Artist Spotlight: Meet JULIANGK
What was the creative process like for this particular song?
I first had the idea for the song after reading a blog post by a girl I was flirting with on Tinder. She wrote a five-page article on Breadcrumbing... a term I was not familiar with at the time. The article went into detail on how she had been breadcrumbed by this guy a few months back. Her writing was really picturesque and it really painted the feelings she was going through and her frustrations while trying to find a partner in London's online dating scene. She ended up moving back to New Zealand a few weeks into our fling so we actually never even met up. Maybe I breadcrumbed her too without even knowing! Ha. Anyways, this article inspired the song. The chorus popped into my head one day in the tube as I read the article and I recorded it as a voice memo on my iPhone. That voice memo lived on in that form for about a year before I kept writing the song.
Fast forward to the first couple weeks of lockdown, when I was listening to this new (at the time) band called girlfriends... they had a single produced by John Feldman called California. I heard the song and something about it reminded me of the concept I had been brewing for months... Breadcrumbs! I thought! This is the vibe for that song!... I jumped out of bed and pretty much wrote the whole thing in one sitting. I didn't write the second verse though as I was saving that for a guest vocalist, which never happened.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for "Breadcrumbs?"
This song took over four years to be completed! I was starting to learn to produce, mix and master when I started it, so the song had many reincarnations as I tried different arrangements and learned more about the craft.
I started from scratch about three times, reusing old recordings and meshing them with new ones with better techniques and gear I acquired. This probably means that the song doesn't sound as polished or as cohesive as what I can do now, but hey! at some point I just had to say... it's done, and release it.
What impact do you hope this song will have on your audience?
I hope it gets them out of toxic relationships if they are in one. If they are single, to be aware of shitty things that can happen when looking for a partner and to avoid the pitfalls... Then finally, if they are in a nice relationship, to count their blessings!
Can you tell us more about you as an artist?
I'm a Latin dude bringing the surf, skate, punk culture to the UK with the classic California punk sound.
I was born and raised in Costa Rica, which has a big American influence so my audio diet was mainly California artists like Rancid, Sugarcult, Face to Face, Blink-182, Green Day, AFI, etc. From there, I learned about the history of punk and the importance that the UK has on punk and rock in general. It all seemed very foreign and far away from me, since Costa Rica didn't have much contact with the American and British punk scenes.
I never felt like I fit in in the social environment in the small town I was raised in, so the first chance I had, I moved to Los Angeles, then London. I was searching for my people and a place where I could express myself in an honest way and be accepted.
There are some sides of Costa Rican culture I absolutely love and did fit into, though. The surf and skate cultures are quite prevalent and they were a big part of my upbringing. Now being in the UK, I intend to blend those in with my passion for California and British punk to blend it into one energetic and contagious sound!
Do you aim to convey any specific themes or messages through your music?
I want to encourage and empower listeners to work towards living life their way.
