Juli von Lou is one of Sweden’s most interesting and talented newcomers. Raised in an isolated industrial community in rural Sweden, she describes it as “the Swedish version of the Midwest”; she didn’t experience the typical Gen-Z childhood and spent most of it in the forests, surrounded by farm animals and dancing in barns to 1960s classics. Her music includes the feel of those landscapes and folklore, paired with melancholic longing and rustic dreaminess. We sat down with the young artist to discuss her unusual upbringing, her yet-unreleased first EP ‘The Tales of a Honky Tonk Alien’, and all the inspirations for her recognisable “Honky Tonk” flair.
“I started playing violin when I was very young because my mum always wanted to play violin. My mum actually started playing at the age of 40, and she now has a little band of her own”, she tells us and admits that her family always loved music and it has always been “very present”. “I have a guitar that my dad bought in the ‘90s because he wanted to learn how to play. I think mostly he just wanted to be the cool guitar guy to get the ladies”, she laughs, “but then he got my mum so fast that he never learned how to play”. She explains that her dad has always been a big rock and metal fan – “metal I have never quite understood” – and also introduced her to David Bowie, who Juli herself is a big fan of. “And Americana was very present because if you play the violin where I’m from, you don’t play classical, you play folk.”
Juli admits that the music she grew up around subconsciously impacts her songwriting more than she thinks. “I don’t actively think about it. I know a lot of people like to use references and I have never done that, but it’s just the sound. One time I tried to make music for a pitch, and it was supposed to be very electronic, and I was so proud because I was like, ‘This one does NOT have any folk elements’, but then the girl who plays the violin on a lot of stuff I do comes in, and she goes, ‘Wow, there’s a little folk bass!’. But I guess that’s also what makes it, I guess the folk is the red thread.”
When it comes to her own listening habits, she laughs, “I have terrible music taste, I listen to so much bad shit! I was talking to my roommate earlier today, and she said it’s surprising I make good music because my taste is so horrific. It’s just all over the place, and a lot of 2000s rap for some reason” Her recent obsession is Mason Ramsey, aka the Yodel Boy from that one Target Vine ages ago – if you’re chronically online, you understand. “I can’t explain why”, she tries to rationalise, “but I always go back to ‘Famous’. It’s so auto-tuned, clearly written by someone else, but it makes me cry every time”.
A song that changed her brain chemistry when she was 14 was “Empty Chairs” by Don McLean. “I remember finding it and thinking, ‘Fuck, this is deep!’. He just has a way of using words and turning them around in ways that are unexpected. It’s sort of like when you watch a movie, and it has all these hints at what the plot twist is gonna be, but you don’t really notice them until you get to it.”
Juli’s first claim to fame was when she was 13 and got pulled on stage at a festival by a Swedish artist she was a really big fan of. “I feel like that was the moment where I was like, this is what I’m gonna do!” As we are discussing another favourite artist of hers, Sierra Ferro, Juli gets vulnerable with us about her anxiety surrounding her age. “I remember when I had my first manager at 14 or 15, he was asking my dad how old I was when I sent my first demos and said, “14 is a bit late. I was so aware of my age for the longest time; I thought that, especially as a woman, you have to make it by 20, or it’s too late. But I feel like in the recent five years, so many amazing female artists have broken through at an older age and have reached major success. I remember that specifically with Sierra, because I have been a fan of hers since I was 15, and I’ve always been like, how is she not bigger than she is? Then she had a massive break about two years ago, and I could just feel myself sighing in relief. And she’s so much better now at 37 than she was when she was 20!”
Regarding her own songwriting, she describes herself as a “very slow writer”, who needs her own time and doesn’t do well in sessions. “It’s because usually I write melody and lyrics at the same time. I think it’s much easier this way and I also just like writing chronologically. It’s easier for storytelling, and I guess that’s also a folk thing”, she chuckles. “But I’ve come to the point now where one of my biggest issues was that I was over-explaining a lot. I don’t know if that’s an autistic thing, but I was like, we can’t skip a part of the story because then we’re missing context!” She primarily discusses personal topics in her songs, or how she imagines real-life situations to be instead.
“My favourite movie my entire childhood was Mulan, and I always liked the feeling you would get from those songs, of feeling like a Disney hero”, she admits with a smile. “I like the way those songs make you dream yourself away in this little world in your head.”
Her upcoming EP ‘The Tales of a Honky Tonk Alien’ was written over a long period of time, Juli tells us, because her favourite co-writer and producer is in Bergen, Norway, and when they started, she was still in school and in Sweden. “Whenever we could make time to see each other, it was like, ‘Okay, what’s happened now in my life since we last saw each other?”
‘To a Girl from West Virginia’ is her favourite song of hers. “That is the song where I remember the making of the most. I showed it to my dad, and he is very honest.” “I’m not diagnosing him with anything, but my autism comes from somewhere”, she laughs, “like, if my dad doesn’t think something is good, he’s not gonna lie to you.” She explains how her dad has always been her biggest critic, but that’s also what makes him her biggest motivator. “I know that if I manage to make my typical countryside father cry over a lesbian love song, it’s a good song!”
Visuals, on the other hand, come in super quick and early for Juli. “I’ve always been very into fashion and clothes, and this project is just an excuse for me to be able to walk around in Victorian gowns on a daily basis”, she giggles. “I’ve always been obsessed with all these outrageous outfits and dresses and corsets, and I definitely spend way too much money on buying these old dresses from the operas.”
Juli shares with us that when she was really young, her dad – who had three daughters – dressed her up as his son in a way. “I had short hair and these Ed Hardy shirts on and Formula One caps. I guess it makes sense I completely broke out of that” Her younger sister is going to university for fashion and sews a lot of clothes for her now. “It’s very useful”, she laughs. “I just have this very big obsession with the Victorian era, but I also love ‘90s movies. For all the music videos that are gonna come out, I wanted to look like I am Julia Roberts in the ‘90s.”
When asked about why she decided on wearing a pair of massive wings for ‘Honky Tonk Angels’, she put it plainly: “If we’re going to Spain to shoot a music video for me, and I have the opportunity to wear wings, I want to wear wings!”
And perhaps that’s the best way to sum up Juli von Lou’s artistry: a one-of-a-kind fever dream that is incredibly intentional to create a brand. There are Victorian gowns, angel wings, lesbian love songs and enough Americana to fill a barn – all stitched together into something that feels entirely her own. Instead of worrying that she might be too late, Juli stopped looking at the clock and started to create a world that makes everyone curious to get lost in and explore. She is the “Honky Tonk Angel” whose wings lead the way, and we are so excited to follow.
Written by Vicky Mazdak // photography by Charles Gall and Charlie Drinkwater
GEM Magazine 