Music Mondays: Julia Nunes

Let’s go back. Way, way, wayyyyy back, all the way to 2008. I couldn’t legally buy cigarettes, gas was less then $2 a gallon, and waking up before 6AM was a thing I could do on a daily basis. Enter my first part-time job, creating a small surplus of funds which I promptly spent on my first laptop, thus ridding myself the need of my parents desktop dinosaur. Those were happy times; a period of discovering the wonders (and many, many horrors) of the interwebs.

One of my biggest obsessions of this time period was YouTube. I fell in love with acoustic covers of everything, free piano tutorials so I could trick my friends into thinking I could play piano, and of course the original YouTube artist I claimed as my own. I loved finding these people, with there webcams recording at truly shitty qualities, singing their own music and putting themselves out there for the world to hear (and see). I took pride in having these musicians be my little secret, something I could listen to all day and nobody I interacted with even had a clue of what I was listening too.

My favorite artist of that time, and still one of my favorite artists of all time, is the wonderful Julia Nunes. I found her searching for covers on Ukulele, because I was in a phase, and stuck around after hearing her original tune “First Impressions.” From there my love for her music only skyrocketed. Her songs just felt like they were speaking to me, to us, an entire generation, on a personal level. It had an upbeat, poppy sound at times, but it never felt like she was trying to sell me something, which is how I felt about all music and media at the time. She was something real, and I was really all about it.

Going from webcam recorded solos to EP releases to full blown albums and guest appearances on major TV shows (she performed on Conan before and it was the only time I have ever forced myself to watch late night talk TV live). Her sound evolved and I felt like it evolved with me, in the same way. In this track, “Something Bad”, I feel like everything I love about Julia Nunes is captured perfectly. She’s funny and smiles wide, but makes mistakes and she knows it. Her lyrics can be playful and make it all sound innocent, but I also understand exactly what sucks about wanting something and knowing it’s bad for who we are. I don’t think this is a new revelation or anything, but just hearing it from someone around my age, without a filter, just made me feel like I wasn’t so alone.

Julia Nunes has a few albums out now, and plenty of covers on her YouTube channel, and her Pandora station produces some amazing hits, so check them all out. She’s perfect for a car ride home, a night alone, a party with friends, or a pity party of 1. I guarantee that you will find at least 1 song that speaks to you and will be played on repeat from now until the end of time in your head. Go have a musical adventure, courtesy of Julia Nunes.