Otis Julius - StreamLINE Interview Series

Otis Julius - StreamLINE Interview Series

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StreamLINE had the pleasure of connecting with rapper Otis Julius, a seasoned recording artist with an extensive performance history and distinct style and flow out of Idaho. Otis brandishes a unique, cutting-edge brand of hip-hop influenced by his punk roots that date back to his days playing in a punk band.

Read on to learn more about his compelling music journey, artistry and upcoming projects. Enjoy!

Hi Otis, please tell us a bit about your background, where you’re from etc.  What were your early music influences?

I currently live in Los Angeles, but I’m from Caldwell Idaho. It’s a small farm town about 40 minutes out of Boise. I came up playing in a punk band, but after I took a short 2 or 3 year break from music I realized I never fulfilled my dreams of touring. So about 8 years ago I released a really bad hip hop EP and hit the road on my first tour.

My first introduction to hip hop was a ska band called The OC Supertones and 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Trying was my first rap CD. My friend Darnell burned it and gave it to me. Listening to groups like NWA and the Beastie Boys, and artists like DMX helped realize how closely hip hop and punk are related, so the transition came fairly naturally to me.

What was the defining moment or time in your life when you decided to pursue music on a professional level?

Man, the first two or three years of touring were all financial losses, or investments if you wanna call them that. Then, when I started to break even, I was like oh this is cool. Then I remember one night I made my first $1,000 at a show and I was like woe, I can do this. Let me figure out how to make this work. People started reviewing my music, more and more people started coming out to shows, and when I would reach out to new promoters for a show some of them were like yeah, you’re on our radar. Watching this thing grow is amazing, but those moments are like super cool memories.

How would you characterize your sound and what inspires your creativity? Is it actual life events/experiences or just a vibe that you get into?

I mean, I feel like I should let you characterize my sound, but I market it as punk inspired hip hop. Different hip hip is a fun term I use sometimes too. I know what inspires me, but I don’t know what inspires my creativity. This new EP has a lot of real life tied up in it, but it is all a vibe too because I just like, do what I want, it’s really freeing.

How did you link up with Riff Raff to go out on his latest tour through cities in western U.S.? How was the experience and was there a particular performance in any city or venue which stuck out most?

Well, a little over a month before this interview Riff announced that he was canceling the whole tour due to a role in a movie he booked. It was really frustrating and hard for me. I felt like a lot of my career was leading to this point and then it just got ripped away from me. Thankfully the EP has been doing well and I have big plans for this summer so I guess you can say we’re making the best out of a bad situation.

Congratulations on your new self-titled EP release! What was the recording process like and were there any collaborations and/or a team of writers/producers you worked with on this project?

Thanks for the congratulations! I’m very stoked about how it came out. The EP was recorded during the peak of the pandemic. I was on a national tour when everything got shut down and had to cancel a bunch of dates. I flew home to LA, picked up my fiancé and drove to my parents house in Caldwell Idaho. I collaborated with litkidbeats from Germany for all the beats, and I wrote the whole EP in my parents living room. A couple weeks later my good friend Chance Coon recorded the EP at his studio The Annex, then about a month later I flew out to Cottonwood studios to have Ken Dudley who is Hollywood Undead’s former engineer,  mix and master the EP. Right before the release I teamed up with my director friend Tom Morris here in LA to shoot my album art.

Otis

Listen to Otis on Spotify. Otis Julius · Single · 2022 · 6 songs.



We noticed that the “Otis” EP has already garnered some chart success not even a month from its release. Please describe that feeling and knowing that your music is truly resonating with listeners out there.

Yea, it’s crazy it was the best feeling seeing my music on those charts directly after having that Riff Raff tour taken away from me. It’s been a really emotional time for me. I have friends and fans congratulating me, I have new fans reaching out telling me they love what they found, I have a bunch of artists reaching out for features, but then I had people reaching out like “Crazy, how did you do that” talking about the charts. No congrats, no I love how it turned out, just like how did you do that? I have some friends or like maybe people I thought were friends, who didn’t listen to the EP, even after I directly sent it to them, and it’s like come on THIS IS WHAT I DO. I’m not asking for money, it’s free to listen to, listen to a song a day, just listen and be happy for me, weirdos. It’s been a wild trip and it goes further than that. But I’m stoked about the highs, and I guess I’m just avoiding the lows for now. So yea It’s amazing! It’s like LOOK WHAT WE MADE! LOOK WHAT WE DID! It’s RAD.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given; either personally or professionally?

That’s hard, I remember reaching out to a lot of local and regional acts who were doing bigger things than me when I was first starting and the FEW that took the time to reply where like we did this ourselves, you should figure it out yourself. So I decided to make it a part of what I do, to be open to give advice to people looking to do what I do. I guess the best advice I received was from my friend MC Lars and he said “be nice to people.”

What activities do you enjoy outside of your music endeavors?

When I got to a point to go all in on this music thing, I literally sacrificed all my hobbies to make this thing work. That question gets asked a lot in interviews and sometimes I just say nothing or I don’t know, but I recently started getting back into Lego sets. So I guess spend time with family and build Lego sets. I really want to get back into fishing too, I just have a hard time taking that much time off.

We love to hear what type of music other recording artists are vibing to. What are a few songs that are personally on repeat for you or at the top of the pack in your personal playlist?

I can’t really listen to music on repeat, but 50 cent, Blink 182, Every Time I Die, and Body Count are a few of the regulars. Oh, Lizzo too.

What’s next up musically for you as 2022 approaches and beyond? Any projects, features or live shows on the horizon? What’s your goal for the Or Golan artist brand? 

My next tour is announcing tomorrow (Tour dates are posted on graphic below), so depending on if you get this out tonight or not you might have the exclusive! My Pizza Party tour is a big Midwest tour with two festivals and a large handful of dates opening for Doobie and Caskey on their tour. I have some music videos and features I’ve been working on, but I’m not ready to announce yet. A dream for Otis Julius has been to tour the UK and Europe, but the goal is just to travel, release life changing music, put on life changing shows, and share love with people. A note to the readers of this interview, if you want to know more about any of this, hit me up on my website or any of my socials.

Otis Julius - Pizza Party Tour

Connect with Otis Julius


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Platinum Music Magazine

The Platinum Music Magazine brings you a wide range of topics your way as it relates to the music industry. The Platinum Music Magazine posts artist spotlights, interviews, tips and guidance, music industry related articles and helpful resources, videos and MORE! Please remember to subscribe to The Platinum Music Magazine newsletter and we will update you directly whenever new content is posted.
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The Platinum Music Magazine brings you a wide range of topics your way as it relates to the music industry.

The Platinum Music Magazine posts artist spotlights, interviews, tips and guidance, music industry related articles and helpful resources, videos and MORE!

Please remember to subscribe to The Platinum Music Magazine newsletter and we will update you directly whenever new content is posted.

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