Rochester, NY’s Julia Nunes went from amateur songwriter to famous performer in only two short years. Thanks to her charming YouTube videos, which feature original songs and covers, this young ukulele master has been traveling around the nation and even across the pond to play for her hordes of devoted fans. She has released two albums, Left Right Wrong and last Fall’s I Wrote These. She even has a Wikipedia page! Well, then again, so does this magazine.
Generation caught up with Ms. Nunes on a recent busy weekend.
Generation: So, you’re on your way to play in Atlanta. Where else have you performed?
Julia Nunes: Now, I’m technically on my way back from Atlanta. It was a show at a women’s college, Agnes Scott. I’ve played in Georgia before, at GA Southern, but the two schools are nowhere near each other. Colleges are super fun because it’s all kids my age. [Some of the places that Nunes has performed include the Rochester Independent Music Festival, The Knitting Factory in New York, various venues in London, and SUNY Geneseo. She has toured with Ben Folds, was a part of the Bushman Music Ukulele Luau, and performed at CA YouTube Live in San Francisco.]
G: What were the best and worst?
JN: Best: Any of the London shows; each one had a wall of kids screaming my songs back at me. They were sweet.
Worst? I dunno if it actually was that bad, but there was one of the shows opening for Ben Folds that I was just gut-wrenchingly nervous for. I ended up getting in a fight with a security guard from the stage, because he wouldn’t let my friends sit front row. Some kids started a “let them go” chant which was funny, but I was entirely embarrassed and felt like I was not playing well at all. I’ll admit it, I cried, off stage of course. It was the biggest venue I had ever played and I was opening for one of my idols—easily the worst show to have a worst show at.
G: When I brought up the idea of interviewing you, I was surprised to find out that a number of the other Generation staff members had heard of you. Are you widely recognized? What’s it like? Has being famous caused any problems?
JN: That’s always nice to hear, and I’m honestly always surprised ‘cause I mostly don’t notice any change. It’s certainly allowed me to do things that I couldn’t pull off before, like traveling to London and having people actually come to the shows, or making shirts with my face on them, but as far as everyday life, aside from the occasional teasing from friends, it hasn’t caused a significant amount of trouble. Lots of times I’ll get a “Hey, my friend just told me that his sister’s friend’s boyfriend’s uncle’s second cousin’s friend is obsessed with your music! How weird is that?” which I find amusing. It’s still a shady circumstance though. I am still a young girl broadcasting myself over the internet; there are some inherent dangers that I’ve fortunately had little experience with. As a precautionary measure though, I try to keep my school and other personal details a secret.
G: What are your future plans for the short and long terms? What kind of career do you want to pursue?
JN: Short term: I’m heading back to school, but my Monday classes are canceled so I’ll probably just sleep a whole bunch cause I haven’t done that a lot this weekend.
Longish term: I’m planning on spending the rest of the semester writing papers, recording the 5 songs I’ve written since I recorded I Wrote These, possibly doing a summer EP, and traveling to more shows.
Longer term: I’m going to finish college, that’s for certain, but how long it takes me and where I end up are all undecided. There are numerous jobs I’d be content doing, most involving music, but most of the reason I’ve resolved to finish school is because I want to keep my options open, and have a plan B.
Dream job: Employed songwriter and composer for soundtracks and film scores.
G: What are your musical influences? Lyrical inspirations?
JN: The Beatles, Beach Boys, Queen, Ben Folds, Say Anything, Presidents of the United States of America, and a weird assortment of other musicians. I’ll be honest, most of my musical library is represented by those six bands, music that my friends make, and random songs from those “cool indie bands” that my friends with better musical taste have given to me on mix CDs. (ie. Margaret Storms). Lyrics come from my thoughts on life and relationships. Mostly a song will stem from one line, or sometimes a rhyming couplet, that I think is funny or clever.
You can catch Julia’s videos at
http://www.youtube.com/user/jaaaaaaa
