Julie Haven’s fluctuating piano pop blends the style of Tori Amos' intricate piano work, the intensity of Alanis Morissette and the conviction of Fiona Apple, to make a unique sound of her own. Writing from her heart and her own experience, she allows her audience to personally connect with her music through her songs of love, heartbreak, personal growth and self-discovery. Composing her first song at the age of 7, music has always been in Julie Haven’s blood. By 13, she was performing solo shows at local music venues, always impressing her audience with the emotional maturity she conveyed in her songs. She recently finished recording a full length album in Nashville, TN and from it, her 4-track EP “Fool’s Gold” was released in August 2019. She will be releasing the full length album early next year.
To start off her incredible EP “Fool’s Gold” is Julie Haven’s heart wrenching single “See Me Cry”. Powerful, contagious and somehow empowering, Julie pours her heart and soul into this seamless intro track. We’re completely captured by Julie’s mesmerizing vocals and meaningful lyricism. Effective songwriting often expresses what are perhaps common or very human ideas but from an unpredictable or unfamiliar perspective. Approaching the subjects from a new angle, one that intrigues, and this is something you get in high doses throughout this release.
Within the next track “Love And War”, the artistry of Julie is on full display as you witness and connect with the songs. Everything from the melodies, the riffs, the organic elements of the instrumentation, and the raw emotion of the lyrics. The lyrics are beautiful, poetic and new, considerate and provocative. The hook is incredible and it grows stronger with each and every appearance. As the EP moves into “Dust”, Julie Haven presents spectacular melodies and concepts in a gentle and easy to believe manner. There’s a humble and subtle nature to the performance, expressing the change from the mellow to the intense by means of powerful piano and a slight change in notes. The ambiance here is smooth and melancholic, perhaps even haunting. The music is stylish and the leading vocal features some beautifully addictive qualities that effortlessly win your attention. This song has so much space surrounding the melody, it hits with impact. The emotion is raw, the lyrics confront you, and the storytelling is all at once separate and connected with you as a listener. It’s a distant tale, but it’s spoken directly for you. The sense of humanity and realness is overwhelming, and the effect is wonderful.
The EP comes to a close with “Fated”, but things by no means fizzle out to finish. Everything you’ve come to familiarize yourself with returns. This includes the poetry, the ambiance, the unexpected melodies, the artistry, the creativity and Julie Havens captivating and breathtaking vocals. The intensity of this final track builds in a powerful and mesmerizing manner. The words demand that you listen, to the point that you’re keen to listen to the whole project over again to re-gather all of those ideas and try to make better sense of it. The music surrounds you, and the moment is incomparably bold yet undeniably peaceful. It’s a huge way to finish and absolutely worth exploring.
Check out “Fool’s Gold” here and read more with Julie Haven below!
Welcome back Julie Haven! Congrats on the release of “Fool’s Gold”. What is the main theme of this EP? What inspired it?
Hi! Thank you so much for inviting me back! I am really excited that this EP is finally being released.
The theme of this EP is like most of my songs; It’s about love and loss. But going into that even deeper, I entitled it “Fool’s Gold” because these 4 songs are little snippets inside 4 different relationships I have had in my life. They were all someone I thought were something special at the time. Especially the person “Dust” is written for. But in the end it was all an illusion and I ended up feeling like a fool, heartbroken and alone.
The really cool thing about how the title came to me is that I found a heart shaped pyrite stone. Pyrite is also known as fool’s gold. As soon as I laid eyes on it, I knew I had to have it. It was beautifully damaged. It looked like it had been beaten and shot with a bullet, yet it was still in tact. I didn't know at the time I would be naming the EP “Fool’s Gold”. I just knew it had something to do with my music and me as an artist. So now I carry the stone with me and it is part of the artwork for my second single “Love and War” as well as the back cover of “Fool’s Gold.” I think it will be appearing throughout my music in a lot of ways.
Can you dive into the lyrics in “Dust”? What did you aspire to achieve with this song?
This song was written for someone I thought was “the one”. I felt so stupid when I realized it was all a facade. I had never felt so broken as when I went through that heartbreak. It was truly devastating.
At the time I didn’t realize he was a narcissist. He took me for a ride. I went through a roller coaster of emotions. He was charming and put me on a pedestal then just as quickly knocked me down and I didn’t know what I did wrong. I couldn’t understand why he just left me there. I felt...broken.
I base everything in my life off of my own intuition, so throughout this whole song I’m asking if I am wrong; meaning is my intuition wrong?
The most powerful and devastating part of this song is when I say “And I once believed in a love eternally, And I thought you were the one. And if I was wrong, Oh God what have I done? I won’t trust myself anymore”.
It was the first time my intuition led me astray, and I wasn’t sure if I could ever trust my gut again after that. I wasn’t sure I would come back from that. Looking back, I realize I probably always knew something was off. I just didn’t want to see it. It was a hard lesson. But my eyes were open wide after that.
When I wrote that song I was feeling extremely vulnerable and that’s what I wanted to achieve; that feeling of utter despair and hopelessness. And I think I did.
What challenges did you face when creating “Fool’s Gold”? How did you overcome those challenges?
Money lol. Lots and lots of money lol. If you want quality recordings YOU NEED MONEY. Did I mention you need a LOT OF MONEY? And if you are a full time musician like me, money is hard to come by. So I worked my ass off playing as many gigs as possible and saved as much money as I could. Then to help me over the hump I ran a very successful kickstarter campaign and ended up raising over 10k. Granted, it ended up costing more like 25k with the full length album recordings alone, but it was definitely helpful.
If people only have time to listen to one song of yours, which would you recommend and why?
Ooohhh…..this is a tough one. All 4 of these songs are very different from each other aside from the lyrics being of the same theme.
“See Me Cry”, my first single, is probably the most “poppy” sounding and “happiest”, if you can even call it happy. It is very commercial and has a mainstream appeal.
“Love and War”, my second single, has a driving beat and catchy melodies but still very sad and dark. I really love the way this song turned out. It has an 80’s synth pop vibe going on with still sounding very modern and a lot of people have been enjoying this one. This one I would also consider to have mainstream appeal.
“Dust” is a ballad and could very well be the most heart-wrenching of all the songs. I have been hearing from some close friends and family that this is their favorite because of the vulnerability in the lyrics and vocals.
“Fated” musically sounds the most different from all of my songs I have ever written in my opinion. This song was very much influenced by my love for Fiona Apple and Aimee Mann. This is another sad song about facing the reality that the relationship is doomed and you can only deny it for so long. It is also another favorite for some of my close friends and family.
So if I had to choose only one song, it would depend on the taste of who is listening. I would love some feedback from anyone who listens on which song is their favorite.
What’s next for you through the end of 2019?
I have a full length album I am finishing up called “Dramatic Departures”, which I am extremely excited for. We haven't set an official release date yet but I don’t think it will be released before the end of the year. In the meantime I am going to keep promoting the EP and play some shows in Michigan and Florida and a few cities in between for the next few months. I am also going to be working on a music video or 2.
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