Beyoncé defines him as “the female version of a mobster.” Elizabeth Taylor set the standard for how to be one. Maria Callas said that it was the indispensable condition for her career. Madonna, Dua Lipa, Rosalía and Karol G are also one. Vogue She claims that she has all the credentials to become one, but for the queen of pop of the Catalan urban scene the concept has evolved: “Being a diva is no longer what it used to be, pop stars today have to be natural and close to the public,” says Julieta, while serving a 250 ml bottle of Coca-Cola zero in a glass with ice and lemon. The author of Full Romance either Madness She is sitting on the Parisian-style terrace of Garum, a bar next to the Mercat de Sant Gervasi in Barcelona, in the square where she grew up and went from being Julieta Gracián to, simply, Julieta (not Venegas): “My stage name is a tribute to the pop singers I adore, like Rosalía or Angèle. It has a fairy-tale aura that is in tune with my project,” she says.
She is 23 years old, was born in Barcelona and is a Taurus, one of the April ones, hyperactive and focused on work: “I work really hard to build my career, I am addicted to this world. Now, with a bigger team, I can focus my energy on composing or creating the show,” she admits. Although she has always been “a music and festival geek,” art was not her first choice. Julieta was studying audiovisual systems engineering when confinement stopped the world and exams. “I started producing and composing, for fun, but I started putting out things and people reacted very well, it was quite fast,” she recalls. On November 4, 2022, La (2) de Apolo hosted the presentation of her first “mini album”, Neither light nor moon―Your values or You swear swear―: “I had a concert at Apolo and a lot of exams, I was forced to choose between studying or focusing on the show, and I was honest with myself,” she admits.
At just 21 years old, she received the Enderrock award for best new album and best author. Since then, she has not stopped reaping successes that she attributes to effort and intuition: “I don’t believe in luck as such, but I am intuitive and aware of where I am and what is happening around me,” she admits. Around her: Figa Flawas, 31 Fam, Mushka, María Hein and The Tyets, among others, the new Catalan urban scene, known as “Banda del Pati”, to which Julieta is linked, marking her own profile: “Being associated with the current Catalan scene is not voluntary, it depends on the people. This scene is very nice and I am happy to live it, but I would like my project to be for anyone and fit in everywhere”, she admits.
The Julieta brand has expanded to all of Spain, triumphing in cities such as Madrid, Seville and Valencia, capitals where the artist feels very comfortable. “My aesthetic is city-oriented, my discography is inspired by the city, and I would love to make the leap to major world capitals, as long as I can continue with a personal and sincere project,” she says. The autobiographical lyrics, which she writes in her pajamas in the living room at home, and the pop references from her adolescence—Katy Perry, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga—make Julieta a diva, one of the new ones: “Now the relationship with idols is closer. People constantly consume the profile of artists on social networks, and I want to give them a natural feel so they can connect with me,” she explains.
Social media also has a negative side. “I’ve taken off Twitter for a while,” he announces upon arriving. “Bad comments don’t bother me, I find them sad. But I’m annoyed by hoaxes, I kind of do playback, They are disrespectful to my work. I try very hard, I take care of my voice and I kill myself on stage singing and dancing.” Added to the hoaxes is the hate (hate) towards her and the singer Mushka for their new collaboration: “We are getting a lot of grief because the song is not entirely in Catalan, we don’t even mix it with Castilian, it’s Portuguese,” she says, adding “since I started in music, I have mixed Castilian and Catalan and I will continue to do so. My mother is Catalan and my paternal family is from Malaga, I have always lived with both languages.”
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He’s right in the middle of his tour You swore the juhas played 26 gigs out of 50, “last week there were four in a row, catching flights in between,” she says. She is physically and mentally exhausted, but grateful and comforted by her audience, “it helps me live in the now.” The singer knows how to take refuge from the frenetic pace: she only has to call her friends to do the usual, have a drink in this square or organize a sleepover. “I am who I am because of the people around me. In the little free time I have I prioritize my friends and my family, I am very close to them,” she says.
For the new course, Julieta is working on a more personal, mature and “musically grown” project. She has the angelic face of someone who sleeps in peace knowing that she has a dream and is giving her all for it. Her sights are set on big goals, “if I think big, filling the Palau Sant Jordi or the Sant Jordi Club,” but with her feet firmly on the ground. Specifically, in Barcelona: “For now I don’t plan on leaving. Barcelona makes Julieta, I feel that it is intrinsic to my person, I even write in the notes on my mobile what the city suggests to me and then I use it in my lyrics,” she says, while quickly grabbing the Coca-Cola that she was about to spill on the table, “ugh, what reflexes,” she sighs. And thank goodness, otherwise, What a mess.
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