Q&A: Conquering Fears and Learning How to Live a Little With Julia Bhatt’s Newest Record, 'it is what it is'
INFUSED WITH THE PURE ESSENCE OF SUMMER JUBILATION — Julia Bhatt’s discography is abundant with youthful energy, supported by the strong backbone of her optimistic lyricism that reminds listeners that it’s okay to give themselves time to feel their feelings.
Bhatt’s shimmering debut record, it is what it is, released today, serves as her musical jungle gym. With vocals comparable to those of Amy Winehouse and instrumentals ranging from self-defined “bubblegum pink pop” to chill R&B beats, Bhatt’s versatility shines through every dazzling track on the album. The 20-year-old musician freely experiments and explores the full range of her sound, bending multiple genres to her will as she cohesively wraps them all up within her signature snappy, electric package.
While Bhatt’s debut has arrived sonically infused with endless brightness and spunk, her lyricism is thematically contrasting, as each song expands upon her experiences facing up against anxiety and depression. From reassuring listeners that “it’s okay not to be okay,” to reminding them that it is perfectly normal to let people come in and out of our lives, Bhatt speaks straight to the people — she masterfully purveys positive messages to help them persevere through life’s toughest spots.
Bhatt is blazing a trail with her authenticity and genuine passion for expressing herself. This artist is fully prepped to roll with the punches — after all, life simply is what it is, so why not live a little in the meantime?
Read on below to learn more about how Bhatt preserves her sense of self-worth in an industry full of shameless self-promotion, how having a community to fall back on keeps her motivated, and, of course, her newest record, it is what it is.
LUNA: Let's get started by getting a broad sense of your journey as a musician! How did you initially start out as an artist, and how has your journey evolved since then?
BHATT: I've always been around music; it has always been something that I've cared about. I started playing guitar so I could have something to sing along with. Once I got the hang of that, I started writing my own stuff and met my now-producer, Elliot Jacobson. He was the one who really got me into doing professional music. We're about to release an album — very exciting — we'll see how that goes. Right now I'm focusing on making music, and it's fun!
LUNA: Do you remember the exact moment where you were like, "Oh, this is what I want to do as a career; I want to be a musician"?
BHATT: I don't know if I've ever really had that moment because the more common thing I think is: "Do I want to do this?" It is a hard industry to be in. Once you start doing it and start having to put all this work in and promote yourself, you're like: "Maybe I don't want it." It's more of just hanging in there and moderating things and making sure nothing's too crazy, because then it'll force you out of the whole industry.
LUNA: Yeah, the industry is a scary place at times — it can be a little intense.
BHATT: It's all about promoting yourself, and that's a little hard to do, especially when you're not the most self-promoting person. I'm not always like, "Yeah! Listen to my music! It's so good!" I'm more like, "If you want to listen to it, it's there!"
LUNA: I've read that you didn't think you could sing earlier on in life. What outside forces contributed to this thinking, and what helped you gain confidence in your voice?
BHATT: I had a teacher who told me I couldn't sing. Everybody has a different opinion, and not everybody is right, not everybody's wrong. It was a lot of positive reinforcement that convinced me.
In the beginning, there were a few people saying, "You can sing," but I was like, "God, no!" My guitar teacher also really liked me and wanted me to sing a lot. Then my mom was like, "You're really good," and I was like, "You're my mom. It doesn't matter."
More people said it, and I was like, "Alright, I guess I have to do this." I started meeting other people who wanted to make music with me — it's more about doing it with other people, because if it's just me then I lose a lot of motivation. When other people are saying, "This is good, I want to work on something with you," then I'll do that for sure.
LUNA: Having that community to build up your confidence and to support you is super important. Speaking of community, what's the music scene like in Miami?
BHATT: I'm just getting into it! Recently, I was asked to do this music festival [Wet Mango]. I met all these people. I saw some other people play and now I'm more aware of the scene. I'm glad I'm just starting to get to be part of it. It's fun to see all of these people and how chill everybody is and how into it they are without focusing on promoting on Instagram and all of that. They're just playing shows and focused on having that local crowd.
LUNA: That's awesome. And yes, like you said, social media does make it a little intense and interesting at some points.
BHATT: It's rough! But if you're working on music with other people, you can't just say, "Oh, I don't like doing social media," because it's not just about you. You aren’t the only one working hard on this stuff.
LUNA: What's your relationship with genre like? Do you think genre is more helpful or harmful in the long run?
BHATT: I don't think of it as necessarily being harmful — it can be very helpful. For me, it's a little harder because I take from so many different places. It's all these different sounds, which is amazing, but then I can't be like, "Oh, it's pop, it's indie."
Genres are cool — I could associate different genres with different parts of my life. What's harmful is sticking to one genre. There's so many mixed genres; there's so much to listen to.
You could probably select a couple of different genres per song, and that's really cool. I like listening to new music and I like incorporating it into my music. It would be so much easier for me if I could just pinpoint a genre. For all of my music career, I've been telling people that if they have a suggestion, throw it at me.
LUNA: Let's chat a little bit about your upcoming record! That's so exciting, congratulations. It's called it is what it is — where did the name come from?
BHATT: I've talked about them a million times, but I love The Strokes. They were a really big part of my life, especially when I was going through a rough time. I watched them religiously, all those old interviews. Their first album, Is This It, was a really big thing for me. There's a really old interview where they went to a radio station, and this woman was like, "So, your new album... Is That It?" And they were like, “‘Is that it?’ Damn." The whole thing was really funny to me, so I took from that.
And also, as I said, I'm not usually like, "Oh, listen to my music, it's great!" I'm more often like, "Well, it is what it is” — it's all I can do. If I think about the album too hard or if I keep trying to alter it, it's not going to be any better. It is what it is.
LUNA: Tell me about the cover art for the album!
BHATT: I love art, but I'm not a good artist. I'm really lucky because I have a sister who goes to art school. When it came to what I was going to put on my album cover, why not have my sister draw something to show off what she can do? She's fucking talented! All my other covers are photos that have been drawn on — that's one of my sister's friend's work. I was losing my shit because I was like, "I'm not good at art. I don't know how I'm going to create covers for every single album!" But my sister [...] has her shit together, and it's really great. She's honestly like my creative director.
LUNA: That's so sweet. It's so nice to have that support behind you full of people who can help you in different ways, and not even in the music production way.
BHATT: It's hard doing it all alone because it's not just making music. It's promoting, it's marketing — it's doing all that. So much goes into marketing. I'm not a marketer. I'm a 20-year-old person who is trying to make music. I have to figure out how to get these songs to blow up and figure out what people want. I have all these people who can weigh in, and it's great. My mom does marketing as her job. My sister does art. If I was alone, I wouldn't be able to do it all.
LUNA: What's your songwriting process like? Is it more spontaneous or more of a premeditated act where you sit down with an idea?
BHATT: It depends. Sometimes my producer will send me songs that other people wrote that they need a top line for. So I’ll listen to that and then something will come to me, and I'll write it down. That's different because I already have a track.
If I'm writing a song, a lot of the time I'll just want to write a song. I don't really know what it's going to be, but then I just find a chord, then a couple of chords, start strumming, start singing, and it turns into something.
One of the songs on the album, "Sweetheart," is very chill and simple. My producer did most of that track, and I was in an airport on a four-hour delay. I was like, "Fuck it. Let's do it!" And I just wrote it. Another track on the record, "Vampires Suck," I wrote in 9th or 10th grade on a dare in 15 minutes, and I really like it. They're all different!
LUNA: You touched on this a little bit before, but what purpose does songwriting play in your life? There's a bunch of different themes on the record — from feeling like you're not enough to affirming that it's okay to not be okay. Does writing songs help you work through feelings and process them?
BHATT: I have a therapist, but it's not the same. You know how people do photo dumps on Instagram? For me, songwriting is like a feeling dump. It's getting all that shit out. Sometimes it's something that I can then share with my producer and actually work on, but it usually works out as me just getting shit out. It has always been like that for me.
LUNA: In "1:30," you describe feeling pressure from all around and not getting to live the way other people live because you're an artist trying to cultivate that online presence. How do you balance this performing, public, musician part of yourself with the part that just wants to chill out and be a normal teenager?
BHATT: It's something that I struggle with. I have depression and anxiety and have learned that I have to distract myself with anything. Like going to the farmers market, drawing — literally anything. Just stop thinking! It's just a matter of not thinking about [social media] for me.
It's just a matter of not thinking about [social media] for me. Everybody says you have to keep posting and then things will blow up. [...] I don't know what I want to market to people! You have to not think about social media all the time because if you do, you'll drown.
LUNA: Yeah, definitely! You've noted that putting music out there is kind of hard for you sometimes, since you have the tendency to be self-critical. How do you get through those feelings and get the courage to release it?
BHATT: I have to remember that I'm not the only one who worked on these, and I'm not the only one who cares about these songs. Even if I'm like, "Oh, I suck. I don't want to release it," it's not just about me. So many musicians have worked hard on this. Objectively, it probably is a good song, but I can't think that way — my brain doesn't let me. I have to trust the people around me. If my producer is saying it's good and all the people I'm working with are saying that it's good, I just have to put my faith in them and see how it goes. A lot of the time it works out!
LUNA: That's a really good way of thinking of it! What keeps you going as an artist?
BHATT: Taking breaks. Lately, I've just been trying to live my life. I have these songs that are coming out, and when they come out I will promote them, but right now it's summer. If I just think about the music all the time, I'll burn out in a day. It's just a matter of pacing. I'm not a musician. I'm really just a person with a couple of songs out.
LUNA: Can you tell me a tattoo story about one of your favorite tattoos?
BHATT: I’m actually getting one right after this! I'm going to get a poorly drawn fish. All of my tattoos are pretty minimalistic. They're all black and simply drawn. Again, I like art, and I like other people's art. People like my tattoos too, so it's fun to talk about them!
LUNA: They're so fun, and also a really good way to express yourself. We're at my last question: What’s next for Julia Bhatt?
BHATT: Right now we have the album coming out. That's immediately next, and then we'll see! Right now, I just want to chill and enjoy summer. I have a bunch of trips coming up, so I won't even be able to make music for the next month or two. So, just chill and be happy. That's my goal.
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