23 Feb Where Juelz Musical Background Got Him Today

Where Juelz Musical Background Got Him Today

By Danielle Ilag

*This interview is older and was in our Issue 64 magazine.

Julian Ching, better known as Vancouver producer Juelz, is seamlessly combining Hip-Hop and electronic music and making noise with original productions and collabs. Classically trained at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Juelz played classical violin and guitar before experimenting with contemporary music. 

His Shanghai Nights EP on Fool’s Gold has been meticulously crafted, melding classically trained chops and futuristic inspirations. His latest EP High Octane released on RL Grime’s growing label Sable Valley. 

Juelz has really dialed in his sound as the EP is a fully cohesive body of work. Watch out for Juelz and what he has in store for fans new and old as everything he’s released is through the roof. 

Did your childhood have anything to do with you wanting to be a musician?

I think it’s safe to say that playing guitar and classical violin throughout my childhood had a pretty big impact on my music as a career. It was actually 2012 dubstep and trap that got me into the electronic world, but if I didn’t have that musical background I probably wouldn’t have considered music production a viable option.

Who was the first musician that impacted you to really fall in love with music? Describe that moment and what it was like for you.

The first musicians that impacted me to really fall in love with music would have to be The Beatles. I was still really young when I got into them, but that was the first act where I found myself listening to all their albums front to back. 

It would’ve been their ballads like “Something,” “Across the Universe,” and “The Long and Winding Road,” which stood out to me. After hearing those, I remember thinking I’d never heard something so sonically pleasing before.

How did you create the name Juelz?

The name was a bit of a rushed decision because I had a track I really wanted to release, but no alias at the time. If we’re being honest, my thought process at the time was: it’s a spin-off of my real name (Julian), it’s cool because it has a Z at the end and it’s an homage to the Dipset legend Mr. Santana.

How would you describe your sound, without using any genres, to someone who has never heard your music before? 

I kind of have two different sounds. The more melodic stuff I would describe as sort of angelic and the aggressive stuff I normally describe to boomers as “extremely heavy beats.” When describing both sounds simultaneously I would use the words big and high energy yet moody.

How has quarantine changed your work ethic and inspiration?

Quarantine has definitely given me a lot more time to work on music, but because I’m not playing shows it’s been hard to get in that headspace of writing festival anthems. I’ve been making a lot more melodic/pop-y music, but I think it’s still true to the Juelz sound. The inspiration kinda comes and goes. It’s harder to stay inspired when I’m not getting out and exploring the world as much as I’m used to.

Do you have a routine where you schedule a time for music production?

I’m not a very routine-oriented person. I make music whenever I’m feeling it. Sometimes that means producing for days on end and other times I’ll go a week or two without making music.

This year you released High Octane on Sable Valley. How long was the process to create this EP from start to finish? Were you working on this before COVID-19?

I’m pretty sure I finished the High Octane EP the day that everything started to get canceled so it would’ve been pre-covid. Start to finish, the whole process took about a year and a half, mind you that’s working at an on and off kinda rate.

What made you want to close your EP with “Ave Maria” as the last track?

“Ave Maria,” in my opinion, is one of the most well-written songs of all time. It’s always been my favorite classical piece having played it on violin growing up and I wanted an ethereal type track on the EP so naturally, I chose that one.

I absolutely love your album art. Do you make these yourself? If so, how do you get inspired to create them?

Thank you! All my independent releases I do the artwork for. I’m not the most experienced with design/photoshop so I kinda just picked a style that suited both my music and skill level and ran with it. For most of my label releases though there’s a third party doing the artwork.

Are you still creating your visuals? How do you enjoy that creativity compared to creating music?

Yes, I’ve had so much fun learning design and animation. I’ve gotten a little more into it since quarantine started too. Since it’s a newer craft to me, I sometimes have more fun doing visuals than making music just because it’s still very uncharted territory for me. The possibilities feel so endless when it comes to visuals.

How did you first connect with RL Grime?

Henry first hit me up for IDs for the Halloween 7 Mix and then shortly after he hit me for demos because Sable Valley was launching that year. When he said he liked a handful of demos I had sent, I kinda just shot my shot and asked if he wanted to collab on any of them and that’s how “Formula” happened.

What is it about collaborations that make them so important to you as an artist?

Collaborations are big in a lot of different ways. For one, you get to work off of ideas that you probably wouldn’t have come up with yourself which in turn inspires you to come up with more new ideas. 

You learn new production tricks by seeing someone else’s workflow. Then on the audience side of things, you get to tap into a new audience that may have never heard your music before as does the collaborator. It’s a very mutually beneficial process on all fronts.

You and Tails have a collab in a video game. Which video game is it and how did this opportunity come about?

Yeah, our song “Cobra” came out on Monstercat about a year ago and it’s since made it into Rocket League and Fortnite! Shout out to Monstercat, they’re the video game sync plugs so full credit goes to their connections for those placements.

What is your relationship like with Fool’s Gold Records?

I have lots of love for A-Trak and the Fool’s Gold team. I released my first official EP with them so I’m blessed they believed in me early on. I’ve been a Fool’s Gold fan since it’s inception so that was definitely a bucket-lister for me.

Who are some artists outside of EDM you would love to collaborate with and why?

As far as rappers go: Kanye, Uzi, Thugger, Future, and Carti. They are pretty normal answers, but at the end of the day, they really are the goats and I draw a lot of inspiration from them. I’d love to do something with FKA Twigs simply because her vocals and writing are absolutely gorgeous. The same goes for Rosalia.

What do you love about your fans and how do they motivate you?

Although this is probably the case with most fans, they really seem to connect with the music, brand, and get my ridiculous meme humor for the most part. One thing I love about my fans is that they’re open to whatever I put out. I’m kind of all over the map when it comes to genres, but they seem to dig anything I release whether it be future bass, trap, DNB, hip-hop, or just like vibey little bops. 

I know some fan-bases are kinda toxic in the sense that if an artist releases mostly heavy stuff, they can be really harsh when the artist puts out something softer or more melodic so I’m blessed my fans aren’t like that.

My fans are my number 1 motivator when creating. Despite how niche the electronic trap world is, I feel like I owe these people this music and that’s why I’m able to stay consistent with releasing a solid amount of music every year.

I last saw you play live when you were on your first tour in the US with Quix and played in Houston, TX on my birthday! What do you want fans to take away from and/or feel while they’re attending your live shows?

Hell yeah! That was my favorite show from that tour for sure. 

Naturally, I always hope to have blown people away with my live sets. I think what separates me from a lot of EDM acts is the fact that I include a ton of hip-hop/rap into my sets which in my opinion adds a big “cool” factor (for lack of a better word). 

Ultimately, I want people watching a Juelz set to feel cool while doing it, or at least for people to be able to turn to their friend at any given moment and be like “that was sick.” I don’t have the budget yet to be doing mind-blowing stage production, but you best believe when that time comes I’ll be pulling out all the stops. 

What is one thing you wish you knew when you first started producing?

Probably would be the fact that staying consistent with releasing music is key to growing/getting attention. In the first few years of the Juelz project, I was releasing music at a pretty slow rate and not taking it as seriously. I feel like if I had been more consistent I’d be a little bit further along in my career. 

What do you think was your biggest struggle to get to where you are today? How did you overcome this?

My biggest struggle is something I think a lot of emerging artists struggle with and that’s figuring out what I need to do next to take this project to the next level. In the entertainment world, there’s no clear-cut formula on how to become a headlining act and that struggle exists on both the business and creative side of things. 

I’m currently working on my next EP and it’s a bit poppier than some of the stuff I’ve been releasing, but the goal with that is to be able to catch a broader audience. On the business side, my team and I are always trying to find new ways to catch people’s attention. 

You could say I’ve overcome this struggle to an extent, but I’ve still got a long way to go so I haven’t overcome it fully. Up until this point though I’d say I’ve overcome that struggle by keeping my head down, being consistent, and continuing to explore new avenues.

You’re a pretty young DJ to the scene. What is your next big thing to accomplish?

I’ve got a lot of music I’m planning to release for next year. I have a few EP’s in the works, a few collabs and I’ve slowly been building up a big mixtape/beat-tape that I hope to drop later in the year. 

My biggest goal though is to do my first headline tour whenever things go back to normal. That’s going to be big for me seeing that I’ve grown quite a bit in the last year yet haven’t played a headline show before.

Are you going to close out 2020 with a remix tape?  

I’ve been debating it for the last few weeks since I have a lot of other stuff on the go right now, but lowkey this interview solidified my decision to do it. So yes, The bbjuelz 2020 remix tape is set to arrive at the end of the year. Click here to listen to it. 

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