Late Stage Dream With Julia Robert

We interviewed Julia Robert about ‘Late Stage Dream’, their latest EP, released 10 July, during COVID-19 lockdown.

Julia Robert is a female-fronted, female-drummed, boy-guitared, boy-bassed four piece DIY punky / psychy / grungey / glittery / disco-y band from Cape Town.

Their sound incorporates riot grrrl snark, krautrocky passages, bubblegum pop sensibilities and all the stacked fifths. The bass is heavy, the guitars are jagged, the drums are pounding and the vocals are urgent. They love non-linear song structures, linear song structures, anxiety, earnestness and some unashamedly emotional outpourings.

More band info: https://www.nownowjustnow.com/julia-robert-epk

Is Late Stage Dream a reference to late stage capitalism?

Ines: Yes, but also a reference to all late stages. I like to think of it referring to the late-stage dream of us being in a band while maintaining jobs and normal lives and hanging out with other musicians who are all much younger. And yeah, kinda reminding people that late stage is ok, and that you can do unconventional things at all points in your life.

Joao: Yeah! It’s like still playing cops and robbers when you’re in your mid-30s.

Tara: So, I often feel like I look at my life in stages and constantly feel like I am in a late stage/end of an era. This makes me reflect on my own life and compare it to others. This makes me depressed and anxious because I am not where I am told to be (in my life). This way of thinking is stupid. For me, late stage dream is a reminder that it's all in your head, in your subconscious, nothing makes sense, therefore you are allowed to do and feel what you want whenever you want! I think the songs on the EP reflect this way of thinking.

Roderick: I see it as less about capitalism and more about the overall feeling that there is always An Ending. You know? Like for the last two decades we keep being told we're at the end of an era. End of the 90's, the 2000's, end of an era, rock is dead, third wave feminism is over, the fourth industrial revolution is no longer upon us- it is here now, and it's almost over... Every time we get told shit like this it becomes more absurd, and now in the current media-dense environment where ideologies and personal conflicts are rammed down our throats every day, every hour, the whole point of existence seems totally random and uncontrollable. Even though time and eras are becoming less and less relevant we still try think of things in a straight line, that things have a beginning, an early stage, a middle, a late stage and an end; when really everything is more of a cloudy doughnut of confusion.... All our ideologies, beliefs and systems are just dreams concocted in the minds of evil and good people that swirl around us. So calling something late stage is absurd, and that’s ok, so long as you embrace it.

On Late Stage Dreams there is a song with German lyrics that sonically comes out of left field. Would you mind talking a bit about the song? I also understand that Ines worked on the animation for the lyric video.

Ines: The song was written by us as a band in hopes of tapping into some sort of 80s music, since we are quite a 90’s driven band, going into a different sonic era is always fun. So that was the basis of the song. The structure was already there when I added lyrics, which were initially in English but eventually felt better suited to the music, in German. I wrote a lot of the lyrics in Austria, which, now that I think about it, almost definitely influenced the language choice.

The lyrics were written while there were GBV protests and Women's marches all around South Africa in August/September 2019. I felt helpless in Europe because I wasn’t there to be part of something I felt strongly about, so the lyrics were how I tried to connect to that moment.

The rotoscoped videos was an idea the band had. We wanted to create a translated lyric video for our audiences that didn’t speak German. So we got in touch with a bunch of our bestest womxn friends and fam and got them to submit footage of them doing anything they wanted to do. Myself and the super amazing Caitlin Barraclough animated these 1 - 5 second clips of just over 40 womxn for the video.

Does the band have any recurring themes in the song writing?

Ines: It appears we do. Often the concepts and themes of being a normal human put into everyday situations with a twist come to the surface, like being a shopkeeper, wanting to have sex with your best friend, going to an awkward dinner party, believing in aliens, not having anxiety while everyone around you does etc.

Roderick: We do often touch on themes of anxiousness and nervousness, but it's not often framed in a completely negative way. There's furtive energy running through much of our music and the way we write is a bit frenzied so that's probably got a lot to do with it. We do, as much as possible, try to offer people hope and encouragement, but it's usually coming from a place of "well things are pretty messed up, and so are you, but that's ok because we're all just lil spots on a lil speck of matter floating through a vast empty space”.

Is there a favourite Julia Robert song and what have you all been listening to recently while the world is turning upside down?

Joao: I kinda tend to just be really smitten with whatever is our most recent effort. So, as lame as it might sound, the latest EP. It's like new children!

Outside of our own music I’ve been listening to a lot of Synthwave. Went through a Joni Mitchell bit. Lots of our fellow musicians' new work like: The loose ends, Runaway Nuns, Fay Lamour, and Ruff Majik.

Tara: I also tend to like our latest stuff most!

During lockdown I’ve found myself finding a lot of comfort in some pretty deep songwriters stuff like Father John Misty, Bill Callahan, Kurt Vile and Nick Cave - there’s a lot of Bad Seed TeeVee playing in our house.

Otherwise I find myself listening to alot of 80's new wave playlists as well.

Roderick: For me it’s Fuzzy Feelings. I can’t explain why. Don’t tell the other songs!

I've been listening to a LOT of cheesey ambient housey loungey type stuff recently. I made a playlist of it, I’m sure your readers will love it. So my lockdown soundtrack has been that, or Sun Kil Moon's Tiny Cities, which is a bunch of Modest Mouse covers by a grumpy folk crooner. It's a mixed bag.

Ines: Yes, Sugar, POW, Sick Day and Starkes Mädchen… That’s a lot more than one!

Recently I’ve been listening to: Agar Agar, Metronomy, John Maus, ShitKid, Smashing Pumpkins and Billie Holiday.

How are you all currently holding up under the COVID-19 pandemic and how has it affected you individually and as a band?

Roderick: The band has largely been on hold. We were lucky that we had an EP to release during this time. But mostly we're in a state of hibernation. We are going to be playing some shows at the end of August. One show is an international punk festival called Bandemic run by these crazy Aussie chaps. The other is a StoorSession which will be us looking just about as fancy as we’ve ever looked.

But I think mostly over the last 100-odd days everyone is just taking some time to reflect on their own missions and struggles. People, at the start of lockdown, kept on going on about how lockdown was the perfect time to spend time on all your creative projects, but that's stupid. Lockdown is time you need to spend staying sane, not putting pressure on yourself to be more productive and creative than ever. Plus, if everyone writes a whole bunch of music in lockdown we're going to have 6,000 songs about lockdown in three months time, and who the fuck wants to listen to that shit? I heard a song the other day praising lockdown as a beautiful time in which everyone can reconnect with their spirituality. That was pretty wildly insensitive when peeps are struggling to eat and family members are dying. I digress. In summary: We’re taking it squeezy and looking after ourselves.

Ines: Yeah we are super fortunate to be working from home and have all kept our jobs. “The band” was totally more affected by this than us personally, as we had a rather busy April and May planned. We had to cancel loads of shows and a trip to Joburg. We also had to cancel a potential tour to Europe planned for September / October.

From your perspective, how are things looking for the Cape Town music scene post COVID-19?

Tara: I think bands are going to be forced to reflect on themselves, the quality of their music and who their audience is in this new more digital situation we’re all in. Bands will have to work harder on their digital presence and release tactics. If they don’t they’re gonna be in a kak situation where 10 people are listening to their live streams that get put out for free.

Ines: Perhaps a re-look at the scene was necessary in the first place? It's hard to say. It doesn’t look like live shows will happen this year, but the online live show presence and people's ability to continue recording and releasing music might keep the scene thriving, regardless of live sweaty shows.

Roderick: I am way less optimistic than that. Venues will be shut down, artists will be broke. It's going to be a hard thing to get back on its feet. It may come round again, but it ain't gonna be pretty in the meantime. And maybe Ines is right on there, perhaps the scene in this country needs a total reimagining. Clinging to live shows as the be-all and end-all of a scene may actually be holding us back in this country more than it’s pulling us forward.

What does punk rock mean to you?

Joao: It's ok to be ungly and angry, even if you don't know why.

Tara: Yeah! It’s like doing, saying and standing up for what you believe in.

Julia Robert are:
Joao - bass
Ines - vox, keys, guitar
Roderick - guitar
Tara - drums

Julia Robert - You Talk With Control live at EVOL