JULIA NUNES, MUSICIAN

Julia Nunes has impressed everyone from Molly Ringwald to Ben Folds to random YouTube spectators, and she's only 19-years-old. The musician composes original music (her debut album Left Right Wrong just came out), but has become an overnight sensation through her original covers of familiar songs -- which she sonically weaves together in upstate New York. Check out her YouTube videos here , her music (both original and covers) here, and catch her live at the Knitting Factory this coming Saturday. She plays the ukulele and beatboxes...which is all the convincing you should need.

How did the YouTube thing get started? I had videos that I was too embarrassed to upload on Facebook, so I'd just put them on YouTube and show them to specific people, as opposed to having every random person from my high school that has ever checked my Facebook page witness my semi-private warblings. That plan obviously didn't pan out the way I expected.

How did you get into the ukulele? Ukulele was a product of boredom. I found one at a music store while a friend was taking eons to pick out a guitar. I bought it and ended up playing it in the car a lot. I stuck with it cause... i mean...it's hilarious.

Are there any other instruments you play, that you plan to incorporate in your videos or live shows? I play guitar, the album's about 50/50 guitar and ukulele. I play piss poor piano, and mediocre melodica (the little piano-looking thing I play in some videos in lieu of a guitar/horn part) but I play them with enthusiasm none the less. I could fake my way through drums and bass, but I decided to let some higher caliber musicians take the reins on the new album, there's like 5 or 6 songs with Todd on bass and Dave on drums. Also, I'm a pretty sick (literally sickening, in a bad way) beatboxer, which is featured in a few videos, and perfected in one of my favorite songs on the new CD.

How long does it take to make one video? About 2 hours if I'm being a decent performer, but if it's one of those days I suck it ends up taking much longer... this is where I reveal my concerning addiction to making videos because I admittedly have canceled social plans or skipped meals to finish a song.

You mention Molly Ringwald is a fan in one of your recent videos, what other celebrities have shown their admiration? Well Ben Folds liked me enough to invite me to open for him which is neat. He's just about my favorite musician. Lots of times I hear in YouTube messages of amazing people that like me, Brian Wilson??? Whaaa?? But I can never really be sure cause it's a YouTube message and some people like to mess with me. There are other YouTube "celebrities" that I've been surprised and flattered to find out they watch my videos, but Molly and Ben are the only verifiable celebs that have "shown their admiration." Hahaha which is enough awesome for me.

How did playing with Ben Folds come about, how was the experience Hahaha best thing ever. I guess Ben liked the cover I did of his song. I got a MySpace message from his manager and I ended up opening for 4 shows, got to meet Ben, play a duet with him, and consequently performed at the biggest venues I've ever seen from a stage perspective. Suffice to say it fucking rocked so hard.

Harvey Danger, Counting Crows, Weezer -- where does your affection for bands that sprung forth from the 90s alternative era come from? Ooph, dunno if I can justify it. Well, at 19 years of age, the 90's is the only decade I've live through in it's entirety? Yeah, we'll say that's the reason.

Are there any covers you haven't done but have been wanting to do? All songs ever. More specifically though, if I ever get better video editing software, my holy grail is Bohemian Rhapsody, but shhhh I don't want people to get their hopes up

When it comes to your original songs, do you have any major influences? Beach Boys, Beatles, and on a more contemporary note, Ben Folds (Five) and Say Anything.

Which New Yorker do you most admire? My Mom's pretty great.

What's your current soundtrack? I actually listen to the music my friends make more than anything so these names won't mean much to anyone but: Kirk Stevens, Dan Gocek, Lauren O'Connell, Cu- Cu, SMOCK, and some other people that live within 20 minutes of me.

Jen Carlson - Gothamist.com (Jul 9, 2008)

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