Discover Gingerly: Julia Bardo and the architecture of solitude
For fans of Sharon Van Etten, Father John Misty, and Angel Olsen.
Questo articolo è disponibile anche in italiano.
Among the winners of the prestigious Music Moves Europe Talent Awards 2021, created by Creative Europe to help and promote the growth of new artists in the old continent, there is also a young singer named Giulia Bonometti, aka Julia Bardo. Born in Brescia and relocated in Manchester as destiny wanted, Julia is an artist yet to be discovered. For now, she has released two EPs and is eagerly awaiting the day when she will finally be able to introduce to the world the sound that in recent years, moving from one project to another and evolving both personally and artistically, she has managed to build for herself. We talked about it in a nice conversation via Zoom, which you can read below, after pressing play and starting to, of course, listen gingerly!
- Tell me a little about yourself: how did you start and how did your passion for music develop?
It all started as a pastime. The very first thing I did was recording three covers, only vocal, when I was 17, just because I felt like it. Then I put them on Soundcloud and a guy, who later became a friend and part of my first band, contacted me and said he really liked my voice. We met and started a project called Fauves, which turned into Own Boo when I was 18. After some time together, for various reasons, we broke up and I started a new project, which in hindsight never really reflected who I am and I never really felt like my own, but anyway… It started with my ex-boyfriend, who was in charge of the music while I was a beginner on songwriting and only recorded vocals. At a certain point, since I have always wanted to leave Italy, and I knew that one day I would go to live in England, I told myself that it was time to do it. I was 23, and from then on I made the commitment to really learn how to play the guitar and write songs, and I began to understand a little better how music worked. After being in Manchester for some time, I decided to enroll in a music school, with the idea of learning more and getting to know other musicians. Luckily, in the midst of many young students playing Shawn Mendes in the hall, I met the two guys with whom I formed the Working Men’s Club, of which I was a part for about two years while continuing to compose for myself. Then, when Wichita offered me a contract, I jumped in, left the group and started doing my own thing.
- And why did you choose Manchester? Was it a choice inspired by Joy Division and Van Der Graaf Generator, just to name a couple?
No, actually it’s not for that! They’re really not my thing! I’ve never been particularly fond of Joy Division or Smiths. I mean, I like them, but not that much. It was more a choice dictated by the fact that coming from Castegnato, in the province of Brescia, I felt that London was too big for me and I didn’t know where to start. Manchester went out a bit by fate: I was in London, I got on a train to Bristol and it never left, so I took it as a sign.
- So it’s all by chance!
Yes, exactly! And now I’ve been here for four years!
- It means that it went well…
Yes, and obviously the city is not the best you can find in England, but from a cultural and artistic point of view, it’s fantastic!
- And how did you lived through the last few months of general lockdown?
It was a bit of a roller coaster, but at least I’m home with my boyfriend and not alone. I feel a little helpless because I can’t think about my future, I don’t know what will happen, and I can’t even go back to Italy. I’m completely isolated, like everyone else.
- I asked you that because It’s Ok To Not Be Okay could be a bit of an anthem for this period.
Yes, many have told me that! Actually, I wrote that song about two years ago, but I released it because I told myself it was perfect for the moment… sadly.
- You played in very different projects before making your solo debut. As Julia Bardo, do you finally feel you're being yourself?
The album will finally have the sound that satisfies me! The EP that came out last year represents me but lacks a bit of the grit and dirt that I like. Before, when I was playing in Working Men’s Club, I felt good and I liked the music, but there were too many problems within the band, like in Own Boo. There were too many people with big egos who easily came into conflict, and I was always in the middle and couldn’t take it anymore. Now, little by little, I am reaching a sound that I like and the evolution can be seen from the EP to the record. I hope there will be an even more marked evolution from album 1 to album 2… when it comes out!
- Standard question: how do you write your songs?
Lately, I happen to pick up the guitar and the words come out on their own. When I play, I sing what goes through my head and sometimes I ask myself: “Uh … why did I sing this thing?”. Then, when I work on it, I realize how I got there. It’s kind of an inner investigation and it’s all very personal, sometimes too much, also because I can’t write about other things! I write about what I know, and what I know and experience is basically myself.
- And what are the most intimate lyrics you have released so far?
I reckon the most personal lyrics are yet to come out. Of the ones I’ve released so far, It’s Okay To Not Be Okay is definitely the most intimate, but there will be so much more on the album.
- Do you know when it will be released?
I hope in September but nothing is defined yet, we are waiting for developments and we’ll decide together with the label!
- Could you give me some heads up for the songs in it?
Since, for some reason, many people have started to label me as a follower of Italian 60s music — which I obviously listen to, but not exclusively — I hope that with this album, they’ll realize that I don’t just play that genre and that my sound is contemporary, with shades from different years. I listen to music that goes from the 60s to the 2000s onwards, and my music is a mixture of inspirations taken from what I listen to.
- You are fresh from winning the Music Moves Europe Talent Awards competition. How would you like to use the prize you received?
I still don’t know, since at the moment everything is blocked, but I would like to tour Italy and Europe. It will stay there for now!
- In an interview you did for the contest, you said that you are very attached to images and always look for a sound that reflects a certain image. Can you explain it better? Is there a passion for cinema behind this statement?
I’m obsessed with images. They always give me a different emotion, and when I try to describe a sound I can’t do it if not by looking for a visual representation. Even when I listen to music, I close my eyes and always see something definite, like colour or something. I spend most of my time looking on Pinterest for a visual that strike me. And then yes, I love cinema! If I hadn’t made music, I probably would have been an actress, because I love it, it’s a powerful art and one of the most beautiful things we have. A few weeks ago, I watched La Notte by Michelangelo Antonioni, and apart from the dialogues which are beautiful, all the frames in there are pure poetry and I am proud to be Italian for this reason, the ability to convey so much in so little. During this lockdown, all I did was watching movies!
- What other movies have particularly impressed you?
Giulietta Degli Spiriti and 8 e mezzo by Fellini, and also La Grande Bellezza, which is stunning. From the latest releases, I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Charlie Kaufman, who is one of my favourite directors. He is very existentialist and I feel very close to him for his anxiety on the passing of time, loneliness and other issues he analyses.
- Given your love for images, do you also love photography?
I’m not that informed, but absolutely yes, also because I am very interested in people and I think it’s so fascinating to be able to look at somebody through a photograph and imagine their life behind an expression or a gesture. This is another reason why acting fascinates me a lot, because you can step into another person’s shoes and try to understand why they live their life a certain way and make certain choices.
- In a sense, you can do that also by writing songs.
Yup! But you can’t hide anything, you could only add thoughts into lyrics that don’t really belong to you. But when you perform, it’s always you, you can’t be anybody else. In general, however, the beauty of art is that it leads us to think, not to be passive and to express what we have inside.
- Have you ever thought of singing in Italian?
Yes, but only recently! During this period at home, I thought about a lot of things… about the future, and what will happen… and I said to myself: “What if I sang in Italian and moved to Italy?”. For the moment these are just thoughts, I don’t know if they will ever materialize. Every now and then, I add little pieces in Italian to my songs, but it’s not the same thing. Maybe after the release of the album, I will release a song in Italian: I don’t rule it out, it’s just that I find it more difficult, even if it’s my mother tongue. Meanwhile, I can tell you that I started a collaboration with another artist where I will sing in Italian!
- Awesome! While waiting to listen to both the album and this new collaboration, and to also be able to come and see you live, can you recommend three emerging artists that you reckon worthy of being listened gingerly?
Gladly! The first ones that come to mind are Katy J Pearson, who is an amazing songwriter; Blanketman, which is the band of a friend of mine, and has a great sound; Black Country, New Road, and from Italy I’d say the Bee Bee Sea!
