Julia Michaels On Advice, Anxiety, & Arts 'n Crafts On Let's Be Real

On this episode of Let’s Be Real, 17-year-old host Sammy Jaye talks to another young go-getter, singer/songwriter Julia Michaels. Though she was only 17 when she signed her first publishing deal, Julia has written popular songs for some chart-topping artists like Selena Gomez, Fifth Harmony, Shawn Mendes, Britney Spears, and many more. In 2017, she began recording and performing her own songs, and Sammy describes her touring act as “the best concert I’ve ever been to.” She sits down with Sammy to chat about how her career has changed, what her songwriting process is like, her struggles with anxiety, and do a little arts and crafts.

Sammy asks Julia if writing songs for other people is hard, because you have to trust that they’ll sing it the way she wrote it, and Julia says it can be. But, “writing for other people is my first love...having somebody that you just met trust you so much to get their thoughts and feelings out on paper.” She loves the connection that songwriting can bring, pointing out that “a majority of people have the same problems...take heartbreak, for example. It’s something we can all talk about...there’s always something that you can connect to somebody.” Sammy certainly agrees; she tells Julia that when she listened to the song “Anxiety,” she burst into tears: “I have never felt a connection to lyrics the way I have with your lyrics.” Both women have experienced anxiety and panic attacks, and commiserate on how awful they are, like “bricks on your chest.” But since she started therapy, Julia says she’s learned a lot of “baby coping mechanisms” to help talk herself out of an anxiety attack. “My dad was super against therapy,” she laughs, “but now that he’s seen how much it’s helping me...he started going, too.” 

Sammy pulls out some fabric markers, hats, and t-shirts for her and Julia to draw on while they talk. As they work on what might be merch for Julia’s next tour, they get into why Julia identifies with Goldie Hawn, her dream collaborations, the next project she’d like to tackle, the best advice she ever got (“it was from Chester [Bennington] from Linkin Park,” Julia says), as well as dish about her new love interest, reveal what she would tell her younger self, and geek out over Dear Evan Hansen, all on this episode of Let’s Be Real.

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