The new pages of Julian le Play

The days before the release of his new album “Tabacco” at the beginning of July, the 32-year-old Viennese was very tense, as he says, and difficult for those around him to bear. The changes in songwriting, in the band and ultimately also in his style have increased the pressure not to “fail”. Julian now has the certainty that everything is correct.

Where did the impetus for the change come from?

Julian lePlay: The urge that something always has to be different because otherwise I would get bored will never stop. Two years ago something happened that caused me to feel dull.

Did that have to do with Corona?

Julian lePlay: On the one hand yes. I am a person who likes to travel and is not at home much. Suddenly that was no longer possible. On the other hand, after ten years of making music, I felt like I was repeating myself. In hindsight, there was a risk of growing up. I felt too resilient. I wanted to control everything and then I realized that it was not good for me.

How was that expressed?

Julian lePlay: I felt like I was a little petrified. I didn’t really have access to my emotions, I even got a bit dogged. And then I was in Mexico in 2022 and ended up in a drop-out resort. I only booked this because I figured I’d like the vibe. Then there were offers like “find your inner purpose” or “ecstatic dancing”, which I found funny – until, because it rained for ten days, I sat in courses with people who were all looking. In doing so, I checked that I didn’t give that many reasons to worry about falling into a difficulty.

Then what happened after you returned?

Julian lePlay: We were finally able to reenact the tour that we had to postpone due to Corona, and my old band didn’t have time, which is why I looked for new musicians to my left and right and started to deal with fashion. When I got home I didn’t feel so comfortable in my old clothes anymore and started working with a stylist, also looked into David Bowie and realized that art doesn’t stop at the mastering of an album, it goes on. The visual has started to interest me more.

Did this also affect the tour?

Julian lePlay: We gave it five times as much gas as before, because everyone could feel this urge to finally be able to play live again. That was the kick-start for the year in which “Tabacco” was created.

So the album was shaped by that experience?

Julian lePlay: After the tour, I flew directly to La Gomera with my three best friends, where there were also many dropouts. That’s where the first song “Tabacco” was written, where I realized that I was becoming addicted to this lifestyle. Somehow I realized that I needed this. And then there was a very colorful summer in which I experienced a lot. This album was made this summer.

It’s probably no coincidence that the album begins with a very quiet song called “Sleep Walker”. What did you want to convey to the listener?

Julian lePlay: Maybe that I’m not hiding. It’s one of the most personal tracks about love. Usually I liked to hide such songs on the album, put them at the end. I wanted to open people up, open up, listen. I haven’t really thought about it that much.

The lust for life, the passion to be felt with all your senses, could be the main theme of the album. Did you also have to rediscover the desire for your own music?

Julian lePlay: Yes, almost none of these songs on the album happened as planned. I wanted to experience something, was on the road and put Julian le Play in the box for me, met a lot of people and these songs came about along the way. Ideas came to me everywhere. Whenever I didn’t make an effort, the ideas just flew to me and I’ve already had very dogged phases in which I wrote songs with a goal, such as reaching an expectation. I was incredibly happy that the songs have now practically come to me. Of course, that made me want to write songs again, because it happened with such ease. It used to be a lot harder.

Does that also have something to do with letting go, that suddenly there is a lightness that you often long for and suddenly it is there because you are not desperately looking for it?

Julian lePlay: Secure. If you don’t want something, it will suddenly attack you from behind. That’s how it is in love. What overwhelmed me surprised me, because musically it was more like things I heard when I was 18 or 19 years old. It’s a pop album, but it has folk elements here and there, it’s more rocky, there were songs that I wouldn’t have dared to do before. It was a lot of fun, including producing. I opened a creative house with two friends in Vienna, the “Villa Lala”. “Tabacco” is the first album where this villa has come into its own musically. There are 14 studios in the house, eleven different producers, songwriters, a photographer – it took on a life of its own for over two years, then I came with my songs. From there the production happened and the other characters came along, left their mark on the album. It all happened one after the other and I’ve never thought so little about what happens afterwards. I enjoyed working with people. As a result, my entire environment has changed. It’s actually nothing like it was three years ago.

So is “Tabacco” also the beginning of a new decade for Julian le Play?

Julian lePlay: Yes, my girlfriend said that too.

Julian le Play “Tabacco” (Troubador sound carrier), concert: August 25, Posthof Linz