skandinavian_Artists > Julie

‘Julie’ contains 12 new songs. The common denominator is pop, but with a touch of rock, soul, country, gospel and R&B. Different genres all presented by Julie’s great voice.

Julie was unknown to most people in Denmark when she released the single ”Every Little Part Of Me” back in November 2002. Now, nearly two years later she can look back on an incredible success; more than 90,000 sold albums, three Danish Music Awards, a Zulu Award, and she had three of the most popular singles played on Danish radio last year.

In January 2004 Julie began the journey towards her second album. She invited several songwriters to join her for a creative stay on the Danish island Samsoe, where her regular partner, the producer and multi musician Moh Denebi from Stockholm, also was present.
After a week on the island a small collection of songs were ready, and it was clear to Julie that this was how the foundation for her album had to be created – a lot of songs had to be written and then she would be able to decide how the album should turn out.

Over the next couple of months Julie commuted between Stockholm and Copenhagen, and through cooperating with experienced songwriters such as Michael Ruff, Storm Lee, Wollbeck & Lindblom, Paul Rein, Mats Berntoft, Rune Westberg, Jascha Richter, Poul Krebs and Henrik Jansson, 25 songs came out of it, whereof 12 of them found their way to the album ‘Julie’.

A couple of the songs were actually the result of coincidental meetings with songwriters, for example when Julie and Moh were at one of Michael Ruff’s concerts in Stockholm, and overwhelmed with what they heard, they invited Ruff to the studio to write together with them. The result was the song “Calling You”.

Another example is the album’s only duet. The people behind Peter Jöback asked if Julie wanted to sing a duet with him on his next album. Julie accepted on condition that he would come by the studio and write a song with her and Moh. The result was “Here And Now”. A song where the two singers’ voices supplement each other so well and they obviously enjoy challenging one another.

‘Julie’ has been recorded in Stockholm between early summer and August 2004 with Julie and Moh as the mainstays of the album. For the recording they had put together a team of very good musicians; guitarists Staffan Astner and Mats Berntoft, the drummer Christer Jansson, the chorister Johanna Olofsson and the keyboard player Jesper Nordenström.

‘Julie’ is released September 27 – which will be followed up by a Denmark tour starting in Greve on October 29 at Portalen.

Okt 2004



Julie

Great debut for Julie
• 55 weeks on the charts – still in the top
• sold more than 85,000 copies
• latest single is still hot on the playlists
• went on tour from March 29 to September 1. 2003

It’s not easy to think of a more successful start to a solo career than the one Julie has had with her debut album HOME. The album went directly in as number one on the list for most sold albums in Denmark – and at the time of writing it has been in the top 40 for 55 weeks. More than 85,000 copies have been sold – and she has received both gold and platinum records.
It was not a first time experience for Julie being number one, since her first single EVERY LITTLE PART OF ME was #1 for no less than seven weeks on the single charts, and has alone sold more than 35,000 copies. The single was one of the biggest hits in the winter 2002-2003, and for weeks it was one of the most played songs on the radio in Denmark. The next single SHOUT was also a success. It was among the ten most played songs on the radio in the spring 2003.
Next step for Julie was performing live in Denmark and Greenland. On March 28 her tour began in Kulturhuset Kattuaq in Nuuk, Greenland – and this is how her tour plan looked like: 29/3 Kattuaq, Nuuk, 4/4 Magasinet, Odense, 5/4 Tobakken, Esbjerg, 10/4 Portalen, Greve, 11/4 Toldkammeret, Helsingør, 17/4 Skråen, Ålborg, 18/4 Train, Århus og 25/4 Vega, København. To perform with her Julie had a band consisting of these five people: Sune Bahr - drums, Peter Honoré - guitar, Mads Lykkegaard - guitar, Martin Sommer - keyboard and Janus Rau - bas.

This year’s breakthrough is probably Julie, with the middle name Ivalo and Berthelsen as her sir name. With her first single - EVERY LITTLE PART OF ME – she was played on every radio station, and she sang her way into people’s hearts and they bought more than 35,000 copies of the great ballad.

Julie repeated this with her debut album – HOME – which went directly to the top of the charts when it was released in February 2003 and sold more than 25,000 copies during the first week in the stores. She wins people over with her voice – for a long time we’ve been listening to singers who sound more like testing the musical scale rather than expressing emotions, and Julie changed that. It’s a pleasure listening to her raw and warm vocal which represents her home country’s width and an incredible presence.

The 12 original songs on her debut album have either been chosen by Julie, or she has written the music and/or the lyrics – and throughout the album the songs are built up around her big and intense vocal. And for those who believed she was just a ballad singer after listening to her first single, they are wrong! Julie masters all kinds of style – and whether the style is rock, soul, R&B, pop, ballads or something else she always sings her heart out.

And then it was time for Julie to go on tour – with a close and excited band behind her. In March/April she went on an indoor tour in both Greenland and Denmark – and during the summer Julie and her band performed on several festivals and open air concerts all over the country.

Live 2003: Julie Berthelsen – vocals, Sune Bahr - drums, Peter Honoré - guitar, Mads Lykkegaard - guitar, Martin Sommer - keyboard and Janus Rau - bas.

You can read more on www.julie.gl

Nov 2003


JULIE – BIOGRAPHY

Who is she, this 24 years old singer who until six months ago was unknown to most Danes – but in her home country Greenland was known for her big and wide talent by most people? Her full name is Julie Ivalo Berthelsen. She was born in Århus in 1979 – where her mother studied at that time – but returned to her mother country Greenland when she was six months old, and spent the next five years in the small town Godhavn. Her father is one of Greenland’s most famous musicians, and her mother was an active athlete – two areas which have also affected Julie’s life. From very early on in her life Julie enjoyed performing and singing – and at the age of five Julie began to learn cross-country skiing. When Julie was five the family moved to the capital Nuuk, where she lived until 1999 where she moved to Denmark to study medicine.
Julie started to sing more seriously when she was 11 – and at the age of 14 she was hired as a chorister at the reunion of her father’s band Sume (probably Greenland’s most legendary band – which in their days of glory in the 70’s also had a great audience in Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia). Julie recorded for the first time in a studio when she was 16 – and after that she performed as a solo artist, or as a chorister in different local bands or with local musicians. In 1998 she was involved in forming the band Nanu (which specialty was songs from Greenland and the country’s peculiar “chanting”) – which she performed with all over her own country, and they visited Island and Denmark as well. Over the years music gave Julie many great experiences – she performed as warm-up for several and quite different artists such as TV2, Flemming Jensen and the very famous brit pop band Blur!

Parallel with the music Julie was a very active skier (cross-country skiing). At the age of 14 she was chosen for the junior national team – and until 1999 she represented her country at competitions in Canada, Alaska, Norway, Sweden and Italy. She has worked for both local and national TV as a host or presenter (the last three years she has co-hosted together with Hans Otto Bisgaard on DR’s “Julehilsen til Grønland”), and has furthermore been doing some modelling. Despite all her activities she also graduated from high school, with marks good enough to enter university in Århus, where she began to study medicine in 1999. Before she got her record deal she was convinced that she was going to finish university, and then return to Greenland to work as a doctor. She is still determined to return as a doctor – now just a little later than planned..