WISHING ON A SHOOTING STAR: THE ARTISTIC POWERHOUSE KNOWN AS JULIA BHATT
by Catherine Spino
I’m just going to cut to the chase: Julia Bhatt is a remarkable artist.
For those of you unfamiliar with the name, Julia Bhatt is a 19 year old Miami based singer-songwriter chasing after what feels like an impossible dream: to get big and to get noticed in a world full of viral celebrities. She speaks about these needs and the anxieties that come with them in her new single “1:30”. Within seconds of the song, Bhatt draws us into her world with modern pop cadences, addictive beats and vulnerable lyrics like “maybe I can make it far, make it far enough to help my mom and buy my dad a car”. Bhatt sings about the frustration of this brave new world of social media, of not “[being] as pretty as the others” who have made it big, of being pushed down for her individuality that doesn’t seem to fit within the confines of a viral artist and the pressures of going viral to justify one’s art. The single contains the maturity, poetry and wit reminiscent of Lorde’s knock out 2013 album Pure Heroine. Bhatt’s line “Ain't it rich, ain't it funny we watch other people live” carries the same jaded humor as Lorde’s famous aside “I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air, so there”. Once you settle into Bhatt’s story, it’s over; “1:30” is aptly named after the song’s time stamp, one that I find too short. Bhatt’s impressive pacing of the single and raw lyrics had me hitting repeat so I could sit with that one minute and thirty seconds just a little bit longer.
The music video was animated by Madyn Cierra, an artist who is a personal friend of Bhatt’s sister. When asked why she chose this artist, Bhatt shared that she loves promoting her friends' work, that there’s a certain intimacy of working with someone you know. The connection shared between Bhatt and Cierra coupled with Bhatt’s lyrics creates an incredibly intimate effect, similar to visiting your best friend's house in middle school and seeing what art or posters are hanging on their walls.
“1:30” is a departure from Bhatt’s “known” voice and I say “known voice” with hesitation because Bhatt has already mastered so many different sounds within her discography. She boasts being raised on an expansive musical diet and it shows. She brings the swagger of late 2000 vocalists like Lily Allen and Nelly Furtado in her past singles “Marco” and “I’m Cool”. In her live Sugarshack Sessions, her music is stripped down to just her acoustic guitar and she sings with the ease and soul of a young Amy Winehouse. Bhatt even covers Winehouse’s “Valerie” during the live session, approaching the Winehouse staple with a deft intimacy I greatly enjoyed. One of her most impressive singles, “Tall”, was inspired by Julian Casablancas’ side project The Voidz. Bhatt remarked that she loves their sound, “it’s messy in a way, it’s hard rock, it’s tropical, it’s weird as fuck”. She took that energy and ran with it, creating a single that peppers tropical influences with rock melodies that provide the perfect canvas for her crooning vocals to soar. Bhatt has mastered this powerful balance of working with different rhythmic and tonal movements while honoring her authenticity as an artist. You can recognize her through every song she sings, whether it is about the colorful neighborhood she grew up in or the anxiety to break away from the ever watchful eyes of social media. That daringness to explore shades of herself through different musical movements is a bold move and one that simply cannot go unnoticed.
Bhatt brought this incredible, candid wisdom to the table when I spoke to her about her career. When speaking of going viral, that virtual shooting star that only happens to a select group of Tik Tok usernames, she is incredibly blunt but equally level headed in her response: “You never know, tomorrow I could go viral or I never go viral and my career could never take off”. She is currently working a day job as a social media manager but that’s not to say Bhatt doesn’t have faith in her own work. It merely shows how the industry has shifted in kickstarting careers when one’s window to the world is through a screen (and not a stage) for the past year and a half. Bhatt understands the reality she’s living in: a reality based on likes and influencer culture, not necessarily raw talent coming from someone who isn’t Addison Ray. She remarks, “People just blow up all of a sudden… I can't do a [Tik Tok] dance and I can’t focus my entire life on going viral. [Going viral] isn’t necessarily all about talent… there are more talented people than people who have gone viral”. Whether she goes viral or not, it is undeniable that Bhatt’s lyrics hold an innate power and her wisdom is a diamond in the rough of a society focused on TikTokification. I truly cannot wait to see what she does next.
Quotes taken from conversations with Julia Bhatt and her single “1:30”. You can find Bhatt’s discography here and peep her “1:30” music video here
Q&A with Julia Bhatt
1. Can you describe your music to any new listeners here?
It’s a combination of all the music I’ve heard and loved with a Julia twist, I guess. Most of my songs sound different from each other, so it’s kind of a grab bag, but they’re all pretty straightforward. For now.
3. How do you get yourself out of a creative “funk” (writer’s block, not mixing music, etc)?
I honestly don’t have any tips other than waiting it out. I think every creative gets to a standstill at some point; it’s like a break where you question everything and doubt yourself and then suddenly, you can write again. Sometimes it’s months at a time, but the fact that I always seem to come around is reassuring.
4. What has been the most rewarding moment or a big personal milestone of your music career thus far?
I really enjoy when someone I cover on Instagram responds and says that they like my cover. That’s always so cool to me because I love so many genres of music. I’ve grown up in musical stages, almost. My song “Tall” is inspired by The Voids: they’re tropical, hard rock and weird as fuck. I’m still finding new music every day, but I wanna show them to people to get these songs exposed. When they comment it makes the divide between fan and artist seem less drastic. It’s also always fun to get a pat on the back.
5. How has the pandemic shaped your creative process? Have there been benefits or disadvantages making music during this period of time for you?
I haven’t been able to go to New York to work with my producer, Elliot Jacobson. When I go up, I record up there, he does magic shit on the computer, I critique and change and add shit until it’s just right. However, I’ve had to do the production stuff on my own via Ableton Live. That has impacted my creative process in a huge way because I’m starting to write songs on software rather than a guitar. It opens tons of possibilities and sounds, so I’ve got a lot of cool stuff coming. "1:30" is a result of that. That’s the upside. The downside is I can’t do what Elliot can do, so we have to send it back and forth a million times and talk over voice messages and shit. It’s just a little difficult but we’re making do.
6. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring ONE record/album, what would it be?
Is This It by the Strokes.
7. What is a defining moment of your music education? (Can be: a YouTube video of your favorite artist you saw when you were younger, finding your favorite record, meeting your favorite musician, etc)
I don’t know if it’s specifically a DEFINING MOMENT but my mom always likes to tell the story of how we were at some rock and roll museum or exhibit or hall of fame in England, I think. I was too young to remember, but apparently when the guide asked me her first question, I essentially took the lead and explained everything myself. I seemed to possess an incredible knowledge of random facts. I still know a very good deal but definitely not as much as a six-year-old me, for sure.
8. If you could give your younger self advice on your musical journey, what would it be?
You can’t knock it until you try it. You have to give it a shot. You won’t get to do what you wanna do for a living if you won’t even do it at all.
