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
'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
‘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
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.
