Q&A: Juliana Madrid Talks Musical Origins, Future Goals & New Single “Savior”
YOU’RE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AT NIGHT WITH YOUR FRIENDS — hand out the window, letting the air caress your fingers. Dazed eyes follow the faint lines of city lights and stars reflected off still water. You’re in a small club watching a disco ball bounce light off silver rings and denim jackets. You’re kissing a stranger in an alleyway, an old lover in a park. Visceral, evocative, and energetic, this is what listening to 21-year-old Juliana Madrid’s music feels like.
The Dallas-based musician has released a handful of singles over the past year and is quickly gaining popularity. Her tracks feature dreamy synths and soft ethereal vocals building into electric pop choruses that evoke all the most nostalgic feelings of youth in a way that makes you shiver. Her diary-like raw lyrics are evocative of Phoebe Bridgers and Lorde, paired with energetic femme indie pop beats reminiscent of MUNA and fletcher.
Her newest single, “Savior,” dropped July 13, mourns the death of a relationship in tandem with the rebirth of a new self. Born out of the painful ending of a long relationship, “Savior” encapsulates the messiness and jaded feelings that come with the end. The song carries the emotions of a journal entry but with a driving energetic indie-pop rhythm you can dance to. It’s a song about heartbreak, but in a way that makes you feel like a badass: “Don’t crucify me / it’s all so underwhelming.”
With an EP on the way in August and a tour upcoming with DJ and production duo The Knocks, Madrid is well on her way to indie-pop stardom.
LUNA: Tell me a little bit about your musical background — how did you get into the industry, and how long have you been making music?
MADRID: I started playing guitar when I was nine years old because a School of Rock opened up around the corner from me, and I went there for nine years until I graduated at 18. Throughout all of that, I was doing open mic nights and that kind of thing around my city, and then I started writing my own songs. I met Ben Ruttner [of The Knocks] when I went to a show in 2018, and after I followed everyone on Instagram because I had such a good time. I had singing videos on my Instagram, and he saw them and liked them so he invited me to write with him. So we've been writing together for, like, the past year and a half-ish.
LUNA: I hear you have a song coming out pretty soon called “Savior,” and then also an EP in August! Tell me more about these and about your creative process for writing those.
MADRID: See, for every song, it's definitely different. It's weird because my song “Savior” is coming out July 13 but I wrote it a year ago. So it's really strange to have songs from so long ago coming out now. The process is different every time. I have a really solid group of people that I've been lucky enough to be introduced to through Ben that are my go-to people to write with. Usually, I start the ideas with just a progression or a melody or a lyric. It's always something different every time, and then we get together and just flesh it out.
LUNA: What was the inspiration for “Savior”?
MADRID: For “Savior,” I had just gotten out of this five year–long relationship. So really, it's just kind of about the end times of being with someone for so long, and how you kind of get this apathetic attitude towards this person after so long and you're finally fed up and tired of it.
LUNA: Would you say you have a specific sound for your music or specific genre that you've been sticking to?
MADRID: It’s definitely pop-leaning. But I like to say it's like indie alternative pop rock. Like, I literally have no idea. But a lot of inspiration comes from early 2000s and late ’90s music.
LUNA: That's awesome. I listened to a couple of your songs and I loved “Astronaut” — it gave me big Phoebe Bridgers vibes. Especially the lyrics — I really liked your lyricism. Is that something that you put a big emphasis on?
MADRID: Definitely. A lot of the time it's hard for me to start ideas with lyrics, but I really enjoy writing and journaling and stuff comes from that. So, yeah, the actual lyrics are pretty important to me. And that's kind of what makes a song for me a lot of the time. It's the lyrics, not just the music.
LUNA: With your songs, do you have something specific that you want people to think or feel when they listen to your music?
MADRID: Hmm, not anything specific. Whenever I listen to a song that I love, though, I get that feeling, and I don't know how to describe it — it's totally visceral. But I hope other people get that feeling when they listen to my music. If you're able to connect to it in at least one way I think that's really cool that you can do that with complete strangers.
LUNA: Do you have a proudest moment so far as an artist?
MADRID: Definitely. I’ve only had two shows, really, as myself because everything before was just cover gigs and open mic nights and whatnot. My first show I did as myself I think is my proudest moment because it was so scary. It was at SXSW this past March. And I hadn't done a show with a full band in so long, either — I'd mainly been doing solo stuff. I was just proud of myself for doing it. Because right before I went on, I was like, “I don't think I can do this,” but then I did.
LUNA: I also hear that you're going on tour with The Knocks! How are you feeling about that?
MADRID: I'm so stoked for that. I'm going to Arizona for one day and then Texas for three, which will be cool, and then Florida. So yeah, I'm super stoked — never done anything like that before.
LUNA: Outside of music, what brings you joy? Are there things that bring you inspiration from the world around you?
MADRID: Definitely. I've been thrifting for a long time. I love just looking for cool pieces at thrift stores. I love art — like, anything artsy I love. I like to draw and paint for fun. I'm no good at it, but it's just something that makes me happy to do. I love nature. I've been going on walks lately. That's been bringing me a lot of inspiration because I find it just really clears my head. I've gotten a lot of ideas recently just going on walks and shit.
LUNA: What goals do you have for the future going forward?
MADRID: My goal is just to release more music and just to keep writing — to never stop doing that. And to go on more tours to play more shows. Like, that's all I want to do. And that's what makes me happy. So as long as I'm doing that, I think I'll be okay.
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