It's just really empowering. I think that there's so much pain in the world, and that's just being honest about it and being forthcoming and being open to share those experiences facilitates that deep healing, hence the project name. This really is a kindness, even though it stings to talk about. That's really what I wanted to step into this new artist project with something that feels almost like an expose of myself through the lens of who I am now.
LUNA: I would love to touch more on the creative process behind This Is A Kindness. What did a typical songwriting and recording session look like?
JULITH: I worked on this project with one of my very close friends, Juan Ariza, he executive produced the whole project. I'd say that every session that we had for this EP was just so fun. I think that was the feeling that I remember about it, like we were talking about such heavy emotions and heavy experiences, and yet the room just felt so light and so open. It gave me the space and the power to step into those more uncomfortable moments and still feel like we're all in this together. It was just so beautiful and freeing.
I usually come into the session with a theme that I want to focus on, and so we talk about that a little bit. We mind meld together, and he would start laying down some chords and some instruments, and then it was just so collaborative. We would just talk and then translate our conversation into lyrics for the songs. I think that's why the EP feels so conversational, is because it was based off of real conversations that we were just having in the room and not really filtering ourselves very much. You can feel that freeness and that camaraderie in the music.
LUNA: Do you have a personal favorite song on This Is A Kindness — one that feels closest to your heart or most revealing of who JULITH is right now?
JULITH: “Right From Left” might be that song of the moment. For me, I think looking out at everything that's happening right now in the world and in my community, it's such a strong reminder to follow my own internal compass, because everything around is just so chaotic, and it's really easy to get lost in that noise. That song feels like a really fun just way to reclaim. I feel like that sums up this EP for me, and “Right From Left” in particular is just where I've been sitting emotionally. I have my own compass. I have my own path. I'm pissed off about everything that's happening, and I'm just going to use that to fuel my artistry further and hopefully my mission.
Photo Credit: Emily Entz
LUNA: Are there tracks on the EP that challenged you more than others in terms of vulnerability or experimentation?
JULITH: Definitely “Monsters Out of Men.” That is one of the heaviest songs I've ever written. In the past, when I've written heavy songs, I tend to go for a more heady, flowery language, type of writing vibe and with “Monsters Out of Men,” I just said exactly what I wanted to say. There wasn't really a mincing of words. I wanted to talk about sexual abuse, and I talked about sexual abuse, and there's no way that that could get misconstrued. I think that's the hardest song for me, even to listen to and sing today. I think it's so powerful for that reason, because just every time I listen, it strikes home, and it feels so authentic and so real and so to the point. I'd say that was probably the hardest song to write, and it's still the most poignant one for me.
LUNA: Across the seven tracks, there seems to be a throughline of feminine rage, resilience and self-reflection. How do you hope listeners — especially your femme audience — can connect with or find power in this new era of music from you? What emotions or messages do you want to leave with them?
JULITH: I love that question. First, I'll say I love women. I think that we are the most powerful, magical, mythical beings ever, and we are just divine. I think that is why the patriarchy aims to keep us suppressed in a box, because when we fully realize our power, we are unstoppable. Being a woman and making this project helped me reclaim aspects of my femininity that I felt like were taken from me before I even really had a chance to connect with them on my own terms.
I hope that any female listener, honestly, any non-male listener, who dives into this world, feels the freedom and the empowerment to talk about their truths loudly. I think that the more voices talking about all the shit going on in our world right now, the better. I think that when we're honest with one another, it breeds empathy, and empathy is the thing that really can combat hate, and there's so much hatred going around, but I think that there's more love to give. I hope that anyone listening to this walks away feeling as though their story matters and it deserves to be shared. It deserves to be heard. I want to hear it. I hope that we can be a part of this cycle and this new era of people who are being really blatantly honest about some of the harder truths in our world. I really want to be a part of that.
LUNA: What is fueling your fire right now?
JULITH: I've been on a journey recently through making this project. I became aware of how disconnected I've been from parts of my femininity and my feminine experience, and so I've been taking pole dancing classes recently, and honestly, that has been fueling me so much. I’m able to create and express myself in that space. I feel like the pole community is so welcoming and open, and it's giving me this drive to tap into what it means to reclaim something that has been taken and to embody that power again when it's been stripped from you before in the past. That's been the focus of the new music that I'm creating for anyone who feels like they may have lost pieces of themselves along the way, and encouraging each other that we can reclaim those on our own. That's been something that's been giving me energy recently.
LUNA: How long have you been doing pole for?
JULITH: I literally just started within the last month, and I've just become addicted and it’s my new favorite thing. The experience is so freeing.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
JULITH: I'm feeling really grateful. I'm feeling grateful to have taken the chance on myself to start this new artist project JULITH. I'm feeling grateful for all of the amazing collaborators that I've been able to work with on this project that have encouraged me to keep going during the moments where it felt difficult to and I'm feeling really excited about all of the music I'm making now. This Is A Kindness was written within the last two years to a year and a half ago. I've been sitting with it for a while, and it has just completely changed my life, and continues to change my life. I'm really excited for it to be out in the world, because I feel like it has the power to impact people and to hopefully bring some empowerment and reclamation into other people's lives. Looking forward, I may have another project on the way this year that I am working on. I'm just ready to keep speaking my truth, to keep talking my shit and to keep having fun making things.
LUNA: Is there anything that I didn't ask that you would like to add?
JULITH: I do have a couple music videos that are accompanying this EP that will be out in the next couple of weeks. I just encourage anyone who resonates with the music to also check out the visuals. I feel like they have the same power and reclamation within them. I would just encourage anyone who feels anything for the project to go check that out and to keep an eye out for more visuals coming their way.
