Julia Jacklin is a dream. Not only is she a total babe inside and out but her music literally fills a space in a way that makes you feel like you’re floating in an ocean.
Julia Jacklin is something truly special; with honest lyrics, angelic vocals and everything in between, we wanted to get to know her a little more.
Julia’s entire set at Plan B was a perfect tapestry of solo performances and the support of her band, Eddie on guitar Harry on bass and Tom on drums. The thing about Julia is that she is just as much a musician as a singer songwriter. She has obviously been absorbing incredible inspiration and truly developing her sound in the most organic way, to me the entire set was filled with beautiful nods to indie folk legends Michelle Shocked and Stevie Nicks.
With her own brand of Australian youthful dreamscape, Jacklin positions herself as a creator of transcendent music, with lyrical maturity far beyond that of her peers. If you want to know more about how this goddess came to grace our stages I suggest a read of the Unearthed profile she has up, it’s detailed and personal and gives a real insight into Julia as an artist and where her music comes from.
Opening with Hay Plain, this divine track was the perfect beginning. Followed on by Lead Light, Coming of Age and LA Dream. Jacklin takes on the complexities of youth with a romantic sheen that is the gloss over most of her music, is so relatable and easy to listen to, almost as though you were waiting for someone to put a sound to that tenuous moment of adolescence, Julia cracks it wide open. With powerful and unexpected swelling and rolling notes over soft riffs, Jacklin is the epitome of graceful rebellion.
When I first heard Don’t Let the Kids Win, I whacked it in the family Gmail circle and the froths just started rolling in. So when the night was set to end on my favourite Julia Jacklin song I was so stoked I almost Facetimed my mum.
Taking to the stage alone and giving a shout out to her own mother who made her outfit for the night, Don’t Let the Kids Win speaks to the narcissism that accompanies adolescence and the complexities of family, ‘don’t let your brother stop thinking you’re cool, I know he’s got a girlfriend now, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped looking up to you’, so sweet, so honest and so real.
An encore ensued with Same Airport, Different Man and the night was over but it was not gone from my mind, with the exception of a few 35 year old women being loud dickheads at the back, raspberry vodka sodas in hand, the room was pretty well silent and in awe from the second that Julia took the mic.
I managed to have a chat with Julia after her delicious show and before she jets off to London for more!
5 Questions with Julia Jacklin
Favourite place you have played so far?
We played the Grace Emily in Adelaide this tour. I’ve played there before but this was my first headline show. It’s such a great warm room and the crowd is always so responsive and vocal when they are in to it.
Also, I have been following your SXSW appearance which is incredibly exciting… without stating the obvious, what drew you to Texas?
I guess I got a spot and I had some savings and the boys were keen to come. It’s something you hear about a lot in the music world so I was very intrigued. People talk about it being the craziest week you’ll ever have so that obviously draws you in. Playing 8 shows in 5 days is pretty challenging and I think it made us a lot better as a band.
Your band! Great group of musicians, how did you come together and how important is that partnership to your music?
Eddie (guitarist), Harry (bass) and I are all from the Blue Mountains and went to the same school. But we didn’t really connect until we lived in the city. I met Tom (drums) at an open mic in Glebe a few years ago. This line up came to be because I needed a band for a show in Sydney a few months ago and it just really worked. As a songwriter you have to place a lot of trust in your band to flesh out the song in the right way and not drown it out. They are all incredible and tasteful players and great people to spend a lot of stressful time with! I owe a lot to their willingness to go along with all this. They’re all great movers on stage too, I love that.
Your music career has flourished since I first saw you play at Brighton Up, what’s next and where do you see yourself moving in the next half of 2016?
We just landed in London here to play about 11 shows in various places starting with the Great Escape festival in Brighton. I’ll be releasing my first record second half of the year and touring back over here and in the USA. But I don’t really know what’s gonna happen! I think that’s a good thing though. Having little expectations.
Finally! If you could jump on stage and perform alongside any one of your musical heroes…who would it be and why?
There are way too many people I could pick for this question but I guess for the last year or so I’ve really enjoyed closing my eyes and listening to Jack White’s Lazaretto and fantasising that I’m in the band. Maybe doing backing vocals or playing violin. That record just makes me feel very good. I think it would be a very joyful on stage experience.
