Julia Marcell… Her hair can remove graffiti
Interview: Julia Marcell
Published on May 8th, 2012 | Jonny Abrams
When Rocksucker interviewed The Jezabels guitarist Sam Lockwood last month, he recommended that we check out the berserk drama-pop of Poland-born, Germany-based songstress Julia Marcell. We did, and it’s ace, a divine application of Björk-mospherics to consummately baroque pop, so we fired her over some questions in the hope of finding out a bit more. First though, do enjoy this choice cut from last year’s June album, her second after 2009 debut It Might Like You…
How long have you been writing and performing music for?
I’ve always been playing around with the idea, recording demos in the bedroom, starting bands, trying out different instruments, etc. But it never went anywhere, it was my learning field. Around 2007 I got myself a piano and decided it’s time to get serious about this.
How would you describe your music, if pushed?
Pop! I always intend to write a pop song, it’s just that they don’t always come out like that. I especially love rhythm; I just did a record called June with lots of drumming.
Who or what are your primary inspirations for making music?
I would say my inspirations are rarely coming from the music I am personally listening to. Music gives me rather motivation, when I hear a beautiful song, I wanna write a song that beautiful, or when i see a great concert, I immediately wanna be on that stage. But ideas for songs come to me from looking at things, streets, people, movies, paintings, visual art in general and internet. I love the abstract and trashy vibe of the internet. The mixture of everything with everything is what I like.
Where can we hear your music?
Internet! www.juliamarcell.com
Which have been your most exciting gigs so far?
It’s so hard to choose, ’cause each one of them is really special. For example, we just had a crazy little tour, we played in a small town for a small audience, and then in a packed festival tent. It was really crazy to snap from twenty people to a thousand the next day, but I couldn’t say which one of those was actually better. We felt so welcomed in both places.
Got any more big gigs or festival dates coming up?
Yes! I’m very happy to play this year’s Open’er Festival in early July. I love it there, we played there in 2010 and it was unforgettable! Also we’re gonna visit c/o Pop in Cologne, Juicy Beats and Viersen Eier Mit Speck. And we have a tour in Germany coming up in September.
Julia Marcell… Capable of secreting ink, like a squid
Are there any other bands or solo musicians that you’d like to recommend or give a shout-out to?
Definitely I wanna give a shout out to The Jezabels, who took me on tour earlier in the spring and that was truly fantastic! I listen to their records on repeat ever since, what a band. Thank you guys! As for some new discoveries, I recommend Unmap and Laing, both from Berlin. Great stuff!
Finally, if you had to spend the rest of your life only listening to the entire works of 5 different musical artists, whose would you choose?
What a nightmare. I would rather choose to listen to only one song from every artist in the world. That already sounds scary, but somehow not as scary as the idea you proposed. I love discovering new things and I love variety, I couldn’t live without it.
Julia Marcell, thank you.
Julia Marcell… Capable of secreting ink, like a squid
Julia Marcell’s second album June is out now. For more information, including a list of live dates, please visit juliamarcell.com or the Julia Marcell Facebook page.
About the Author
Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.
