Interview With btchcraft in Lake Hollywood
Words & Photos by Giovanni Zuniga
June 6, 2023 - Lake Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA — Split between Phoenix, Arizona and Los Angeles, Califronia btchcraft is a solo artist playing several shows off her debut, “Sunburnt”, across Washington, California and Arizona. Read about her inspiration and why she’s drawn to the Golden State in this interview with Melophile Media.
GIOVANNI: Hey, so your name is Julz? Why the name btchcraft? Am I saying that correctly?
BTCHCRAFT: Yeah, btchcraft.
GIOVANNI: Okay, why the name btchraft?
BTCHCRAFT: Why btchcraft? It started as an inside joke, with myself, which is (laughs) I’m actually a nice person. (laughs)
But to me, btchcraft is a way of stepping into a persona that helps me be me. Less shy and a little more rock and roll. For when I’m performing, when I’m writing, and I write with that persona too. Like, what would btchcraft’s perspective be on this? Also, it’s this idea of being a process in participating being a bit rebellious or saying things you don’t wouldn’t necessarily say otherwise.
GIOVANNI: How long have you been doing music?
BTCHCRAFT: For a long time. I mean btchcraft is a relatively new project.
GIOVANNI: How recent?
BTCHCRAFT: Two years? Yeah, two years. The first release was earlier this year, it’s my first solo project. Where I did the writing and am doing a lot of recording and producing.
GIOVANNI: What have you done before?
BTCHCRAFT: My first project was in high school. It was in a pot punk band. They were called Clouds Take Shape. We were based in Phoenix. We were Myspace-Core.
GIOVANNI: Oh, so it’s been a while?
BTCHCRAFT: Yeah. It was definitely a while back. That was where I got my start, writing with a group, and experiencing performing and recording. Not much more touring but little shows and stuff.
GIOVANNI: So, what was your progression from there to btchcraft?
BTCHCRAFT: I started writing on my own, but I never released anything. And I think that’s why I had to adopt this persona. I think it was to feel brave enough to be seen and release stuff without having a band. I used them as a backbone, in a way, even though I was writing a lot of the songs. But for some reason having other people playing with me and putting their name on it felt more safe.
GIOVANNI: So what’s your plan with this solo project?
BTCHCRAFT: We’ll see. I want to write as much as possible. I would love to write with others and tour as much as possible.
GIOVANNI: If you were to pitch btchcraft to someone before they listen to your music, how would you pitch it?
BTCHCRAFT: It’s an indie pop persona. I would think if you like Boygenius or WILLOW, artists that straddle genres where it’s indie rock and indie pop or even shoegaze. Also, like Sugar Cubes. I think of btchcraft as a lot of fun. I think of glitter, and there’s choreography. Live guitar stuff. There is something for everyone— especially if you like angsty.
GIOVANNI: Okay. Interesting. You have a song about California. Why?
BTCHCRAFT: Well, I grew up in California. Northern, actually, near Santa Cruz.
And the song “Sunburnt” is about how my parents met. They first verse is ‘Don’t pick up a hitchhiker, Kathleen,
Kathleen was my mom’s cousin who picked up my father who was hitchhiking across the US to get to California. It was his life dream. He grew up in this small town in Georgia. And my mom’s cousin happened to pick up this guy and then bring him to my mom’s parents’ house and was like, ‘Hey can he crash here for a little bit?’
And that’s how my parents fell in love. I just think that’s so serendipitous. And I’ve just heard about it a lot as a kid and as I got older, I think that chance [meeting] is wild to me.
GIOVANNI: And it settled in what it is [that moment]?
BTCHCRAFT: Yeah. And I’m estranged from my father, so I never really heard his side of the story. And I don’t know. I think California is just really romantic in general when it comes to chasing your dreams. I love the color gold. And California is golden.
GIOVANNI: And then you have a couple shows in the next couple months, right?
BTCHCRAFT: Yeah, this month (June). The next show I'm playing is in Seattle in the Barboza and that’s on the 18th, on a Sunday, Fathers day. And the next one will be exactly a week later in LA on the 25th. At the Yard Theatre. It’s an iconic venue. And then a home show in Phoenix at the Rebel Lounge.
GIOVANNI: Cool! Okay, anything else you want to add?
BTCHCRAFT: Well, another passion of mine is uplifting women in music. If there is any way I can get connected to help, whether it’s to help realize dreams. And it’s something I’m very connected to, especially back home in Phoenix. Whether to build confidence in recording or their songwriting and playing shows. I’m your girl. I think that’s a part of btchcraft thing too.
Stay connected with btchcraft on social media and check out her upcoming show with Raissa
at The Yard in Los Angeles on June 25!
