Photo Credit: Joshua A
Ever hear a name and think “yeah they’re going to be a star?” That’s exactly what we thought while chatting with rising pop/soul fusion singer Julia Ryan. The San Francisco – born, LA – based artist talked to us all about her start and goals in music, and gave us some insight on her latest single “Drowning.”
Beyond The Stage: How did you get your start in music? What inspired your journey?
Julia Ryan: I played violin from age 8 to 15 but as I grew, I became less interested in classic violin. For my 15th birthday my parents gifted me a singing lesson just for fun and to explore something new. After that first lesson, that was it. I fell in love with singing because it was a new creative way I could express my emotions and tell stories through my own voice. Singing was truly the turning point that inspired my journey into songwriting. I’ve always written stories and poems but once I figured out what I wanted to write about, I think I really started to explore what kind of artist I wanted to be through my lyrics.
BTS: What inspired your single “Drowning?”
JR: What inspired the song Drowning is the process I go through with my own anxiety and my continuous journey of healing. The song is an analogy for anxiety that you can’t breath, like “drowning” but once you take that leap of faith on yourself and jump into that water, it’s no longer an anxious feeling but a calm feeling of knowing that you can still trust yourself to find your way back to a stable mindset.
BTS: Do you write and produce your own music?
JR: I’m a songwriter and work with a really amazing producer, Gus Ross. The process usually goes, I write a song, send vocal stems and some background vocal arrangements with some basic guitar or piano. Then Gus puts the whole thing together as the producer. Sometimes I’ll call on some of my band members to play specific parts as well.
BTS: What was the process like creating this song?
JR: I co-wrote Drowning with a good friend and collaborator, Michael Arrom, about 4 years ago. He plays keys in my band and we’ve been performing the song at live shows for years. Working on this new production of the song, really amplified the sound into something fresh and new. Returning to it also reminded me that the meaning is still very present in my life and that I’m constantly working on myself and my music, even if the song was written during a different time in my life.
BTS: What can we expect from your EP later this year?
JR: My EP Human is planned to be released July 31st! The intention of this project is to reflect the intuitive, physical and emotional levels of the overall human experience; acknowledging the unique journey within ourselves and others. Overall, each song resembles a sense of self discovery to help understand ourselves and others during the good and bad. This project embodies an artistic mirror of what we all go through, no matter who we are. Though our experiences may be different based on how we were raise, our religious beliefs, the color of our skin, our sex or who we choose to love, we can all come to the same conclusion: that we are all experiencing the growing pains of being imperfectly human.
What do you hope to bring to people and the industry with your music?
JR: A big part of my artistry I aspire to accomplish is to talk about the fact that we all experience life through different lenses and to recognize that our realities can be very different from someone else’s yet we can all connect on a empathetic/sympathetic level, our humanity. That we all experience the good and bad of life no matter who we are and what we come from. As human beings, I think that’s why we love music so much, because it reminds us of our connection to one another. I hope to be a part of the music industry in this respect, and continue to remind people of their connection to each other, no matter their differences.
BTS: What’s next for you?
JR: For the rest of 2021, I plan to launch my platform of music and up-cycled fashion through an online store/website. Through my music and designs, I want to remind people of their connection to the earth and each other. An online store should be launching later this month. The rest of 2021, I’ll be releasing more music and content that touch on these points.
Ryan also dropped a surprise new single today “This Or That” that is available to stream here.
To keep up with Ryan follow her on Instagram and Tiktok.
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