Name: Juanita Stein
Nationality: Australian
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Juanita Stein's new album The Weightless Hour is out now via Agricultural Audio. Order the physical edition directly from her website. For your preferred digital stream, click here. Catch Juanita live on her upcoming 2025 UK tour at one of the following venues:

Fri 14th - SHEFFIELD, Hallamshire Hotel
Sat 15th - MANCHESTER, Soup
Mon 17th - NEWCASTLE, Cluny 1
Tue 18th - GLASGOW, Nice'n'Sleazy
Wed 19th - EDINBURGH, Sneaky Pete's
Fri 21st - LEEDS, Headrow House
Sat 22nd - CARDIFF, Clwb Ifor Bach
Mon 24th - BIRMINGHAM, Hare & Hounds
Tue 25th - LONDON, Lower Third
Wed 26th - SOUTHAMPTON, The Joiners
Thu 27th - BRIGHTON, Hope & Ruin

Recommendation about her current hometown: Places to visit in Brighton … Obviously the sea is a great place to start.
Stores: Resident Records / The Family Store / City Books / Duke of York Cinema
Bars & cafes: The Black Dove / Dandy (best coffee) /  Black Mocha / The Plotting Parlour / Nautilus
Topic I rarely get to talk about: Hmmmmm … films. Cinema. Fave films are varied, but I really love The Professional / Pleasantville / King Of Comedy / Network / Three Colours Blue / Cold War / Almost Famous / Uncle Buck and Ferris Buellers (obviously). 

If you enjoyed this Juanita Stein interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook. 



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in writing lyrics or poetry? How and when did you start writing?

Yes for sure. My father was a singer/songwriter and so I grew up around a constant backdrop of creating and playing/performing music. When I was around 5 he had me standing on some telephone books at a studio in Melbourne singing a part in one of his songs.

I was always very secretive about my talent, honing lyrics and learning chords in my bedroom when I was a teen. It wasn’t until I joined a music program when I was about 19 and they chose one of my songs to perform that my confidence shot up.

Entering new worlds and escapism through music and literature have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to writing?
 
I, too, love escapism. I’m a good ol' mix of earth and sky.

I’m instinctively drawn to dreamscapes and unusual chord progressions, I want to swoon and swing on a star, but I am also very pulled by the dirt tracks of rock’n’roll and Americana music.

What were some of the artists and albums which inspired you early on purely on the strength of their lyrics? What moves you in the lyrics of other artists?
 
I have a vivid recollection of pulling Innervisions by Stevie Wonder out of my dad’s record crate. I was intrigued with the artwork - all psychedelic and colourful. And then I listened to the album.



Not totally understanding what I was hearing, but I recall a wild pull inside of that album. Lyrically and melodically, it was like nothing I’d ever heard. In retrospect,  I was drawn in by the story telling and heavy handed politics of the songs.

Another strong core musical memory, was hearing "Glory Box" by Portishead, it struck me like a bolt of lightning. The mystery and drama of the music and lyrics resonated with me. “Give me a reason to love you. Give me a reason to be a woman”. It was all very mysterious and hazy. I loved it



It is sometimes said that “music begins where words end.” What do you make of that?

Not entirely sure, lemme think on that  

I have always considered many forms of music to be a form of poetry as well. Where do you personally see similarities? What can music express which may be out of reach for poetry?

Music absolutely expresses what words cannot. The soft and blurry edges, the dusk, the in between hours.  

The relationship between words and music has always intrigued me. How do you see it? In how far can music take you to places with your writing you would possibly not have visited without it?

Yeah I think so.

Song writing allows me to inhabit certain spaces. It’s a creative frame to work within, an emotional safe space.

What are areas/themes/topics that you keep returning to in your lyrics?

I guess overall I’m pretty obsessed with what it all means. You know what I mean? Trying to understand and find deep appreciation in our total existence.

Telling other peoples stories allows me to do this. I’m fascinated by people and their stories. I tend to use symbolism often when referencing my own stories.

Although lately I’ve been doing that less. Just saying the thing instead.

On the basis of a piece off your most recent release, tell me about how the lyrics grew into their final form and what points of consideration were.
 
“Carry Me” was a good example of a total stream of consciousness lyrically.



If you hear the voice note of that song from the moment I wrote it, it barely changed at all lyrically. Although that is a rare happening!

Do you tend to start writing with what will be the first line of the finished lyrics? The chorus? At a random point? What are the words that set the process in motion?

I’m writing a song right now. It began with a chord progression, then humming a melody over the top. Then come the lyrics. That’s usually how it goes for me.

I set the scene with a verse that will allow me to tell a story. Then I can figure out what the most intriguing or arresting aspect of that story is and build a chorus around that narrative.

I'd love to know how you think the meaning or effect of an individual song is enhanced, clarified or possibly contradicted by the EPs, or albums it is part of. Does the song, for example, need to be consistent with the larger whole?

It should be consistent, in the sense that it is expressed with the same intent.

I’m cool with an artist exploring different sounds and genres even on the same album, it just needs to feel honest.

When you're writing song lyrics, do you sense or see a connection between your voice and the text? Does it need to feel and sound “good” or “right” to sing certain words? What's your perspective in this regard of singing someone else's songs versus your own?

Yes, lyrics need to flow. Doesn’t matter to me how many or how little words are within a phrase, there needs to be a sense of rhythm that compliments the music.

I like how rhythmic some singers are, some artists manage to fit 3 words in a phrase where someone else might be tempted to fill all the space. Just depends.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing song lyrics or poetry is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I express a deep range of emotion through music. It definitely occupies a unique part of my brain and psyche that nothing else does.