KA: Hey, Julea, So nice to chat with you and pick your brain.
KA: You have been super busy lately, traveling, helping with your daughter's blooming career, and doing your own artistic endeavors. Where are you right now and what is going on?
JC: I'm IN BETWEEN. And that is the theme right now. In between projects that are composed of conceptual polar extremes. I have never had so many projects that I have to prioritize them with a list. If you know me, I do not mix well with lists, calendars and linear order. But that is another topic for later ... just to say ...most of my writings have no beginning, middle, or end. I prefer to think of vertical time. Past, present, future -- all spinning around some sharp spindle of time where we reach in and grab a moment to experience it, whether briefly or prolonged. Right now I am working on a Novella. I think I can safely classify that as “Bizarro.” The setting is a Mirage that hosts a few characters/themes of Renaissance and yet brings in anachronistic elements of time and place. I won't give much away, but we have guest appearances with Dali, the Murano Venetian Glass Blowers, Leonardo Di Vinci's brother, “the living Mona Lisa,” and several characters who come in and out of the subconscious of a hallucinating man only referred to as Mirage Man. And maybe he isn’t hallucinating? Maybe he is spinning in his own vortex of time.
KA: " Bizarro" is my favorite, and I loved the sample I read of your story! When was the first time you ever wrote something you were happy with, and when was the last time?
JC: The first time I was happy writing a poem was when I was three. But I have no idea now what it was about. Recalling, it I think it has something to do with the sun, bright yellow and white light auras … something about ascension. As an adult I think it was an unpublished poem called “fusion.” At the same time, I wrote a short little poem, called "Alien Insectivore." It is a lot darker than my usual, and I have held it back from publication. I hand wrote it and the paper is starting to yellow. I would love to bargain with you to use that for its first publication here instead of writing the six-line poem, "Benign"' wink wink .... smile smile ... Please???
KA: Of course you can! I see that you are getting ready to do a few musical collaborations, even one with me! What inspires you to collaborate rather than do solo projects, and is there much of a difference?
JC: Oh wow! Well - the obvious: doing the right things with the right people. I humbly quote John Lennon here: "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." I have met some of the greatest people who truly sync with the vision of creating change with alternative music – especially with environmental causes. I would like the mention The Astral Attic and my partner/co-owner, Jan R. LaRue, who is the perfect frequency for my thoughts and words with his music. I also am humbled to be working with you and cannot wait. We will also be working on a project with a not for profit group called The Healing Seekers. I encourage everyone to explore. So, yes, collaboration takes things outside of yourself and makes things feel more alive, tangible, alive. It takes concept and changes it into experience. It brings dreams outside your own head to play with the dreams in someone else's brain. It becomes wildly twisted and tangible.
KA: Let’s dive into your brilliant poetry. *Rubs hands together* You have described it as Surreal, Absurd, and Bizarro? Which do you prefer to actually read?
JC: Reading: Sigh, I am so picky. I don't have a particular genre, I just want it to make me feel something deeply and drive my curiosity, let it bleed inside me. If I'm not feeling it by page 10, I'm done. I like raw, imagery-filled, ambiguous, twisted reads, with lots of light and shadow. Sensory and imagery overload make the book for me. I can find a story with beautiful images, but I cannot always find beautiful images within a story. I like authors who keep things loose and ambiguous. I, for the most part, pretty much despise, format and formula. Those get sent back to Amazon as soon as I hit page 10.
KA: Who are some writers that really move you to get as creative as you do?
JC: Many of them were/are musicians: Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Leonard Cohen,Prince, David Bowie, Jim Morrison, Neil Young, Don Henley, The Cure,/Robert Smith, The Smiths/Morrisey, Peter Murphy, Bono, Natalie Merchant, Heather Nova, and Max Martin. Poets: Kim Acrylic!!! Authors: Rebecca Stott, "Ghost Walk", Janet Fitch, "White Oleander," and Kurt Cobain's favorite book. "Perfume." and Anne Rice, both Witches’ and Vampires’ series. There are some teen books I really enjoy because they tend to be raw: "The Fault in our Stars." I also loved "Paper Towns" by Green. I believe my first influences in poetry were the Romantics: Keats, Byron Shelley and Wordsworth. Wordsworth often wrote about time and eternity and for that time period, made some pretty big leaps that reincarnation will always play a part in romantic love. And then there is the odd/out dark poet, the only American, I seem to resonate with, other than you, Kim Acrylic, --- Edgar Allen Poe.
KA: *blushes intensely at your compliments* Sometimes if I watch a really deep film, or listen to an amazing song, I write my best. Any music or films that have done that for you?
JC: Films: Many:" Edward ScissorHands" and other Tim Burton movies, "Donnie Darko," "Legend," “The Virgin Suicides," Marie Antoinette". (I love S. Coppolla.) “Lovers of the Arctic Circle,” Mulholland Drive”, and “Magnolia” … oh oh …. “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Also the classics: "Clockwork Orange" and "Citizen Kane". A surprising thing that inspires me is Physics.... Such as "The Chaos Theory". Conceptual theories really help me bring a complexity into my story's imagery. And finally "Perfume"// both song (Scentless Apprentice), and book. BUT YOU HAVE TO READ THE BOOK by Patrick Suskind ....The sensory overload of that book really gets to me!!! (plus it was Kurt Cobain's favorite). And I totally understand why! It is imagery-filled and like Kurt drifts into this world of disjointed sensory events that almost make sense.
KA " Perfume" is one of my favorite reads as well, and for the same reasons of being so full of textured imagery. Politically where do you stand, do you think we are headed to a very dangerous election?
JC: OOOOOOOOO .... I don't know how to answer that. I'm going to dodge here a little. I think we are headed down a dangerous path PERIOD. I think the most important thing we need a "re-do" on is simply being human again. You see how too much technology sucks our emotions dry and dumbs our brains down. Yes, it is necessary, we wouldn't be doing this interview without it, but we have to take a step back and look at both the good and bad of what we have created. That question of the balance of being human/ vs/ being a "bot" needs to be answered, no matter who wins this election. What are we going to do to survive as a human species? When this question becomes the only question, then maybe a suitable leader will emerge. Which candidate can help us become better human beings? That is really all it’s about. But as an aside. I won’t be voting for Trump. ; )
KA: You attended the Grammy's this year, what was your impression of the people there, do you think they earned those awards and nominations or are just hype that make for good TV?
JC: Ha,Ha Ha! That is a very big question. There were many award choices that I did not personally agree with, and I think that is always going to be the case. It was just a tiny sub population of all the amazing talent that exists the world may never hear. Who knows the process behind the scenes from unknown to famous. But I can tell you these artists who were there, live it and breathe it. Even if media makes it seem they are in La La play-land, I am telling you, if they were there on that stage, they had to work hard to get there. I was surprised to see lots of emotion in the audience and performers: Lady GaGa/ Bowie. The Eagles playing for Glenn Frye about tore my heart out. There was a lot of pain there. Pain is good. It makes us know we are still human. Music without a human pulse scares me! That is why when I was at the Grammy's I felt so relieved. There was a lot of “human heart” … there in a year where the industry experienced a lot of tragic loss.
KA: Speaking of celebrity loss, you are a big Nirvana fan, and lived in Seattle in the 90's. How has that inspired your writing if at all?
JC: I know it definitely colored my work. It gave me confidence to write without regard to outcome. It gave me the “OK” to write disjointed and conceptually without trying to create a story everyone understands. And even some of Kurt’s songs … no one can really understand. Remember he used to say, “I don’t care what the song means to me, I care what it means to you.” He wanted his fans to think for themselves. You know I will still listen to lyrics and wonder, “What was he thinking?” Remember the song, “Sappy?” I love that. It is so existential. Even being in Seattle around studios for 20 years, it only occurred to me the other day what I think he “may have” been referring to “you’re in a laundry room … the clue just came to you…” as a physical place, rather than just existential. There was a Seattle studio at the time when he recorded some music with Nirvana. It was called “The Laundry Room.” I think his last recording there was with William Burroughs. (Brilliant brain/words). Anyway, he wrote his songs like this in a way that he liked to leave clues or inference that really no one could figure out, perhaps not even himself, and that knowledge gave me a lot of freedom to just write what others will apply a meaning to that is probably no the “true meaning.” She laughs!!! Honestly, I had stopped seriously writing for a couple of years and was doing some art and metaphysical work. It was a very strange path, but when I rediscovered my LOVE of Nirvana and my absolute reverence and intrigue of Kurt, it kicked started everything again: lots of poetry, lots of feelings, lots of songs, lots of mystery. Love him now more than ever. And if I'm ever in that place where I can only come up with a Haiku, (and not a very good my insular thoughts. Either that or a collab with you or my music partner. Back to Collab: very important!!!!
KA "Soul Sits Waiting". Your brilliant book of poetry.* sighs* How was the writing, publishing, and post publication experience for you?
JC: She laughs! I know you are laughing. I have done nothing with those books. I give them away. I hate marketing. And once I am done with a genre or topic, I just lose interest. I still love the book, but I only really want selective people who “get it” to read it. You understand. Not everyone likes Surreal Poetry. But there are a few, I'm glad I get to share with people who “get it in a way it helps them” or will at least think about "getting it". I hope even though most people won't be inspired to write Hallmark Cards by it, (at least I hope not) at least they will be curious: like "hmmmmm…I wonder what she meant by that?" I also usually try to add a piece of history, that one would have to go study or look up a certain word to make the piece make sense. I like to nudge my readers to feel embraced in imagery but at the same time learn one new thing. But I just birth the books and let them find their own way. Makes no sense …. but Marketing -- no I don't do marketing for poetry. This isn't marketing , is it??? I'm laughing.
KA: I am laughing, but not hard- I promise! *grins* And yes, I know the harsh reality that people like things that are straight forward and full of so- called "realism" rather than our choice of dwelling in the surreal realm. Also, you often state that you are a very empathetic, sensitive person. How do you think that has influenced the personality of your poems?
JC: Would it make sense to say they write themselves? I honestly have so little to do with them. I have no plans. I have no goals of what I may write. I never have a topic in mind. I just sit down and if my subconscious and heart and brain will create through my fingers, I'll write it. But most of the time, I have no clue how it begins or ends until I just stop writing it. Remember “Art is never finished, it is only abandoned.” It is its own entity. It is a little different with music and the new project we (Jan and I )have been working on with the lyrics for "The Healing Seekers:" it is still raw, real and unforced, but it has a guidance within it.
KA: my poems also write themselves. It's very much stream of consciousness for me. Like I'm watching it untangle in a dream.Let's reverse things a bit here.You get to ask me a question. Something you don't know and don't think anyone else knows. What is it?
JC: How in the world have you written one genius poem after another .... so, so, many .... with no stinkers in the whole batch!!! Would you be able to show me one poem you wrote that you think really sucks! Again, I'm laughing since you are my Surreal Queen!!! You already know this, right?! I would be shocked to see one bad apple. ; )
KA: *laughs* You obviously haven't read my 15 -year- old pseudo "Gothic" works, then. (snorts).Your daughter who is a young teenager is also very talented in the artistic world. Do you sacrifice your own creativity to help with your daughter's new born talents, or can you find a healthy balance?
JC: Somehow that works perfectly. That is probably because she is into her girl music, and I am a little edgier and way more alternative. I think she is going to be a fairly mainstream artist with her own little twist, but she is still very young - 13! We both love music but our paths are different. Still we share our music worlds together. I took her to see Neil Young as a flashback concert to the 70’s days of Hippie Peace and she loved it!!! And I went to see Melanie Martinez with her, which I found brilliant, very conceptual. I just had to try to pull off looking no older than 30. Ha Ha. It will be interesting to see how I will answer this question again in 5 years, when she is targeted to be performing.
KA: What do you want people to know about your writing that they otherwise would never know?
JC: Even though I learned a lot about creative writing in college, and I understand how to write in that mainstream way, suffice it to say, I rebelled. There has been no set structure, format or formula I have adhered to in over 20 years. I think that was one of the gifts of Kurt Cobain, among others. I did have to De-program a little. And so I honestly just let my imagery-gnawed brain and heart of holes take over and try to go back and edit it with what just makes sense. And sometimes stick in that one piece of trivia so there can be at least one embedded secret. But I NEVER write what I don't want to write. There is never force. I never lose it if I get writer's block; I either collab. with you or write a Haiku! (laughing again)
KA: And I'm always honored to collaborate with you, my dear. What are some essential things you always carry with you whether you are traveling to another state to go to a recording studio, a Hollywood audition for your daughter, or just to the corner store?
JC: I have some very special stones and shells, and I always carry some reminder of my grandma who told me I would be a great writer one day. I also carry your poetry book, the Myth Behind All Truth with me on every trip! I had a cat named Aristotle. He passed in 2010. Horrible! But I carry his picture with me and sometimes his ashes. He is still with me. I also really like having my old ragged T-shirts from concerts long ago. I have some strange ones, like The Curve (Horror Head/Doppleganger), The Melvins, Lush, The Rolling Stones Farewell Tour - 1988? - from Madison Square Garden, Nirvana, Queen, Pink Floyd, The Cure, The Smiths, The Pixies, The Cranberries, The Who, and taking it way, way back Aerosmith (Toys in the Attic) and my first concert ever. I have a great deal of respect for Steven Tyler and since my daughter is with his management team, I am hoping for a chance to sing a song with him someday. My daughter is busy working on “Dream On.” …. Just in case she sees him around Hollywood. Anyway, I digress (Gemini) …My main t- shirt supply that travels with me whether I wear them or not- is Nirvana, the Eagles and Neil Young. Those are the old old ones. Where my baby words began in the 70’s tour incubators! I have started wearing my daughter’s Melanie Martinez T shirts – , who I totally adore as a new conceptual artist!!! That is the only new artist shirt I wear. But I will wear Alexi’s Tour T-shirt when she has her first merch.
KA: *Gasps at the mention of taking my book with you* I'm deeply honored! Your writing is full of very descriptive imagery. Where do you think that comes from?
JC: I have no idea. But the imagery is more important to me than the story. Once I get in a good imagery place and start having visions of beauty or shadows that entangle and twist it, even if it is ambiguous, some sort of story will usually emerge. But yes, for me it is all about creating words that are not usually used together. I like to paint colors, textures and emotion with unusual words. I like to put words together that don’t belong together. I like to write in a space of dichotomy and show everything through naturally occurring hues of strange words birthed between the twist of light and shadow.
KA: And please, do share some excerpts from "Mirage Man"
JC:This is my mirage, but it must be others too, hung from the Southern Cross, a shimmery, sur-reality – an oasis sky, swimming with silver fish you can never touch. Petite feet dance in my mirage: long, dainty arms, reaching for my Saharan sky, ink-blotted with nonsense words and tattered paper stars. This is my altar for Dali. So welcome to this mirage crawling with centipedes scattering sand with scurrying legs dipped in neon-candy, crawling through the dust of a moonless night. Hundreds of tiny fur-trimmed bug toes twining through burgundy sand: psychedelic trails and symbols that vanish when the golden orb touches the horizon of tomorrow … which is already today. But, then, it is perceptively just as likely to be yesterday.
My favorite, my nascent daughters so soft -- the pink-bleeding with halos of humming birds. Here we are, inside the night, torn into paper whites, with all these sharp opal stars, a metal-blood-rusted moon that appeared from the other side to illuminate high tea.
KA: And please, do share some excerpts from "Mirage Man"
JC:This is my mirage, but it must be others too, hung from the Southern Cross, a shimmery, sur-reality – an oasis sky, swimming with silver fish you can never touch. Petite feet dance in my mirage: long, dainty arms, reaching for my Saharan sky, ink-blotted with nonsense words and tattered paper stars. This is my altar for Dali. So welcome to this mirage crawling with centipedes scattering sand with scurrying legs dipped in neon-candy, crawling through the dust of a moonless night. Hundreds of tiny fur-trimmed bug toes twining through burgundy sand: psychedelic trails and symbols that vanish when the golden orb touches the horizon of tomorrow … which is already today. But, then, it is perceptively just as likely to be yesterday.
My favorite, my nascent daughters so soft -- the pink-bleeding with halos of humming birds. Here we are, inside the night, torn into paper whites, with all these sharp opal stars, a metal-blood-rusted moon that appeared from the other side to illuminate high tea.
KA: GENIUS as always, I've enjoyed picking your lovely ,complex brain. You are my muse!
JC: Thank you, Kim Acrylic, my Surreal Poetry Queen. This has been a blast!!!
https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Sits-Waiting-Lyrical-Collaborations/dp/1483420965/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469507506&sr=8-1&keywords=soul+sits+waiting
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