00:00 There's gonna be littles all over the world that are gonna feel connected to these songs
00:04 and they're gonna grow up with these songs like I grew up with my Disney songs.
00:08 Hi, I'm Julie Michaels and this is Billboard News.
00:11 âȘ
00:20 Hey everybody, I'm Rania Niftos with Billboard News and I'm so happy to be here with Grammy-nominated
00:25 singer-songwriter Julia Michaels.
00:28 Hello.
00:29 âȘ
00:46 So Wish.
00:47 Yes.
00:47 What a beautiful story.
00:49 Yeah.
00:50 And you got to write the music for it.
00:52 And you're the youngest female songwriter to write songs for a Disney movie.
00:57 That's what I've been told.
00:58 What was that like, hearing about that history-making accomplishment?
01:02 Overall, just was such an honor.
01:05 I mean, I grew up listening to Disney and watching Disney.
01:09 Alan Menken and the Lopezes and Howard Ashman and just the greats.
01:14 And to be able to, you know, follow in their footsteps is beautiful.
01:20 Yeah.
01:20 Terrifyingly beautiful.
01:21 Obviously, I'm guessing it was pretty intimidating writing for like a Disney film.
01:25 100%.
01:26 But like, how did you, I guess, work through that where you were like, "Okay, I can do this.
01:30 I'm set in.
01:31 They asked me, you know, like, and I'm ready to take this on."
01:35 I have to credit a lot of it just being the support around me.
01:40 I made this film with Ben Rice, who produced the songs.
01:47 âȘ
01:51 I also was in a room every week with the same people making this movie.
01:57 The directors, the writers, the producers.
02:00 And we would talk about all the songs and talk about all the characters and
02:04 what we want them to be like and sound like and feel like.
02:07 And, you know, anytime I would go to show them anything, I'd be, "Damn."
02:13 Right.
02:14 Because it's so vulnerable.
02:16 So vulnerable.
02:17 You don't know if they're going to like it or not.
02:18 And I always felt very validated when I would see Jennifer Lee cry or she would laugh or
02:25 something.
02:25 I was like, "Oh my God, I can breathe."
02:27 Yeah.
02:27 We have incredible music by Julia Michaels bringing this really fresh edge and approach.
02:32 I mean, she's worked with Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa, Selena Gomez.
02:36 So I think it just really came down to trusting the process and trusting in the people that I made
02:45 the movie with.
02:46 The first time I saw "Wish" as a movie with all the songs in it, I was like, "Oh my gosh,
02:52 this is going to live longer than me."
02:57 Yeah.
02:57 This exists now.
03:00 And there's going to be littles all over the world that are going to feel connected to
03:04 these songs.
03:04 And they're going to grow up with these songs like I grew up with my Disney songs.
03:08 Yeah.
03:09 Just wrapping my head around that has been so deeply surreal.
03:12 You're a songwriter, obviously, and you're also your own artist.
03:16 You put out your own music as well.
03:18 And now you foray into film.
03:21 Yeah.
03:22 So what are some of, I guess, the key differences as you navigate, "Okay, this is for me.
03:28 Okay, I'm going to write for a movie.
03:29 Okay, I'm going to write with another artist."
03:31 How do you shift your mindset?
03:33 When I write for myself, it's just very unapologetic.
03:39 It's just coming from me and my psyche and my thoughts and feelings.
03:43 And I can say whatever I want in whatever way I want.
03:48 When I write with other people, it's their thoughts and feelings.
03:57 And of course, you can't help but put a little bit of yourself in everything you do.
04:01 But it's very catered to them.
04:05 It is entirely an act of service for them.
04:09 [Music]
04:18 For Wish specifically, I'd never done anything like this before.
04:23 So I really didn't know what to expect.
04:27 But it was so beautiful and just so expansive in terms of what you can do and how you can do it.
04:37 And this was so different because they don't have thoughts and feelings.
04:43 Right.
04:43 You have to make their thoughts and feelings.
04:45 That's so true.
04:46 I never thought of it that way.
04:47 That's so true.
04:48 Yeah.
04:48 And there was definitely a point when we were doing a song for the film called "Knowing What I Know Now."
04:54 [Music]
04:56 [Music]
05:10 Queen Amaya comes in.
05:11 She has this sort of self-revelation moment.
05:16 And we were like, "Okay, what should we say?
05:19 What would she say?"
05:20 And we're like, "Wait, she's not real."
05:22 But then they become real to you.
05:25 There's Oscar buzz surrounding that.
05:28 How would that feel to be nominated for an Oscar?
05:31 That'd be crazy.
05:32 I haven't fully processed that that could be a scenario.
05:39 Right.
05:40 But I mean, I think obviously being nominated for a Grammy as a songwriter is an incredible thing.
05:51 Right.
05:51 But being nominated as a songwriter for an Oscar is just next.
05:57 Yeah, that's a peak.
05:59 Yeah, you're like, it's probably one of those things.
06:02 I mean, speaking of it, I always think about when big moments happen in my life.
06:06 Like, what would I tell my inner child?
06:08 Like, if I could go back in time and be like...
06:10 Oof, don't do that to me.
06:11 I'll cry.
06:12 [Laughter]
06:13 Okay, because I was about to get there.
06:14 I'm like, what would you say?
06:16 Like, could you imagine going back and being like, "There's Oscar buzz surrounding us right now."
06:21 Like, I would freak out.
06:22 Little me wouldn't even understand that.
06:25 Oh, gosh.
06:26 I come from a very chaotic, broken family.
06:31 Like, I didn't come from money.
06:33 I didn't come from anything.
06:35 I spent my teenage years writing songs in my bedroom as a place of just safety and for self-love.
06:45 You know, just to comfort myself.
06:48 So, I think little me, 13-year-old me, 16-year-old me wouldn't even know where to start.
06:56 Yeah.
06:57 You know what I mean?
06:58 I think that's so special.
06:59 I'm not trying to make you emotional, but I'm like...
07:02 Because I feel like there's such an inspiration for probably people who are in your situation.
07:07 I had a conversation recently doing a round table of sorts with people,
07:12 and I'm not good at those things.
07:15 I just, I'm shaky, I'm nervous, I have a lot of anxiety.
07:20 And someone at the table was like, "Sit in your power.
07:25 You're powerful. Sit in your power."
07:27 And I was like, "That's beautiful for you."
07:30 But also, there are 13-year-old people in their bedroom afraid of themselves right now.
07:38 And someone's got to speak up for them.
07:41 That's me.
07:43 And I know that this sounds weird to say, but weirdly, your anxiety is your power.
07:48 Because you're speaking on a very, very insanely common human experience.
07:55 Totally.
07:55 Where it does give power to people that might feel uncomfortable in a situation,
08:01 speaking up and being who they are.
08:03 100%.
08:03 Whereas two things can be true.
08:05 You're absolutely right.
08:06 Two things can be true.
08:07 And there are so many people out there that are afraid to try,
08:11 because they are not confident people.
08:14 And if I didn't, I would still be there.
08:18 It's a choice to get up and try.
08:23 You were saying that you would write songs in your room as a teenager.
08:27 At what point did you have that realization?
08:29 It's like, "Whoa, this can actually be a career for me."
08:32 That's actually my mom's doing.
08:34 Oh, wow.
08:35 So my sister also used to sing demos around the city.
08:40 And I would just go with to just hang out.
08:44 Right.
08:44 And my mom, bless her heart, was a little bit of a momager.
08:49 And I remember I went to...
08:53 She believed in you.
08:54 She did believe in me.
08:55 When I didn't believe in myself, you know?
08:57 We need those people in our lives.
08:59 And I remember I went to this woman's house.
09:03 Her name's Joleen Bell.
09:04 And my mom instantly was like, "You should sing for her."
09:09 Oh, my God.
09:10 So actually, I sang a song by this artist named Juliet Sims.
09:15 And this songwriter was like, "Do you write songs?"
09:20 And I was like, "I like to pretend I can."
09:22 Yeah.
09:22 And she was like, "Well, we should write together sometime."
09:24 Oh.
09:25 And just completely took a chance on me.
09:27 Wow.
09:28 That really started everything for me.
09:31 I was 15 years old.
09:33 âȘ Both of us will be thinking about âȘ
09:36 âȘ How different we are from those scared little kids âȘ
09:38 âȘ That hide their âȘ
09:39 Working with Sabrina.
09:41 Yeah.
09:41 Oh, my gosh.
09:42 She came into a new side of her.
09:45 And you do that with a lot of artists.
09:46 All the artists that you write with, we're talking like Dua Lipa, Pink, all of them.
09:50 I feel like you open up a new side of these artists that people haven't seen before.
09:57 How do you...
09:58 What happens when you get in the studio,
09:59 where you create such a safe space for people to just be like,
10:04 "I want to write about this,"
10:05 and then just allow for the creativity to flow?
10:07 Well, I definitely can't take credit for anybody's...
10:12 I think you are a big contributor, though.
10:15 Thank you.
10:16 No, I just think that it's important to give people space to be able to be themselves,
10:24 to talk about things freely,
10:26 and know that everything that happens in the room stays in the room.
10:30 Anything they want to talk about is going to stay there,
10:34 unless they want it in a song.
10:36 Right.
10:36 That's up to them.
10:37 That's their prerogative.
10:38 I'm just happy to be there most days
10:42 and get to work with amazing artists that have a point of view and have a vision
10:49 and want me along for the ride.
10:52 It's true, but it's just like...
10:53 Yeah, and I think it kind of goes back to it.
10:55 Again, songwriting, music, so vulnerable.
10:58 It is beautiful that you create a safe space for those artists.
11:01 I think at least once a week, I'll go in the studio,
11:05 and I'll sit on the couch,
11:07 and I'll take my shoes off,
11:09 and I'll sit crisscross applesauce on the couch,
11:12 and I'll look around,
11:13 and I'll look at the producer I'm with or the songwriters I'm with
11:16 or the artists that I get to write with that day,
11:18 and I'm just like, "Wow, this is our job."
11:21 We get to just create all the time.
11:25 Like, we get to take something from nothing
11:28 and make it something beautiful that people get to hold
11:32 and listen to and cry to and dance to.
11:35 There is truly nothing more special to me than that.
11:38 And moving forward, you have an exciting year.
11:41 You're working on "Wish," potentially Oscars.
11:44 You're constantly working on your own music.
11:47 What are you looking forward to, I guess,
11:50 like exploring and introducing as we go into the new year?
11:55 That's a good question.
11:56 I try not to put myself too far in the future
12:00 because I get overwhelmed.
12:01 I feel that too.
12:03 But I've been writing with a lot of people again,
12:08 which has been really good for the soul.
12:10 Yeah.
12:11 And working on stuff for myself,
12:13 and I don't know, we'll see.
12:15 I love that.
12:16 I'm just happy to be here and alive and healthy.
12:19 I'm happy you're here too.
12:22 Thank you so much for joining us.
12:24 Thank you.
12:24 Of course.
12:25 Thanks for having me.
12:26 Everyone go watch "Wish."
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