Photo by Tammy Frangella
The first time I saw Juliana Frangella perform on stage she was opening for a Mike Montrey record release show at the Belmar Arts Center. I loved the way she looked like the girl next door, but sang lyrics that were completely unexpected. It was clear there was more to this artist beneath the surface. She's been releasing singles from her upcoming album, Fantastic Funeral, which has a rock side and a folk side, and I reached out to her to learn more.
It's not often that I see an artist take a promo photo in a cemetary or singing in a music video next to skeletons... You mentioned having a love for horror literature and films. How and when did that passion for horror begin for you?
It’s funny! I was always terrified of everything scary when I was younger. I loved Halloween, and dressing up in costumes, but I could not tolerate being afraid. Then, when I started seventh grade I became very obsessed with IT (2017). I loved it so much that I lugged the very large book it was adapted from back and forth to school every single day until I finished it. I think within that same span of time I became totally fascinated by vampires as well. Then came my love of gore, bloody violence, etc. I think it comforts me to know that I can stomach those things on screen at the very least.
I find people to be the horror of real life, and so monsters and psycho killers have kind of become no-big-deal. I guess I’m fairly confident I’ll never have to deal with that sort of a problem.
I am an English major at Rutgers, and I am currently working on the first of two theses about vampires. I think I am trying to sublimate the obsession into something academic. It is working out very well so far! I love the nineteenth century, and that is where the literary vampire seems to have begun. I am also in a class called Tales of Horror in which we read and watch horror stories. We are almost up to Nosferatu. I am thrilled.
A touch of horror is found not just in the images, but present in your lyrics and music as well. Have you always incorporated a sense of horror lyrics or sounds in your songs or did it just work for this album?
I absolutely have always incorporated these things. One of the first songs I put out that I am still currently proud to reference (I have been doing this since I was a pre-teen, so some of the stuff out there is slightly embarrassing for 20-year-old me) is called “Melancholy Me.” I think I sing in there, “And my favorite holiday’s Halloween / I’m crying and smiling as I bleed...”
Then, on the first record, Intrusive Thoughts, there’s the sci-fi inspired “Parasite,” which features my friends and I doing our best blood curdling screams; and “Roadkill,” in which I fantasize about laying down in the middle of a road. Even one of my singles,“The Bite,” is pretty horror-inspired, despite its softer sound. The title is a reference to my love of vampires and unfavorable love interests: “Am I a light? / The kind nice boys like? / Am I unkind, justified and partial to the bite?”
Tell me about setting up Fantastic Funeral with a rock side and a more folky side. Was that the original plan or did it happen organically?
It definitely happened organically as I realized I tend to write on these two ends of the spectrum. I am unwilling to sacrifice my soft side for my rock side or vice versa, so, here we are! I think this is another reason to be grateful (rather than cynical) about the time we are living in. You don’t really have to pick one genre in order to have a chance.
What is the challenge of being a singer-songwriter alone on stage when you’re supporting an album with such a full band sound?
Honestly, I’m always happy to get to play music in any capacity. I do especially love getting to play with a full band. It is thrilling in a way that I can’t quite describe. Unfortunately a big factor in deciding how the shows will be played has to do with whether or not I can pay a band. Even still, playing acoustic is also great and very fulfilling. That’s how the songs start out most of the time, so I’m happy to present them that way, too. Sometimes there are songs that just don’t work that way, though. Like, “Did I Write You?” or some of the electric ones I’ve just finished recording.
Many of your songs seem to start one way and then take a dramatic turn. In some ways, it reminds me of musical theater. Is that something that inspires you? Do you like musicals?
I started out singing musical theater exclusively in the first grade. I did have an angsty teen moment where I very dramatically separated myself from that style in favor of rock and roll. Recently, I’ve actually come back to it a little bit and rekindled my love of Wicked, Heathers, Grease, Phantom of the Opera, Waitress. I’m very grateful that I was trained to sing by teachers with musical theater backgrounds.
Have you ever thought of going in that direction? Writing a musical that is.
I’m not sure if I’d ever write a musical. I guess I won’t say never, but it’s not exactly on the agenda.
Speaking of which... your persona in your videos seems different than on stage. You look like a sweet singer-songwriter on stage albeit one singing rather sardonic lyrics, but you show far more emotional range in the videos - almost as if you're matching the lyrics. Is that part of the plan? Do you enjoy making the videos?
Honestly, I don’t have much of a plan when it comes to how I come off in videos, just because acting does not come naturally to me. I think I’m just singing the lyrics, thinking about what they meant to me at the time, and trying not to make any especially strange faces. I’m more into the outfits, the settings, and the props.
I loved making the video for a song “Did I Write you?” because I was able to really storyboard every shot and work with the very talented David Ziegler, as well as a bunch of my friends. If I could involve my loved ones in everything I did, I totally would. As for my on-stage persona, I think what you see is kind of what you get! If I’m playing by myself, the songs are gonna come off as what they started as: and that’s me and my guitar telling a story. If I’ve got a band behind me, I think I get a little more animated in a different kind of way.
Tell me about working with Mike Montrey. He’s been a mentor and supporter of yours for a while now - even was your guitar teacher at one point. How has he helped you and your music?
Mike Montrey is one of my favorite people in the world! He has been massively influential in too many ways to name. He was one of the first people to talk to me about my music in a way that didn’t feel like they were trying to mold me into something specific. He never pressured me into portraying myself in any particular way, never told me I ought to be dancing on stage, writing more about this or that, etc.
He’s recommended some of the music that has been most important to me, namely Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan. We repeatedly joke about the ton of songs I wrote in open D after I got into that record. We just vibe. I play him the songs that I write and we go from there. He is absolutely the first person I wanna text when I write something I’m excited about. And I love his music as well! I know the words to most every song on his latest record, Love, Time, and Mortality.
In your intro to Juliana Frangella video you say, “I love being in the studio. If I could spend all my time there, I would.” What is it about the studio experience that you love?
I just love playing and listening to music, I think, and that’s all that you do there. I get to really zero in, partly because there’s a time crunch, and partly because I enter a kind of laser-focused state. You really cannot talk to me after a day at the studio, I am all keyed up about whatever I’ve been working on and I am unable to relax until I get it all done. It sounds stressful, but I think I’m just a little intense. I love that focus and that drive.
Have you ever written songs in the studio?
I haven’t ever written a song in the studio, likely because of the aforementioned time crunch, however, I wrote the title track of my debut album after a day at the studio. I came in the next day with the whole song finished and a plan for the production. I think it was a result of that laser focus.
Your first album was released in 2023. What did you learn from that first release that you changed/improved up with the new songs? Anything from promotion, recording, planning?
I’m not sure if I learned anything that led me to consciously change anything with the new songs. I think there is a natural progression/growth that comes with doing this stuff; and also, there is the fact that I am getting older. One thing I’ve noticed is that I am not as much of a slave to inspiration as I used to be. I used to only be able to write if something majorly catastrophic (in my teenage mind) had just happened to me. With this album, and in the songwriting I’ve done since, it is not always that way. One of the songs that will be on this album, “Hooligan,” was actually written with a friend about one of her experiences. I actually didn’t have to be hurt at all for that! Big eye opener, and a nice assurance that my skills as a writer are not so incidental.
In terms of planning and promoting, I think I’m learning more everyday, but it is really not easy. I am wearing a lot of hats as an independent artist, some of which are not my favorite to put on. Social media can be tough. I am trying to be more open to the idea of using it as a tool rather than being cynical about things. Which is why I’m putting out each single track by track! I am actually excited about that, as I get to give every single song that I worked so hard on a proper chance at being heard.
Is there a release date for the entire album?
There is not yet a release date, as I am a full time college student and I want to make sure I don’t overextend myself with deadlines. However, you can expect about one track a month, give or take. Up next is a song called “Disguise,” on November 30th at midnight.
Photo by Gianna Mancuso
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