Juls promises the next summer anthem

Julia Sposito finds time amid a busy academic schedule to do the one thing that feels absolutely right to her: songwriting. 

A junior majoring in business administration, Sposito believes her life’s purpose includes making music and plans to kick off the summer with the release of her new single “Summer Thing” in early May. 

Since receiving her first guitar at age 14, Sposito has written more than a thousand songs, transcribing lyrics as soon as they come to her and refining them into polished pieces, produced under her artist name “Juls.” These lyrical revelations happen anywhere and at any time for the artist, who is prone to daydreaming about potential song lyrics, even if it’s in the middle of a lecture. 

“I’ve found that sometimes I write really good songs just because I’m forced to go to some business class and I drift off,” Juls said. “I’m in this ethereal, beautiful landscape of songwriting.”

Juls’ music boasts a strength in lyricism and a pertinent attention to the small, odd moments in our lives that hold a surprising well of relatability that listeners can connect over; specific moments of the everyday that can be pinpointed to reveal their universality. 

“It’s all about how magical everyday life can be sometimes,” Juls said. “It’s kind of like a film camera where they capture that moment perfectly. That’s what I try to do with all of my work. Take one moment in time that feels like love and feels like the perfect shade of blue … That’s what I’m trying to encompass. That moment.”

The resulting songs exemplify a poetic essence similar to the music of Lana Del Rey while the poppy, melodic backings are reminiscent of early Taylor Swift — two artists Juls cites as her biggest inspirations.

Juls works on producing and promoting her music with her older sister Jacqueline, who works as Juls’ manager and goes by the name Jacqs. The partnership not only paves way for the spectacular duo name of “Jacqs and Juls” but also greatly contributes to the achievement of Juls’ musical aspirations. 

As siblings who grew up together, Jacqs said she has observed firsthand the ease with which songwriting has always come to Juls, and the hard work that has brought that talent to fruition. After years of songwriting in Juls’ bedroom and business classes, the two felt that they were meant to work together to get Juls’ music out into the world. 

“There’s always this little voice inside of you that kind of leads you where you’re meant to go,” Jacqs said. “We’ve always just been so tied to listening to our inner guidance, and there’s always been this pull towards working on music together.”

This intangible pull to collaborate and create has led the duo to expand Juls’ musical pursuits, taking their efforts into producing studios and onto the stage. The result has been positively reaffirming, according to listeners who have observed firsthand Juls’ songwriting skills and captivating stage presence. 

Jordan Jones, a junior majoring in biology, was working a shift at USC’s Ground Zero Performance Cafe when Juls performed at an open mic event. Impressed by how naturally Juls commanded the microphone, Jones congratulated her on her performance.

“I remember I saw her go up there and I was like, ‘This girl’s like a popstar,’” Jones said. “She had the voice, the look, the confidence.”

Following this encounter that feels pulled from a movie scene, Juls and Jones became friends and occasional music collaborators, allowing Jones to see the ease with which Juls applies her lyrical prowess to any given melody.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met someone as confident in their ability to write songs — and for good reason,” Jones said. “I was messing around with some chords on my guitar one da,y and she just started coming up with lyrics on the spot. I was like, ‘Yo, did you write that?’ And she was like, ‘I was just making it up as you were playing.’”

Juls puts words to the magical qualities of our everyday endeavors, developed through many years of practice.

“For her, writing has been something in her life since she was 12 or 13 years old, and her desire to do it and her passion for it hasn’t dwindled since,” Jacqs said. “Finding that purpose in your life or that thing that really ignites you and then working towards that is what we’re doing with music.”

Continuing to follow that purpose, Juls, who prepares to release her newest single “Summer Thing,” said she hopes it will fulfill its own purpose of starting the summer off with a bang.

“It’s something I would hear on the radio. I would be lying if I said she wasn’t sitting on a summer anthem,” Jones said. “I’m super excited for it to come out.”