She wrote songs for Britney Spears and Justin Bieber, now Julia Michaels hits Melbourne with her own music

She’s a Grammy nominated artist who has written songs for Britney Spears, Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber, but three years ago Julia Michaels made the switch from writing for others to launching her own career.

The 25-year-old LA based songwriter will headline her shows at Forum this week, while a special appearance at Mercedes Me for a Meet the Maker Q+A session and performance for VIP guests and fans takes place on Tuesday September 3. 

“I have always loved poetry and writing, it’s something I started doing ever since I did a creative writing class in my second year of school,” says Julia Michaels. 

“I also approach all my songs from a universal place- we all have feelings, we all bleed, we all have emotions. I tend to write about feeling anxious, body image and relationships because everyone can relate,” she says. 

The first time she took to a stage was with Norwegian musician Kygo to sing Carry Me at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. 

“I was totally nervous, there was like 89,000 people staring at me,” she reflects. 

“But I have definitely gotten better about being up there. I think I let my fears stop me from doing what I loved – like being on stage and performing – but I eventually got past that and decided to make the switch.”

Michaels was born in Davenport, Iowa and was raised in LA, growing up with her mother and older sister Jaden after her parents split.

She recalls being in the car with her mother as a 13-year-old when her mum stopped to inspect a piano for sale out the front of someone’s house – and swapped her wedding band for it. That kick started Michaels’ interest in songwriting. 

By 16, Michaels was already on the Hollywood circuit writing songs and by age 20, met songwriter Justin Tranter – who had written for Selena Gomez, Kelly Clarkson and 5 Seconds of Summer.

The pair hit it off and been collaborating ever since.  Their most notable work was writing Gwen Stefani’s third solo album, This is What The Truth Feels Like and co-writing Justin Bieber’s hit single Sorry from 2015.

It was when she released her single Issues from her EP Nervous System in 2017 that she received her first Grammy Award nomination for Song of the Year. The song was written with her friend Tranter – the confessional down tempo hit an instant winner for its raw emotional content.

“I’ve had lots of therapy over the years to help me overcome my anxiety,” Michaels says. 

“I’ve done lots of rationalising work too. It’s probably the reason why I remained behind the scenes for so long because you have to be totally comfortable with yourself to be on that stage,” she says. 

“Some people want to be up there but are held back by fear and I was held back by that very fear. If it is something you want you learn to control it instead of letting it control you,” she says. 

“I’ve gotten better at it, but I am still human, I have flaws and it takes a lot of work.” 

She’s penned two more EPs since her first – Inner Monologues Part 1 and 2 with hit songs Hurt Again, Falling for Boys and her latest 17 – an ode to being in love and rebellious. 

“The song is about being on the cusp of adulthood, it’s a time you’re out drinking when you shouldn’t be, when you’re reckless and it feels dangerous and so much fun at the same time,” she says.

 “I wasn’t that rebellious, but I was carefree and wanted to do things at 17 that I wasn’t allowed. This song is for those who feel the same.”

Mercedes Me: Meet the Maker with Julia Michaels – Tuesday, September 3

Julia Michaels performs at the Forum Theatre on Wednesday, September 6.