Juliyaa - The Rhythm

During her teens she was involved with Bigga Fish which allowed her to tour with artists such as Estelle and Heartless Crew, she has continued to pursue her music career whilst redefining her craft, inspired by the likes of Alicia Keys and Ms Dynamite. Juliya is a singer and songwriter from North London who has recently released her debut video The Rhythm via Youtube which has accumulated over 3,000 views to date.

I thought I’d catch up with Juliya to find out where it all started her sacrifices and plans for the future.

Music was always a part of my life growing up. I started singing in mum's church as a child and wrote my first song when I was 7.  My Dad was in to reggae and soul, and I always remember him playing his favourite artists on the record player in our front room’, she names ‘Bob Marley, Toots & The Maytals and Al Green’ as some of his many favourites, she continues ‘Mum was in to Ghanaian gospel and hi-life which meant that every Sunday morning I woke up to the sound of her cassette player blasting out songs - they were good times’.

She recalls ‘growing up music was about family and culture; it’s always signified something about who I am and what my parents have passed on to me.  In my teens continued singing as a vocalist on the UK garage scene and refined my vocal and song writing skills’. She feels the combination of all the different phases of her life have shaped the type of music she makes today. 

'The Rhythm' is a song that’s all about the effect music has on you. Sometimes you can be sitting there in a room and your favourite song comes on, and before you know it your shoulders are moving, your feet are tapping and then you're up on your feet dancing wildly. That’s what 'The Rhythm' represents to me - the effect the bass, the beat and the melody can have on you as a listener’.

‘My main aim with music is to accurately reflect different emotions that we experience in life – such as love, anger, faith or hope. For me, joy is a big emotion that comes through in my music and I hope my listeners can be uplifted by my music and performances’.

Juliya identifies ‘time and energy’ as her biggest sacrifices in pursuing her music career, she explains ‘as an unsigned artist you’re managing your career independently - doing a lot of gigs without pay, spending spare time doing music administration and generally trying to promote yourself. Music is a round the clock pursuit and you have to be careful not to let it infringe too much on your personal life.’

Yet she feels ‘this sacrifice is worth it’, she continues ‘I believe that I've got a talent and I’m called to share it with the world, so when I see people enjoying my music and I see the joy that it brings them, it all feels worthwhile!

I think female musicians can be limited by negative gender stereotypes in music. Most bands that I’ve been involved in have been male and there can sometimes be senses that if you’re a female musician, people in the music industry don’t take you seriously.

She also feels ‘female artists have a huge pressure to conform to certain unrealistic expectations in terms of their image and appearance.’ She says ‘I am eager as an artist to be respected as a female artist for my music and not to be forced to objectify myself’.

When asked who she thinks is next to blow she says ’my good friend Michael Kiwanuka.  He has recently come off touring with Adele, and sings heartfelt retro soul that sounds like Bill Withers or Otis Redding.  Michael reflects what true music is about - he's amazingly talented and yet humble and let's his music do the talking’.  

‘At the moment the industry has a lot of great artists, and the UK is shining bright globally with many artists seeing success overseas.  At the same time it’s a hard time to be a musician, the market is quite saturated and it has become harder to stand out from the crowd and get your music heard’.

‘Musically, I am inspired by artists such as Alicia Keys. I love her musicianship and her strength. Ms Dynamite, she’s always been an inspiration to me, she grew North London like me so seeing people like her around you succeed, helps you to see what you could achieve’. 

‘My personal inspiration would be my mum.  She is a strong African woman who has shown me what’s important in life and taught me to prioritise my faith and family. She’s always given me the space to pursue my dreams and believed in me even when it has been hard to believe in myself’.

‘In my teens I was involved with a youth organisation called Bigga Fish that saw me tour with artists such as Estelle and the Heartless Crew.  It was an exciting time being a teenager and touring alongside such big London artists who have now gone on to such musical success. They’ve inspired me to think big for the future’.  

In the future, I want to continue to collaborate with great musicians such as the ones I have already been working with and I want to build on amazing relationships that I currently have with friends and musicians such as Si Cliff and Niji Adeleye.

In the future we can expect an EP from Juliya in 2012 as well as ‘more gigging, more songs and more dancing! She says ‘After that, I don't know but I'm excited about what is in store for me’.

You can now follow via her Official Website, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.