Introducing #104 - Juliet Garrett
Let us introduce you to London based New Yorker singer songwriter Juliet Garrett, who has just released her new track ‘Follow the River’ - the second track from her upcoming debut EP. Juliet took a moment to talk to us about her musical childhood and why she moved to London.
Hey there, so your track ‘Follow The River’ is out now, can you tell us what the track is about?
Hey! When I wrote this song, I was thinking about the freedom that we have as children – the worlds we build using our imagination where anything can happen. Magic, mischief, make believe, it’s all real. We use that space to explore different versions of ourselves and to test and learn to accept healthy boundaries (home by dinner, don’t fall out of the tree). As we grow up, I think we lose some of that magic. We have to take on adult responsibility and it’s frowned upon to believe in fairy tales. But I wish it wasn’t. I’ve never wanted to stop believing in magic. And a little bit of mischief is part of the fun.
Originally you are from New York, which part are you from?
I’m from an island called Shelter island. You have to take a ferry boat to get there, and 1/3 of the island is a nature preserve. Back when there was true winter, the water would freeze, and sometimes deer would run across the ice. It’s like another world.
Your father is a composer and your mother is a visual artist, being brought up in such a creative world must have been interesting, what are your earliest memories of this?
Absolutely. Oh gosh, so many. My whole family is actually living at home right now thanks to COVID, and we joke that it’s part Little Women and part artist colony. My mom made the music video for this song-– we wandered off into the woods to shoot, which is perhaps a story for another time. My dad makes a cameo appearance in the video as well (he’s the guy doing Tai Chi!) And my sister is a sculptor and photographer who shot the photo on this page.
My earliest memory in general is that I loved to make up songs and have parades, and I used to get my parents to follow me around the house with kazoos and bells and drums and shakers and play along. Usually, I was wearing a train conductor’s hat for this. The fact that they went along with it, and even encouraged it, is probably indicative of being brought up in a creative world!
Another memory that immediately comes to mind is that my dad’s go-to activity when I was a toddler was to put on Bud Powell records and bring out the fingerpaints. We would sit together and make finger paintings to Bud Powell, and sometimes Thelonious Monk, and make a complete mess. I loved that. He also made this giant notebook out of blue cardboard and red yarn and used to have me tell him the stories I’d make up, which he would diligently write down. I don’t know what happened to that book, but I’d love to find it – see what crazy things my 3 year old brain thought were worth telling.
You now live in London, what caused that move? How are you finding it?
I moved to London quite by accident and stayed for over two years, although I’ve been back at my parents’ house since the end of August (I do hope to return to London after COVID, I love it there). Back in the winter of 2018, I started feeling really stuck in a rut in Brooklyn, so when the lease was up on my apartment that spring I got clearance from my day-job to transition to working remotely, then I did the scary thing and bought myself a one way ticket to Amsterdam. I set off playing small shows around Europe, with the goal to reach 10,000 hours of performing (I don’t think I quite got there, but I had a very good time). I bartered shows for hostel beds, took up busking, and stayed with some very good and kind friends.
When I made my way to London I met so many wonderful musicians and found the scene there to be so supportive, so inspiring, and so full of good music that I had a hard time leaving. London is a funny city because it doesn’t immediately avail itself to you the way New York does. On the surface, I think it’s very easy to misjudge London completely. But once I started to become aware of the hidden gems of the city, it felt like being let in on the most beautiful secret. I was also staying with dear family friends (I call them my fairy godparents) for the first few months there, and I can’t overstate how much easier it is to be in a foreign city when you’re with people who feel like family.
How would you describe your music to someone who has never listened to it before?
Mmmm that’s such a tough question. I’d say it’s fairly direct songwriting, a bit old school, definitely influenced by the Laurel Canyon aesthetic of the 70’s, but with a 21st century sensibility. I’ve recently been pre-occupied with the world of imagination and dreams, and I think that’s probably reflected in much of my music. I also think it might sound American, which only just occurred to me recently.
Who are your key musical influences?
Joni is #1 for me. What a legend. And Ella. My favorite singer ever. They’re in totally different genres, and decades apart, but they both use their voice as a real instrument. I love that. Regina Spektor does that, too. The idea that you can solo on your voice is so fun and freeing to me. Kate Bush. I’d love to incorporate even more of that wild freedom into my own work.