ON THE RISE
A singer and songwriter since her teenage years, the up-and-coming artist put aside her dreams of a music career to get married and have a son.
But the fairy tale never panned out, and Juliera filed for divorce when her husband became abusive.
“A lot happened and it’s not something I ever thought I would experience,” she says. “When it happened it made me decide I have to get up and start fighting for myself. I have to start worrying about myself. Trying this music thing, I said to myself I can’t afford to fail. I’m fighting for me and my son and I’m going to keep pushing.”
Juliera turned again to music to bring her joy, and she went from a nervous performance her first time at a karaoke night to building a fan base and then recording her own music. Since releasing her first two singles in August, her career has exploded.
Those two songs, “Hero” and “Let It Ache” have since been played more than three million times combined on Spotify. She’s got 250,000 YouTube subscribers, and the official video for “Let It Ache” has 3.2 million views.
“It makes me so happy,” she says. “Sometimes I don’t even know what to say. Just a few days ago on October 25 I got signed to a label. I just didn’t expect these things to be happening now. My friends in the music industry were like by next year a lot of things will be happening. I don’t know, I feel like it’s going faster. It’s a little bit scary. I’m just so happy and grateful.”
Juliera’s newest single, “Bail On You,” is fast becoming her latest hit. In the three weeks since she released the official music video on Oct. 9, the song was already closing in on a million plays.
While Juliera’s voice is very much center stage, the video was shot against a lush poolside backdrop with the singer’s lingerie-clad movements on a mattress providing a focal point. It was inspired, she said, by the video for Shakira’s “Can’t Remember to Forget You,” featuring Rihanna.
That beautiful scenery belies the song’s true inspiration, however, and the lyrics are another nod to Juliera’s efforts to overcome her trauma.
I can’t be catching feelings, I can’t afford to feel this
I think that I should bail on you, I found a way to sail on through
“It’s getting divorced, it’s meeting somebody and trying to make sure not to fall because I don’t want to repeat,” she says. “I cannot afford to make the same mistake again and I’m on the lookout. I feel like right now I just see red flags all the time. I’m just making sure that I don’t fall. If it gets to the point I’m falling for you, it’s time for me to bail – bye.”
Amidst her rising fame, Juliera is still going to great lengths to live her life and provide for her son. She braids hair six days a week, most days for 12 hours or longer. And she always carries the memories of those dark times from before.
“There have been times I braided hair from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. and sometimes I have to go to the studio after, maybe I’m done at 3 a.m. and I go home and go to bed. I have a leg massager, a hand massager, and a neck massager. It’s heavy on my physical body but I can’t afford to fail so I’m doing what I need to do to get to a point I want to get to. I don’t know if I would have that kind of energy or motivation to do this if I hadn’t gone through what I went through. I’ve been fighting and I’m happy to see my battle is starting to pay off.”
Juliera has now recorded 10 songs and just finished shooting music videos in Los Angeles for four more of them. In total, she’s produced eight videos, with three being released. She plans to release another single in November, and a full album could arrive in the next few months.
Make sure to stay connected to Juliera on all platforms for new music, videos and social posts.
Upcoming 100: How do you balance experimenting with new sounds and styles while still maintaining your unique artistic identity?
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