Julie Christmas talks about “Ridiculous and Bloody” – New Noise Magazine

After 14 years, the incomparable Julie Christmas is back with her second solo album. Ridiculous and full of bloodnow available on Red Crk Recordings. This is the long-awaited follow-up to their 2010 debut, The evil wifeChristmas assembled a stellar ensemble of musicians and lifelong friends who helped her create another brilliant piece of avant-garde metal that could be the most defining release of her career. Christmas emerged some twenty years ago with the sludge/noise rock band Made Out of Babies and has since released some of the most critically acclaimed metal records of the century. Her appearance on 2006's Battle of Mice's Opus, A day full of nights has become the stuff of legend. Ten years later, Christmas joined forces with Swedish post-metal lords Cult of Luna to grace the world with their stunning 2016 album. sailor. It was this groundbreaking record with Cult of Luna that inadvertently set the ball rolling for her phenomenal new solo LP.

“We made the album with Cult of Luna and were invited to Roadburn [festival] to play. There was supposed to be a secret show and then Covid came along,” recalls Christmas. “We wanted to play some new stuff at that secret show, so we started writing those three songs. The songs that are on the record are 'Kids,' 'Not Enough,' and 'End of the World.' Then Covid came along and we couldn't go to Roadburn that year, but we knew we were going to return and we had already started making new music and figuring out how to make it work with people in different places.”

The group of musicians that Christmas refers to are all allies and close friends that she has brought under her spell over the years. Consisting of guitarist/vocalist Johannes Persson [Cult of Luna]Guitarist John Lamacchia [Candiria/Spylacopa]Drummer Chris Enriquez [Spotlights]Bassist and production wizard Andrew Schneider and keyboardist Tom Tierney all helped Christmas write every song on Ridiculous and full of blood over various distances before coming together to record the album together. The end result is this stunning new record, which consists of insane numbers such as the opening track “Not Enough”, the haunting lullabies of “The Ash”, the brutal riffs of “Thin Skin” or the melancholic metal epic “End of The World”.

“These songs were built up. One person starts the song, and that's why the record is so diverse, but also why it sounds kind of unified,” she says, “because we all worked together on each song. Actually, one person started it, and all the songs were started by another person at least once, but generally someone came up with an idea.” Christmas's eerie vocals are the glue that holds it all together. Ridiculous and full of blood She screams in aggressive moments and becomes otherworldly in others, but remains 100% captivating throughout, using her voice to hypnotize and guide the audience through the myriad sounds and moods she and her band have conjured up.

“I love Johannes [Persson] and everyone in Cult of Luna. They changed my views on playing with other bands because they were so cool to work with and they are just great people,” explains Christmas. “John [Lamacchia] is like my brother from Brooklyn, I've known him for so long. One of the cool things about having someone like Andrew [Schneider] in the band is that he's a spectacular bass player, but also a really good engineer, the best around in my opinion,” she says. “Realizing that you have that kind of flexibility to have a very simple idea executed so brilliantly by someone you're working with, it's like having a whole different toolbox that you didn't know you had. I think the truth about surrounding yourself with these people is that while I'm very lucky that they're all super unique and incredibly talented, the truth is that they're all my friends that I get to play with, and it just turns out that they're all pretty great at what they do,” Christmas says proudly. “So there's a pretty strict 'no jerks' rule, and they're not jerks.”

Ridiculous and full of blood confirms that Julie Christmas is truly in a class of her own. Her piercing screams, infectious melodies and sly whispers are more powerful than ever. “I think I'm built for this, right?” says Christmas of her longevity and penchant for superhuman feats on the mic. “Some of that stuff comes from within, like an athlete does their sport, that's like my sport. I think all of it comes from within, whether it's physical or emotional. It all just comes out, I don't really think about it too much. I feel when my voice is being taxed on stage, but when I do, I try to remember it, try to feel the emotion of the song, and that kind of gets me through. I warm up before shows, I always have. I do a few things after shows to try to minimize it, like talk less, but I haven't really done anything different. I think I'm just built for it.”

Ridiculous and full of blood is now available and can be ordered from Red Crk Records. Follow Julie Christmas on Facebook, InstagramAnd Þjórsárden for future updates.

Photo courtesy of Fred Gervais