Gypsy Note:
I have loved Julie Dexter for almost 10 years! I fell for her mellow music and pleasant disposition the first time I saw her at the now defunct Fletchers in Baltimore. Since she has been on hiatus living life I have truly missed her music and was ultra geeked when I heard she was performing at Blues Alley. Yup I saw her just a year ago at Liv but the rarity of her shows in this area is a cause for celebration when I hear she is bringing her vibe to the DMV. So Soulcialistas and Soulcializers get ready to read a great interview by Shani with one of MY FAVORITE artists ever...Julie Dexter.
We caught up with Julie Dexter after her performance at the Legendary Blues Alley in Washington DC.
Thank you to Frank Sheffield of S.E.I. Entertainment for the abundance of hospitality given to Gypsy Soul!
Here we go:
Shani: In 2010, you performed at the Capital Jazz Fest Cruise. Was that your first time performing on the cruise?
Julie: Yes, it was my first cruise. Imagine that, it was the first cruise and I was performing. It was pretty incredible! The whole time I had to keep pinching myself. I couldn’t believe that I was there with that caliber of artists, George Duke, Lalah Hathaway, Take 6, how often do you get to be in their company?
Shani: Well, you have earned it!
Julie: Thank you!
Shani: In 2010, we also saw the release of an EP, The Interim.
Julie: That was kind of the tail end of 2010 because I knew that I was going to drop a new album this year, 2011. If they didn’t come out then, there would have been songs just floating around. There were a couple of remixes to introduce people to the album and “Happiness” was on there. People were asking when is the album coming and I was saying, “It’s not ready yet, but I do have a couple of tracks.” I put out the EP to keep people amused until the album came out, hence “Interim” because it was in the meantime.
Shani: Speaking of “Happiness”, you performed that tonight. We got to see some of your Jazz roots and influence with the scatting you did at the end.
Julie: That kind of comes out more often than not on stage, since that is how I started, doing Jazz music. I still have a lot to learn as far as the art of scatting. I just do a tad bit here and there, I am not yet as good as I want to be. I don’t take it for granted that it’s just “shooby-doobie-do-bop”, it’s about understanding music, the chords, and progressions. It’s about using your voice as an instrument; people like Ledisi are phenomenal scatters. Ella Fitzgerald is the scatter of scatters, Louis Armstrong, and Betty Carter are people who I look up to. I have to look way up there, because I still have a long way to go, but I do a little scatting.
Shani: Speaking of instruments, you joined the band by playing the piano during the set. Do you play other instruments?
Julie: I am classically trained in clarinet and violin. I am self-taught at the piano, I write my songs on the keys. I can play my songs, and I played my arrangement of “Lucy In the Sky”. I feel comfortable playing those particular tunes on the piano because I arranged them on the piano. Sometimes I write to tracks of music, sometimes I write to my own music.
Shani: Tonight you performed your new single, “Broke Up About You”. Can you tell us about your inspiration for that song?
Julie: Yes, “Broke Up About You” is about the other woman or man, because sometimes you have a relationship and affair happens. Sometimes the person doesn’t realize that they are in an affair because the other person isn’t being truthful. But basically, there are two people in a relationship, and third person becomes a part of this triangle because they fall in love with one of those people. They may have a relationship and find out that they are not the woman but the other woman. Sometimes the person may know and choose to be the mistress; you don’t find many songs about their story. I wanted to write their story from their point of view, not necessarily to sympathize with them, but just to give them a voice. We don’t always know the back story, we see them as the home-wrecker, or the other woman and their basically given a bad rap for so many reasons. Lots of times, they are an innocent party to begin with and they don’t find out until it’s too late. As a singer and a songwriter, I try to write other peoples stories and songs as well as my own, just to push myself. I also like to talk about things that are not out there. Love is the most popular song topic; there are a gazillion songs about love. There are a lot of different ways that love comes about. It’s not always, “Ooh, baby baby, I love you”. It’s wow, I’m in this situation, I am in love with this man and he’s got this other woman. Now, I’m pregnant and carrying his child, it’s complicated situations. I had a lot of interesting feedback on this song, like “I’m not really feeling this song about the side-line ho, but it’s a funky beat!” People groove, but when you hear the subject, you’re like Wow, “I’m here raising my child and you’re at home with your wife.” It’s kind of deep. That’s how music gets you, makes you want to dance, than the lyrics get you thinking later.
Shani: In 2011, you are giving birth to a new cd….
Julie: I want to release my album in February.
Shani: The cd is called New Again?
Julie: Yes, it’s funny how the cd is called New Again it’s like a rebirth in itself. The new cd is produced by Steve Miggedy Maestro, who is out Chicago. He is a DJ, producer, musician, and just a phenomenal human being. I started off with one track and then was like what else do you got? Eleven tracks later, we had an album. He has various styles, so it’s not the same thing for 12 tracks. It’s a lot of flavors going on, a lot of steppers he’s from Chicago. I like the tempo and how it feels. You can visit www.juliedexter.com to keep up with the music, videos, pictures. Please sign up for my mailing list. I will see you in 2011 very much ready to rock again, New Again.
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