By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

Julia Easterlin (a.k.a. Julia Hite), is one part Regina Spektor, one part loop scientist, and a sophisticated musical mind that can wield composition, production, and performance in one fell swoop. With a full ride at Berklee, runner-up in the illustrious New York Songwriter’s Circle, which awarded her $5000, studio time, and many opportunities on TV and Radio, this talented songstress is bound for big things.

When you submitted to Heavy Rotations, were you thinking, ‘Hey—They don’t get this cool, weird vocal jazz stuff all the time, maybe I have a good shot?’

Julia Easterlin: It was a little bit more ‘Ah, Whatever.’ I actually submitted to HRR once two years ago with the same stuff, and they didn’t take me. So I submitted again this year with ‘Go Straightaway,’ and when I heard word they were maybe interested, I gave them some more things, and now I’m on it, and it’s cool! I’m happy! It wasn’t something about which I felt a lot of anxiety, or anything, if it works it works, if it doesn’t, then nothing new.

ZT: How are you going to use this opportunity to your advantage—any tricks up your sleeve?

JE: I wish I had tricks up my sleeve. For me, working alone all the time gets really exhausting, because it’s virtually impossible to be an MP&E and Synth major, and do all my own booking and publicity and everything by myself all the time. So it’s really nice to know that at least there are other people now that I can talk to and bounce ideas off of, and who will help me promote things, and who are holding me accountable, that are also willing to help.

ZT: So you’re playing solo for the show?

JE: I might get Jörn [Bielfeldt] to do some cajon and snare action with me. But usually when I perform, it’s just me and the pedal and maybe a guitar. I have been trying to get in touch with a drummer, but it hasn’t happened yet. He hasn’t called me back! We’ve been playing phone tag.

ZT: He’ll call you back. I have a feeling. Do you have any shows coming up?

JE: I have a benefit concert on February 5 at a venue that Berklee apparently owns but no one ever uses. I’m playing at All Asia for Monkey Rock on February 17.

ZT: When are you done with school?

JE: This is my 6th semester, and I have three after this. I think I’m going to take the summer off, because I want to go to survival school. This spring break, I’m getting a wilderness first responder certification, and this summer I’m going to do this survival program in Utah.

ZT: Are you going to bring your loop pedal?

JE: Ha! No, I don’t think I’m even allowed to bring a sleeping bag. I think it’s super minimal stuff.

ZT: When you’re writing songs, does it start with the loop, an idea, a hook, a lyric, or what?

JE: I think it generally starts with a harmonic idea. To me, the most important part of a song is the beat and the bass line, and that’s usually where I start. I do write with the loop pedal most of the time, because that’s how I perform. I start with a vocal loop, and a beat and a bass line, and an emotion that I want to convey, and go from there. ‘Go Straightaway’ I wrote in an hour, in one sitting. It was actually the first time I got the pedal, because I wanted to use it in my Berklee audition, and I got it the day before. I had actually auditioned for Berklee two times before.

ZT: And you didn’t get in?!

JE: I got in, but I didn’t get the scholarship I wanted. So I kept going back and saying, ‘I want more money.’ so the I decided, ‘Forget the instruments, I’m going to do what I like to do, which is singing.’

ZT: What did you audition with originally?

JE: The first time I auditioned as a jazz vocalist. I sang ‘Lush Life,’ a Billy Strayhorn tune. Somebody else played piano and I just sang. And I got in, and whatever, that was fine. And then the second time I auditioned with an original piece that I played on piano and sang, and that was cool, too, that bumped the scholarship up a little, but I was like, ‘No. I want more.’ So I went back, and just decided I was not going to worry about if they were going to let me use the pedal in the audition, I was just going to walk in, plug it in, and go. And it worked out really well because I was the last person of the day, and there were no time constraints on me. The audition was actually in Atlanta.

ZT: How much did you get?

JE: I actually got full tuition! I finally got what I was aiming for. But as for ‘Go Straightaway’—my mother is actually really picky about lyrics. I sang that song for her right after I wrote it, and she said ‘Let me take a look at those words.’ And I said, ‘No! You’re not touching this.’

ZT: Is she a songwriter?

JE: Yeah, she’s a musician—a harpist, and she’s also a children’s literature enthusiast. She’s a librarian at an elementary school. She really likes stories and words. Words mean a lot to her. And she sings. She was a jazz singer when she was younger.

ZT: Does she scan your lyrics for less risqué elements, or for the sake of the song?

JE: Just for the sake of the song. We have very different feelings about lyrics. She likes things to be very poetic and descriptive, and that’s not the most important thing to me. The most important thing is to convey the emotion. And a lot of times I feel the lyrics can be really plain words, and a lot of how the song feels has to do with the rhythm and harmony and the stuff that you do over that. So that’s my mom’s deal.

ZT: Has ‘Go Straightaway’ grown on her?

JE: I think so, as far as I can tell. I think she thinks it’s lyrically weak. But to me, I’m just telling a story, and the story is told, and it’s good, and the words work with the rhythm and everything. I think now, she’s like ‘Good job!’ but initially she was going, ‘Ah, whatever.’

ZT: I’ve always thought that parents shouldn’t like our songs. Your parents are proud of you regardless, but unless you’re trying to be a mainstream adult contemporary artist, but they shouldn’t be appealing to them.

JE: Yeah, that’s kind of how I’m feeling. When I was living at home in high school, most of what I was doing, until my senior year, was really folky, pretty songs with acoustic guitar. But then I decided I wanted to write pop. I like pop songs. I like interesting pop music. It takes my mother a while to appreciate my songs. She used to be like ‘Oh, that’s so beautiful!’ when I was playing these folksy, pretty lyric songs. But I generally feel like it’s a good thing now if my mother thinks that what I’m doing is weird.

For more information, visit Myspace.com/JuliaEasterlin.