With LIL JULEZ things happened pretty quickly. Appearing out of nowhere, the 24-year-old Viennese managed to attract a lot of attention with his first singles. Top chart positions in Austria and Europe-wide airplay testify to the great potential of this artist. It’s not really surprising that all this happened, since the sound of his music is exactly up to date. LIL JULEZ transfers the aesthetics of the 1960s and 1070s into the indie sound of the present day, with a lot of character, charisma and a knack for strong melodies that quickly find their way into the ear canals. The Viennese himself attributes his music to bedroom pop. How exactly does he define himself, what his penchant for the absurd is all about and how the work on his debut album, which is now out, is going on „It Was A Hoax” (Fabrique Records; VÖ: 24.3.) looked like, says the talented songwriter in an interview with Michael Ternai.
In the last year you suddenly appeared on the scene with a couple of singles – almost out of nowhere. Now you publish with “It was a hoax“ your debut album. That seems to have gone pretty quickly.
Lil Julez: no Basically, most of the songs are older. I wrote some of them back in 2015. But they weren’t finished yet. That happened last year. I’m definitely glad that now, as a young adult, I’m mature and confident enough to release this album.
It turned out to be a very nice album. First of all, perhaps a clarification of terms. The press text states that you classify your music as bedroom pop. Can you briefly explain to older generations what bedroom pop is.
Lil Julez: Bedroom pop isn’t necessarily defined by style. Rather, this is a new indie sound that originally got its start in Los Angeles and comes from the lo-fi area. But that doesn’t mean that the music is recorded in the garage. It just sounds like it was created there. And it doesn’t sound like them anymore, for example Foo Fightersbut goes in the direction of such acts as Clairo or Pink Pantheress. You could say bedroom pop is something new with an indie flair.
In any case, the sound of your music can be described as very positive and uplifting.
Lil Julez: That probably comes from the melodies, most of which are written in a major key and therefore set the mood. But my producer Patrick Vanek and I made sure to take the whole thing to a higher level. With his large collection of synth sounds and the knowledge to use them perfectly, Patrick has given the songs their very own touch. To me, Patrick is a real synth god.
What’s also interesting about your songs is that their mood rarely goes hand in hand with the lyrics. They are going in a very thoughtful direction.
Lil Julez: I have to say that when I write a song, the music and the vocal melodies always come first. They’re there before I even think about what the song is supposed to be about. And there it happens that the mood of the song is very positive, although I’m actually rather unhappy at the moment. The music just comes out of me. With the lyrics I always try to add another level to the songs so that they don’t slip into the superficial and record. I think that’s a contrast that makes the songs more interesting as a total work of art. If I were to write a totally sad song now, the lyrics to this one would probably be totally happy [lacht].
“But I tend to have a strong tendency towards the absurd.”
How would you actually describe your true personality? Happy like your music or sad like your lyrics.
Lil Julez: Of course, I’m also a little bit bipolar [lacht]. But I tend to have a strong tendency towards the absurd. Especially in art. The most important thing for me is that something never on the nose is. Hence the contrast. It must never be boring. It has to be different than everyone else. And I try to be like that.
From reading you are very heavily influenced by the pop music of the 1960s and 1970s. I also hear a lot of New Wave elements in your songs. How were you socialized musically? Who were your heroes when you were young?
Lil Julez: It’s actually a very funny story. When I discovered music for myself when I was about 12, one day I came across a series of songs on my mobile phone without the titles or the names of the artists. They were transferred to my cell phone from somewhere else and therefore ran as “Unknown”. So I didn’t know who it was from what I was hearing. But the songs really got me excited. When I then found out that there were songs by the Beatles I was a little ashamed at first because I didn’t realize that the songs came from this band. Then came later Nirvana added, who also accompanied me for a while. These two acts were very influential in my early teens. They were also the reason I started playing guitar. Then I got more and more into modern pop music and finally bedroom pop by acts like Mac DeMarco, Pink Pantheress or Clairo came. I found that extremely cool. Reduced lo-fi music, but the melody is pretty clever. This aspect, that the vocal melody is well thought out, suits me particularly.
That means it was immediately clear to you in which direction you wanted to go with your music.
Lil Julez: Actually yes. I really spent a lot of time on the internet on the various platforms like YouTube poking around what kind of music people around the world are making and how things can actually sound. The internet was a real source of inspiration, which ultimately led me to bedroom pop. It was immediately clear to me that I wanted to do the same.
To what extent does perfectionism play a role for you?
Lil Julez: An extremely large one. For example, there must be about a hundred versions of our third single “All About The Leader”. I actually wrote the song back in 2015. I worked on it until 2022. I’m already a very perfectionist and really tweak things until they suit me. At least in part, because at some point you have to let go.
You received a lot of positive feedback on the songs you released last year. You’ve been played on the radio and you’ve also played on the Waves Vienna Festival played. How much did this start surprise you?
Lil Julez: Actually not that much, because things tend to grow slowly and at a healthy pace. Not that much has happened yet, to be honest. In that sense, we haven’t had any reason to go insane.
How is it actually to work with Factory Records came. The label is better known for more experimental pop releases.
Lil Julez: I have the people from the label at Michels music regulars met. I also know the band DRAMASwhich also has an Fbrick-act is and musically not dissimilar to me. That was also the reason why label boss Michael Martinek brought me together with Patrick Vanek. He thought Patrick’s synths and my vocal lines would go well together.
You have Lil Julez started as a solo project, but you perform live with a band. What excites you about performing with a band?
Lil Julez: There has actually always been a band somewhere, but the line-up has changed constantly. Only the bassist was there throughout. I’ve been playing with him since I was 14. So it’s been a long time. I actually started the project as a solo project, but over time it naturally grew into a joint music project.
And yes, I play live, like now on March 30th at the album release concert in the Rhiz, with a band. We had our very first concert as a band last September at the Waves Vienna Festival. And that was just overwhelming. We were way better than we thought. I never imagined that after such a short time we would be able to play together as tightly as we did at this concert. That was a lot of fun, so we definitely want to continue like this.
Many thanks for the interview.
Michael Ternai
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Lil Julez live
30.3.2023
Rhiz. Subway arc 37, 1080 Vienna
Facebook-Event
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Links:
Lil Julez (Facebook)
Lil Julez (Instagram)
Factory Records