Singer Julia Wildstar on the making of adventurous new single ‘Pleasure’

Julia Wildstar. // photo by Serenity Shadows

In the heart of Kansas City’s eclectic arts and performance scene, few shine as boldly as Julia Wildstar. Originally performing under her name Julia Reynolds, Wildstar is a performer, provocateur, and unapologetic visionary, the musician and performer has carved a space where glam rock meets burlesque.

Through her theatrical performances, fearless fashion, and dedication to self-expression, Wildstar embodies a kind of radical authenticity that inspires both admiration and introspection. We sat down with Julia Wildstar to discuss just how “Pleasure” came to be.

The Pitch: You just released a single, have a new album, and have some shows coming up. Will you tell me a little bit about that?

Julia Wildstar: Yes, okay, so, just released my new song, “Pleasure.” It’s a long time in the making, so that’s really exciting, and it’s my first full music video production, so that was a big deal, very excited about that, as well. I mean, it was already kind of a big deal because of that to me, ’cause that’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a really long time.

It was just a big project, but it’s also kind of a big deal because it’s really my debut as Julia Wildstar. I had been performing under my birth name forever and then I finally decided to make a music project and do a whole thing and rebrand.

Julia Wildstar. // photo by Ian Noah Photography

How did you get that name?

Oh, my goodness. I came up with it a year ago, in December. This was at my old day job, which I have since quit. I’m standing there, thinking to myself, sitting there staring into space. I had been fiddling with the idea of an artist persona name/music project name, whatever, for a long time.

I had two albums out under my actual name, and I had been performing under my actual name, so it was a little scary, but it just hit me. I was sitting there and I’m like, “Okay, it’s time. I’m pivoting where I’m going, and it feels a lot more authentic, where I’m going, and I would like to make a”–not necessarily a clean break, but like, a bookmark. Like, “This is where it happened,” and give myself that excuse to kinda let myself grow into the vision I had.

So, I’m standing there, just staring into space, thinking about this. I thought of a few different names. I mean, I wanted to include my name, Julia, because that’s just my name. I toyed with the idea of a whole different name, but it just never felt right. Went through a few different last name options, and then I came up with Wildstar, and as soon as I came up with it, I was like, “Oh my God, that’s the one,” ’cause it just felt so right.

I wanted it to have breathing room because I do so many different genres, styles, and things, so I didn’t want to make it too distinct and box myself in, but I wanted it to still get a point across of what I’m going for: the vibe. And, I mean, Wildstar just did that, because, I mean, you could do pretty much anything under that name and it’d work. But it really, I felt like it captured my essence,e I was going for, too.

How did you get the idea for “Pleasure”? Where did it come from? Because it’s really powerful. It’s very impactful and not only that, but it’s really catchy.

One of my biggest things–one of my biggest virtues–in both music and life and art in general, is intention. I love putting intention into pretty much most things that I do. Now, it may not always be what it seems on the surface level, what the intention was, but I do have an intention on most things. I’m really glad you enjoyed it because it definitely was a lot.

It was a big project, but I put a lot of my heart and soul into it and like I said, with it being the debut–I mean, the things I’ve released before, they’re special, and I had parts of myself in them, but this feels a lot more like me. A lot more authentic.

There was one night I was just messing around on my laptop, producing, as I do. That’s how a lot of these start. I’m on synths, just having a good time, and I just came up with that main hook, that main synthy octave, kind of jumpy hook. I’m like, “Dang, that is catchy as heck,” so I plug that in there, I start looping it, I start layering stuff–I love layering–and I recorded it, and I put it aside for a little bit.

Then one night, I was kind of messing with it again, because I get hyper-fixated on my projects when I start them. I keep pulling it out. It’s like I’m addicted. I think it was only a couple of nights later, probably, and just the words started coming to me. It just started coming, and honestly, a lot of it came to me in that moment–the main idea and everything–but then I, of course, toyed with it as I went.

Julia Wildstar. // photo by Otterlope Media

For those who haven’t seen it yet, how would you describe the video to them?

Oh my gosh, for one, I’d say it’s so hard to describe, and you’re going to have to just watch it and listen. Honestly, a big inspiration for the whole thing was Lady Gaga’s album Artpop. That is one of my favorite albums of all time. I have probably listened to it at least 20,000 times. It’s been a lot.

I’m not even exaggerating. Just on repeat. On a cycle. Literally over and over and over and over. Once again, hyper-fixation. I mean, it’s not exactly like that, of course, but the overall vibe, a lot of it came from that inspiration. I wanted to find that balance and look at it from a lot of different perspectives and explore the different facets [of] pleasure, which is the topic, but really, everything about being a person and an artist and a woman, all of it.

There’s a lot of symbolism. There are a lot of abstractions, but there are also a lot of things that are more straightforward, because I like to balance those and play with those. I also play a lot with playing with people’s perceptions. I play with what I think you’re gonna think it is and what I actually mean or maybe I don’t. I like to keep people guessing. I like to give it room to breathe for other people to interpret and also give it room for the universe to do with it what it wants, as well, which is the angle we went with filming the video.

Actually, the video was really loosely scripted. I did the video with my dear friend, Serenity Shadows, who’s a Kansas City artist, dancer, florist. She does everything. She can literally do anything. Me and her have been working together for years. She dances in a lot of my shows. She actually filmed it.

She’s filmed a lot of other projects, but I believe this is the biggest project she’s done before, when it comes to filming, so you would think we were learning as we went because we were both kind of new to that, but really, it came naturally for both of us. We just got in there, we knew the overall idea of what we wanted to do, and then we just started playing and just letting things happen. Once again, just leaving room for the symbolism. We didn’t even plan most of it. A lot of it just happened in the moment. So it’s really. The whole thing’s like that.

Julia Wildstar. // photo by Fally Afani, I Heart Local Music

When you are working on a song or music video, do you have any rituals beforehand?

Yes, I do, both literally and figuratively. I literally was just doing one now, over here, which is tarot cards, right? Tarot cards and oracle cards, that’s a huge thing for me, not just in the recording studio and in the video, but also just at my shows. Serenity and I, every time we do a show, in the green room, we have an oracle deck or a tarot deck, and we pull a card together, and we ask the universe to please give us a message for that specific show. What do we need to hear for this show? I swear, it’s uncanny.

Speaking of uncanny, the night that we filmed the music video for “Pleasure,” we had a show that night. We were about to do this show, and I was just in the worst mood. I was super down. I don’t remember why. I was just not feeling it that night before I went on stage.

We’re in the green room and I’m like, “Serenity, I just don’t think I feel like filming tonight. I’m gonna have to pretend I’m in a okay mood on stage because I’m just like not feeling it tonight,” and so she’s like, “Okay, well, that’s fine, but let’s not make a decision on whether we do it or not until after the show, ’cause you might feel differently after the show.”

Then we’re about to go on, and we’re going to do our tarot card thing. We had this oracle deck. I had only used the oracle deck a couple of times. I don’t know what cards are in it or anything. I’m shuffling it, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. And then I pull one out, I flip it over, and guess what it says? “Pleasure.” I kid you not!

We both look at each other and we’re like, “Oh! Well, we have to film it now.” So I went and did the show, and something switched. I went from insecure to just bursting at the seams by the end of it. I was dancing and all these things, which I had never really let myself do on stage before, like that. It was feral and it was so freeing and beautiful and it never happened like that before. I honestly think if I were to pinpoint one point where Julia Wildstar was born, it would be right then.