Q&A: Julia Wolf Continues First Headlining Tour In Support of Debut Studio Album Good Thing We Stayed

One of Julia Wolf’s biggest goals since she was little was to go on her own tour, and that dream officially came true last month. After going on the road with her fellow East Coast native FLETCHER, the 28-year-old released her debut album Good Thing We Stayed, and subsequently managed to sell out her own live dates in cities like Atlanta, Seattle, and Chicago.

If you’ve followed Julia’s career like we have, you know about how she and her family almost dropped everything and moved across the world to Italy when things weren’t looking too great. However, following a last minute hunch, Julia decided to give the music thing one more try, and the rest is history.

Now we got the chance to catch up with the New Yorker after first speaking with her in 2021, and got a bit more insight on her new project, the growth of her platform, and her journey as an artist and person.

Staged Haze: Tell me about your new album! Were there any topics that you were especially excited about that you hadn’t touched on before?

Julia Wolf: The album’s been a long time coming. So it’s really exciting to just finally have one body of work, and the whole point of it was to really dive into this entire journey; where I started, where I am now. Because people don’t really see too much of the behind the scenes, all the work that you put in, and the years of effort with just zero outcome. I wanted to try and get that point across in this album, and hopefully offer some inspiration for people, that’s really the other huge part of this. I want people to play it and just feel that much more motivated to keep getting after it, keep chasing those dreams. I know first hand what it feels like to almost want to throw in the towel, you know?

Staged Haze: How does the idea of becoming a role model for others make you feel? Is it scary or do you like it?

Julia Wolf: I never think of that applying to me ever, but what I love about kind of being a role model is that growing up I just wish I had more of that, and obviously social media was so different when I was a kid. We didn’t have this connection with our favorite artists, the ability to just talk to them, so I always try to take advantage of that for those reasons. I didn’t really have any friends growing up, I kind of just kept to myself all the time, and artists were always like super unattainable, rockstars, so far away from regular people, and I’m trying to make it a point to break that barrier and answer the DMs, talk to people, do the meet & greets, you know? Anything to make people feel seen and like they can see me as a friend.

Staged Haze: I personally really appreciate that you have a whole section of your show dedicated to interacting with the fans. And speaking of, there was a marriage proposal during that at your Chicago show!

Julia Wolf: Oh my God, I know! That was incredible, to know that someone wanted me to be a part of one of the most significant moments in their lives. Just to allow me the opportunity to be a part of that was such a gift. That’s a core memory for me that I’m just going to keep with me forever.

Staged Haze: It was also kind of serendipitous too because you had so many notes from fans you could’ve picked and that just happened to be one of them.

Julia Wolf: I always say that everything happens for a reason, like I’m such a believer in fate and all that, and that was like the ultimate example.

Staged Haze: Last time you spoke with us, you talked about being shy and having some stage fright. How have you overcome that and how do you make yourself feel or at least look so comfortable on stage?

Julia Wolf: I wasn’t always that way. I’ve got the videos to prove it! It’s really the crowd and this incredible fanbase that is so kind and makes me feel like we’re all in this together. They have my back and we’re growing each day, so it makes it a lot easier for me to perform in a setting like that when you know everyone is rooting for you. I was certainly really nervous for the James Corden performance, things like that where you’re performing for people that don’t really know who you are, are always going to be scarier in my opinion, but this tour has just taught me how awesome everyone is. It’s really comfortable, it’s so much fun.

Even opening for FLETCHER made me really nervous because I was like “ugh, everyone’s not going to know who I am, no one is there to see me, and no one cares”, but you get out there and the crowd and the energy is just so infectious that you can’t not have a great time.

Staged Haze: You mentioned your James Corden performance. Was that on your bucket list? What other things are in that list that you want to do?

Julia Wolf: The top of my list has to be SNL. I’m from New York City, so that’s something that I grew up with. A Coachella performance I think is definitely doable one day, and I just have so many little bucket lists. Corden and just a late night show is one of those things where you watch everyone else doing it and you have no clue how it happens. It can be kind of discouraging, because you don’t understand what you need to do, but one day you get that phone call. That’s why I try to tell people that everything is a little bit out of our hands, all you can do is put the work in, and hopefully one day you do get that phone call. But it all starts with you and not giving up even though there is no finish line in sight.

Staged Haze: How was working with someone like Blackbear?

Julia Wolf: Oh my gosh, he is so cool. I’ve noticed that I’ll find a new artist, like a smaller artist and [on Instagram] it will say “Followed by blackbear”, and I’m like “this dude knows everything.” It’s so cool that an artist at his level can be that supportive and enthusiastic. He was so involved in the process, because I had just posted a snippet of my song and he commented asking if he could put a verse on it. I was like “bro, why are you even asking me!”. He was voice-noting me the whole time, keeping me involved. He was excited and I wasn’t expecting that, it was a great experience.

Staged Haze: I know you’re very open about the time when you almost gave up. Your family sold their house and you were going to move to Italy. How does it feel to think about that now that you’re selling out venues around the country?

Julia Wolf: At the time I didn’t see it, but now obviously I’m beyond grateful. My life could’ve been very different, and as we speak I could be doing the pizza shop life, and I would’ve been okay with that but I never had a plan B and this was always my dream. Seeing it come to life, I don’t know how to put it into words. To hear all these people screaming my lyrics back every night, everyone singing along, it’s all the more reason to keep putting that work in and hopefully inspire someone else to not give up because these things are right around the corner. It just never feels that way. It’s also so motivating to keep going, because we’re only just getting started and have a long road ahead of us, so it makes it all the easier and the better to do the sold out nights and to see everyone face to face.

Like we mentioned above, we caught Julia’s sold out set at Schubas just a few days before this interview. Check out some photos below and view the whole gallery here.