Video interview with Juli public Usual Cinemahis first solo album, on Friday 24 April. After years alongside Olly as a best friend and producer, he decided to get to work on a project of his own: a large album, built with many Italian singer-songwriters ranging from the past to the present, with an eye to the future.
The tracklist opens with a huge name in Italian music, Fabio Concatoof which Juli he revived a song from 2003, Voilawith very clear ideas about what to do and why to do it.
Juli, Solito Cinema: from Fabio Concato to Tommaso Paradiso
To our microphones, Juli started the chat starting from the quote a Concato:
“Working alone is different than doing it with Olly but I have built new friendships, from Tommaso Paradiso to Franco126. I have worked with everyone in this studio, except with Concato for health reasons.
I knew his biggest hits but had never taken a trip through his entire discography. I delved into his records, drew a lot of inspiration from his guitars, and the writing struck me time and time again.
I'm happy to have been able to put my hands on one of his songs from 2003, Voilà, and I hope to give it a second life, the opportunity to make it known to a younger generation. Il Solito Cinema is a singer-songwriter album and it seemed right to start with Fabio Concato”
Tredici Pietro, Tommaso Paradiso and the best song on the album
Working with many different people also means building relationships or projects that you are more or less proud of. What is the best song you worked on and the artist you got along best with?
“I worked very well with Tredici Pietro, seeing his path and his evolution we had a great time in the studio, it was wonderful when we realized that that type of song was taking shape.
I'm happy that with everyone I made songs that I like and, if I like them, it means that there's something of mine inside. When writing the song I like it to be recognized that the songs were written together. I'm happy that we found a perfect mix of tastes with everyone.
I'll give you the example of the song with Tommaso Paradiso which has sounds not close to mine. Once the song is finished, I feel that it unites the two worlds with a fair compromise. It is the first in time that we have created and closed”
The order of the tracklist of the album Juli: from Paradiso to Olly
“The first is Tommy's (Paradiso, ed.), which was kept quiet for two years and was the one that always made me light up when I listened to it again. Then Fulminacci's, early 2025, and the others a bit later.
Apart from Olly's, saved for last to get some fresh air and do sessions with other artists, I didn't want that to be a classic Olly and Juli song too. We tried to do something different, to have fun”
Olly's skit at the live show: “She wasn't prepared”
Olly it remained at the end of the tracklist and, until the end, the two strategically lied about its presence:
“The skit of Olly saying, during the live show, that he wouldn't be on the album wasn't prepared. I was struck by his support in pushing my album and the fact that he stood by my side, involving other artists, supporting me was not a given. He was close to me in a very important way and the fact that that skit came out there means that it's a shared work and it's nice”
The acoustic song and the dream of an instrumental album
The song in acoustic, solo Juli with the guitar, it is unique to the album:
“It's a song that I've been doing in Olly's live shows for two years and every concert, every tour, I've always added a little piece to it. I decided to record it freely, without duration, and it was the right opportunity to express myself without anyone else and I'm happy that it's a song to which I will try to give a life as if it were a sung track.
I never thought of having others sing it, I always just hummed the melody in my mind but without words.
In the future, I will definitely want to make an entirely acoustic album for the simple fact that I find a lot of inspiration and well-being in listening to instrumentals with just music, without the distraction of words.”
The full video interview with Juli
In the full video interview with Juli on Usual Cinema there are many other statements about the new version of Bad Story in acoustic, on the title and how it was born, on the development of the entire project and on future live performances.
