Inspired #386 - Julia Romana
London based, Austrian singer, songwriter and visual artist Julia Romana bewitches us all with her new single ‘See Her’.
Directed by Laura Manners who also directed previous music videos ‘Blood Be Fluid’ and ‘Wash It Off’, choreographed by Weronika Szczerek and featuring dancers Lucia Priecelova, Lucy Ridings, Fernanda Marquez Hinojosa and Yan Yin Yung, Julia worked with an all female team to create this stunning piece of visual art, reminiscent of cult classics Suspiria and The Blair Witch Project - “It felt really magical to dance on the forest ground, even with all the spiky pine cones below our feet.”
She took a moment to talk to us about the influences behind her music.
Who are your top three musical inspirations and why?
At the moment it’s definitely Thom Yorke, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey.They put so much of their true character in their music. You can really feel it. It doesn’t feel like the wrote a certain piece to please people. Many musicians these days seem to write to please an audience or to stick with what’s popular and easy to listen to. I do like some commercial bangers as well though, don’t get me wrong. Haha
Is there a certain film that inspires you and why?
Suspiria by Dario Argento, Mulholland Drive by David Lynch, Yi Yi by Edward Yang, Howls Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki. All these movies inspired my upcoming album. They’ve had a special place in my heart for a long time. I love movies that deal with the surreal. Especially when it weaves itself into seemingly ordinary scenes. I love when movies don’t fully make sense. When things stay unexplained, free for us to interpret.
What city do you find the most inspiring and why?
London feels like a really huge pool to draw inspiration from. I love going to my local big park here to sit in the grass by the pond.
There’s also this summer house my friends Vilma and Johannes own just outside of Helsinki, Finland. It’s far from the inner city and feels like such a beautifully isolated place to escape to. Being in the midst of quiet trees, breathing in the hot air in their sauna cabin. I was very lucky to visit them earlier this year and drew a lot of inspiration from this one week of peace and friendship.
Who is the most inspiring person to you and why?
It’s not the same person every day. Sometimes it’s my grandma, she has this great sense of willpower. She’s got a chronic illness but never really complains about it. She’s very caring and sassy and strong. My mum inspires me as well lately. She’s going through many changes in her life and trying new things. I love her energy. She spends a lot of time in nature which always reminds me to leave the house when I feel emotionally stuck. And sometimes it’s teachers of mine. Charlotte Preston (my yoga teacher), Jenny Stones and Weronika Sczcerek (my favourite dance teachers). Anyone who gets me out of my comfort zone and shows me new parts of myself.
What were your inspirations when writing your new track?
The sense that simply existing is enough. We don’t need to prove anything to people.
The feeling of creating art for the joy of creating. Femininity and sensuality.
How would you like to inspire people?
I hope my music can be some kind of reassurance for people that they are enough, that they don’t have to achieve so called “big things” to be a great human. In a few years all these career goals, all the money and the hierarchy between people will be forgotten. None of it will matter.Many of my songs deal with letting go and moving on, flowing through life. I hope my music can gently remind people to stop pleasing others and to find their own path.
