Born and raised in Toronto but now based in Brooklyn, Julia D’Angelo is an actor, filmmaker, singer/songwriter and dancer.
Her debut short film, Worn, which she wrote, directed, starred in and edited won Best Short Film at the New York No Limits Film Festival, along with receiving recognition from various other festivals across North America. As a musician, she has released a handful of original songs, along with an original EP, Night Before, that came out in June 2021.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Julia about the latest music release (Point of View), motivations, musical memories and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
What’s something you’d like readers to know about “Point of View”?
There is a really fun music video that we made to go along with it!!!
How does this project compare with your other release(s)? Was there anything specific you were trying to accomplish?
I didn’t really set out to accomplish anything when I first wrote the song, other than just trying something new and following through with it. Compared to my other releases, this track is a lot more electronic and synth based, and grooves in a way that we hadn’t tried before – even my vocals and vocal tone sit lower and heavier than they do in previous tracks, which is definitely a sound that I want to expand on and keep exploring. Neither is better nor worse, but I can confidently say that we went somewhere new with this track and that feels like a big accomplishment for me. I’m still at an early stage as an artist where I’m figuring out what my sound is, and what I like making, singing, writing, etc. so it’s important for me to never feel tied down to something I’ve made in the past, and to allow myself the opportunity to start fresh with every release, if that’s what I want to do.
What motivates you to create music?
People, mostly. Stories I’ve heard, stories that happen to me, stories that I make up. And silence. A lot of stuff comes up when I’m just sitting, alone, letting my brain go blank. The less I think about it, the more honest the song is, and for me, music is one of the best forms of honest storytelling, and I’m a big believer that anything and everything around you is a story, if you want it to be. When I can take a small, boring, uneventful moment or thought, and make it into a whole world, that excites me.
What’s one of your first or most powerful music memories? Did that play any role in driving you to create?
The Hilary Duff concert hahaha. I was six years old and I begged my mom to let me go with my sister and her friends. Though I definitely blasted Metamorphosis on my hello kitty CD player for months after that, I can’t say the concert made an impact on my decision to make music later in the future. But I do remember feeling in awe of being in such a massive arena with thousands of other people, all connected by one singular person and their music. I think once I was a bit older I understood where that feeling came from. I was definitely scared (and still am) by the reality of what that would feel like from that one person’s perspective, but from afar it’s so fun to romanticize. Subconsciously, I do feel like this sentiment made its way into my music, because I feel like I always create music with an intimacy in mind – performing in a space that doesn’t feel so removed from listeners and writing music that makes it feel like I’m talking directly to whoever’s listening.
If you could collaborate with anyone – dead or alive, famous or unknown – who would it be and why? If it’s an indie/DIY artist, please include a link so readers can check them out.
Too many honestly. There are a lot of producers and musicians, especially, that I’d love to collaborate with as I like the dynamic of a songwriter-musician or songwriter-producer relationship, but because I’ve been listening to them a lot recently and they’re on my mind, I’m going to say Frog. Though they’re relatively small, melodically and lyrically I think they are truly icons in the folk/rock/alt world, and it would be so cool to write with them as a lot of their songs are also very narrative in essence. And because I heavily admire them as songwriters, writing and working with them would be the best learning experience. They also just seem like dope people. You can find them on Spotify here.
What was the last song you listened to? And who is one of your favorite all-time bands/artists?
The last song I listened to is a song my roommate just sent me that I have now had on repeat. It’s called Tukuntazo by Tokischa, Haraca Kiko and El Cherry Scom. And that is a VERY hard question because I feel like my favourite artist changes everyday or every time I hear someone new that I like. If it came down to picking one artist I feel like I’d have to go with the classic, Nina Simone. She soundtracked a lot of my youth, and was prominent during a lot of “growing up” moments, so I feel like she intrinsically makes her way into my music, if not by anything than simply being in the back of my mind when I write and perform.
Where is the best place to find you and stay connected?
Probably instagram @juliadangelo or my website, juliadangelo.com. You can also find me on Spotify here.
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
Thanks to Indie Music Discovery for giving independent musicians a platform to share and talk about their work and thanks to you all for reading and supporting!! Hope you like the song and video 🙂
