There’s a tantalising feel to Juli von Lou’s debut single, ‘Desert Hills Motel’. In the slow, relentless burn of a summer heatwave, the mysterious gothic sound swirls. It’s hazy, cutting through the heat, the tale of heartbreak in the American desert backed by choral singers as the fire burns in the background. An apocalypse dressed in vintage clothing.
There’s a pause at the 3 minute mark. A reset. A glass of ice cold water. This is a heartbreak song, after all, but there’s an unusual uncertainty throughout and amongst the pretty strings there’s a scream in the background.
It’s an intoxicating first single, one you keep going back to.
Here, Juli Von Lou shares her ‘Firsts’
First Song You Wrote:
The first song I remember writing was oddly enough a 5 year old’s attempt at writing a Psalm. I guess in my, at the time, 5-year-old-Bible-schooled mind, the biggest thing you could achieve in music was to get into the Psalm book. So I tried… I still remember the entire song to this day, so I guess at least it was catchy. But looking back it might be an odd hobby for a little kid to write a song with lyrics talking about finding out from the angels that you’re pregnant with Jesus.
First Live Performance:
I don’t actually remember my first live performance. I started playing violin at a very young age so my first stage experience must have been with the little bluegrass/Swedish folk group I was in as a kid. We were just a bunch of local kids playing violin practicing in our violin teacher’s living room. I guess the first few gigs were probably at the local nursing home or at the local country bar that one of the girls in my band’s parents owned.#
First Official Concert:
My first concert with my name on the poster, I was still in middle school. The concert was at a local tiny festival and was conveniently arranged the day after the nearest city’s high schools had their graduation. I had found people for my band at one of said high schools, and I guess based on that, it’s pretty easy to figure out how the show went. Half of my band threw up before the show even started and as I remember it the guitarist was a shade of green I never knew a person could even have. Let’s just say sending the invoice after was not with any sense of pride.
First Festival:
Apart from the festival mentioned above I have never actually played any festivals. However I snuck into my first festival at 16. I had my first breakup at that festival and threw up while crying in a port-a-potty all night on the last day. It didn’t help that the area we snuck into came with an open bar. That was the first and last festival I’ve attended to this day.
First Headline Show:
My first headline show was in London at The Grace this year. I remember feeling so fine until 30 minutes before show start. At first my concern had been that no one would come, but then it turned into panic that the place was actually full. Walking onto that stage I was so nervous I thought I would die, but halfway through the first song, when my legs finally stopped shaking, I felt high of the feeling it gave me. I had prepped the stage with all these florals I had filled my entire suitcase with and I’m very happy I did — even though it was a hassle to carry and untangle, it made the stage feel a lot more at home, since the fake florals usual home is my bedroom.
Having started writing new material now, I love how I can see a vision start to come to life of what the live shows will be in the future. When I lay awake at night I like to picture it. It’s like dreaming, only I can make it real if I want to. Which is a very comforting thought.
