Guitarist and singer-songwriter Julia Bailen is one third of the NYC power pop trio BAILEN with her elder twin brothers, David and Daniel. On the heels of releasing the second full length BAILEN album, Tired Hearts, Julia sits down with Carmel Holt to discuss her journey to discovering the empowering stability that her instrument and”owning it” brings her, the democratic process of making records with her brothers, and working through some of the negative effects and thought patterns caused by our ageist and sexist music industry. Julia started playing guitar when she was just 7 years old, taught by her father. While the elder twin siblings began playing in bands, Julia was exploring musical theater, and started writing songs. Soon enough, Daniel and David decided to start their own project, The Bailen Brothers, but a desire to create bigger harmonies created the opportunity for Julia to join, and BAILEN was born, which features not just gorgeous harmonies, but dynamic, tight arrangements and a collaborative chemistry only siblings could have. Julia on lead guitar and vocals, David on drums and vocals, and Daniel on bass, synth, and vocals. This year marks a decade since their first live show together, the first of hundreds of shows before they landed their record deal with Fantasy Records, and released the trio’s first album Thrilled to Be Here, in the spring of 2019. Now BAILEN is back with their fantastic follow up, Tired Hearts, and Julia Bailen joins us as this week’s SHERO in the Spotlight.
