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For nearly a decade,Julia Michaelshas penned hit songs for the biggest acts in pop music.
There are countless others, but all of them share distinctive traits.
She crams as many words as possible into each phrase.
Her lyrics sound spoken.
Her rhyming may sound accidental, but thats the pop-song illusion.
Julia:I think I just wasnt ready yet.
With me, everything takes a little bit of time.
It took me a long time to realize I wanted to be an artist.
Charlie: Did you have an idea of what you wanted to communicate with this record?
Julia:With my past EPs Ive always sort of glorified toxicity.
And now that Im in a relationship with somebody where its very different from what Ive experienced before …
I realized that for a long time, I thought toxicity was what I deserved.
Like I wasnt good enough for love or that I deserved a certain kind of love.
And I wanted to write about that.
I feel like thats what Ive done with this album.
Charlie: I feel that evolvement come through on the latest single, Love Is Weird.
You feel these butterflies.
Charlie: You wrote this song in just 30 minutes.
How do you train to be able to write a song that quickly?
Has this always been the case for you?
Julia:No, but a good majority of my bigger songs have been written very fast.
I think thats because youre not really focusing on the technical side of things.
Youre just focusing on your subconscious.
And he was like, Thats a song.
And then John Ryan picks up the guitar and starts singing.
And then we all just, [each with our own perspective], wrote the song super quickly.
Julia:I think its just the most relatable.
Even though you havent shared the same experience as somebody, youve experienced the same emotion.
I always am a bit comedic; I always give a shot to throw fun words into songs.
Charlie: You do have a way of rhyming that doesnt always play by the rules.
Whats the story of how that song came together?
Do you want to spend a couple of days with me in the studio?
And I was like, No, I dont give a fuck about anybody youve ever been with.
I dont give a shit.
And I was like, Yes, I fucking can.
And I sang the first two lines of the song in the car.
And yes, its satirical and comical and aggressive, but its really masked in insecurity.
Julia:My favorite part about what I do is collaborating.
Someone that you work with really well can complement that, and vice versa.
I think people overcomplicate songwriting sometimes.
People think it has to have some brilliant metaphor, some interesting imagery.
And then we can easily say that on paper.
And I think a lot of people dont do it because theyre scared of their feelings.
And if they do do that, then it makes them extremely vulnerable.
But Im always one for vulnerability.
Those are the best songs.
Do you think that being an introvert is sort of your songwriting superpower that helps pull out that vulnerability?
Thats the most beautiful thing Ive ever heard in my entire life.
If we dont make that a song, I will hate us forever.
Someone will be saying something in a conversation and theyll say one word or two lines.
We have to make this a song.
