Surfing the Soundwaves

When one goes to a party school, then transitions to working at a bar, it seems almost criminal to not have a party playlist locked and loaded on your phone. However, even if you don’t match this demographic, I would assume you still like to have a good time. I mean, you’re reading this right? Don’t worry, if you’re one of those people who starts to panic at the pregame when someone asks if you want the AUX, I am here to once again save your ass.

Everyone gets lit in different ways. Some people can sit in complete silence and chug a bottle of wine. Others pregame while watching a good Netflix show. Then there’s people like myself, who need music so loud it is about to shatter the windows of the function. So, I am going to tell you how to make a playlist for THAT kind of day or night.

Starting out is nothing new from my previous playlist posts, you’ll need a music streaming app, and any sort of speaker. Like most playlists, you want music that is going to match the vibe. I don’t care if you got dumped that morning, or you’re going through some shit. If you’re planning on going out and getting crazy, you need to play music that is going to put you in that mindset. We all have our demons, but what we’re not going to do, is bring them to the club with us. SO, make a playlist with songs that are fast paced. Something that is going to get your heart rate up, as if you’re working out. Chances are, some of the songs you find on my playlist are songs that I have Shazaamed at the club, or at spin class. No shame. So you may even hear them out, which will take your night to an even better level. Who doesn’t want to be out and hear a song they can sing all the words to?

Since a lot of people I know, loooooove to have sad music on literally ANY playlist (no shade), I am obviously going to attach my playlist. Now, it is important to note for all my OG friends, this playlist was in the past called “Vodka Cranberry.” Given my new 2018 wild side of mixing my favorite things, it is now rightfully titled, “Vodka Redbull.” Just the name itself may make you blackout before you even hit shuffle. This playlist is ALWAYS going through maintenance. I have had it for about 3 years now, so obviously certain songs just don’t get me hyped anymore. With that being said, there are also songs that will just NEVER be removed. For example, Ocean Drive. While there are plenty of remixes to that song that would probably match the rest better, they don’t match the feeling of ecstasy I feel when this song comes on.

Like any other playlist as well, I am open to suggestions. If you know me, have partied with me, or even don’t know me, please send me songs you think I would be excited to chug vodka Redbulls to. I promise, no song is off limits. Unless it is sad, then please don’t even bother.

I present you: Vodka Redbull

https://open.spotify.com/user/1275786244/playlist/7b00abUlBy5nQZ1m5EzP6b?si=Oyqfg2sDSUykU-G_QuM5KA

Shoutout to work for finally giving me something to write about! So saturday evenings at work are always crazy stressful for everyone involved. By the time I clock in, it’s MADNESS. Everyone at this point is also super blacked out (not my coworkers, the customers). Let me tell you, dealing with belligerent people while stone cold sober is awful. It has also been a long ass time since I have worked a Saturday without complaining about people being rude. However, this past weekend was different.

I walk up the stairs like any other day, but when I get into the office, the vibe is completely different. There are music videos playing on the TV and the music is bumpin…loud. Confused, I text my boss downstairs and say “….what’s going on??” Stuff like this doesn’t happen! Everyone who walked upstairs was immediately in a better mood. This really made me think about how music in the workplace changes things. My old job, the music was awful, and I worked at a pool. The music at the pools should be fun and get everyone hyped for summer. However, we all had to stand there for 8 hours and listen to mellow, awful tunes. Working at Sharkeez though, there are always songs to sing and dance to. For me personally, the playlist we have going at work determines my mood. Am I fighting with someone? Doesn’t matter.

The reason this inspired me to write this all of a sudden, was because good music really does change the vibe of things. It probably won’t make sense either, but the upstairs office vibes at Sharkeez really needed a change. It’s where we all go to complain about work, life, ANYTHING. Sometimes all that weighs down on a place. Adding the music put everyone in a good mood, even if it was temporary.

So, with that being said, I encourage every workspace to offer some type of mood booster. Even if it starts off as something silly. I’m not just being biased because I am a music fanatic. I could tell that everyone who walked into that room was immediately on good vibes mode. However, yes, it would be a total dream to walk upstairs everyday and hear a new banger. Also, with that being said, if anyone from work is reading this, let’s make this a regular thing!

With my Life Is Beautiful payment plan almost coming to a close, and the festival being 90 days away, I just thought I would share my personal take on having festival FOMO. For those of you who don’t know, FOMO simply means, “Fear Of Missing Out.” This year I became very familiar with the term, only to realize that it truly was not the end of the world. For those of you who are new here, I’m Jul, and I am probably one of the most dramatic people (when I want to be).

So, if anyone is wondering why I did not have a crazy story to tell from this year’s Coachella, it’s because unfortunately I did not go. I would later learn, that the thing I loved so much about the festival, could also take place outside of Indio (who knew!!!). Let me take you back, to the day I found out I would not be attending. I am sitting at work, most likely gossiping with Graham about something completely unnecessary. A text pops up on my phone, addressed to my usual Coachella gals. When I click it, it’s all bad news. My hands? Start shaking. That is typically something that happens to me when I am in shock and my brain and body are ghosting each other. Me being an emotional human being (I am a Cancer please understand), decides to also just start crying, in PUBLIC. I rarely even do that in private?? My friends try and calm me down, telling me they’ll buy my tickets, help me sell them, ditch work and come with me, etc. However, like I said, I am dramatic. So, I call my dad, tell him to bring my makeup bag so I can touch up, and decide that I am staying out tonight and pounding shots.

I think I decided to react to this change so dramatically because of what I knew Coachella to be. Although plenty of disasters happened, it was my break from school and reality. A chance to come home for days and visit my family, bestfriends, and pets. It was also my time to let go and enjoy the music. My mind is always on overdrive, overthinking every situation, no matter how big or small. When music is blasting, whether it is live or in the car, I am totally calm. So, knowing this was going to be taken away from me, I proceeded to panic. I 100% was chasing vodka shots with vodka redbulls and somehow survived the night.

The best part about this “tragic” situation was the new friends and memories I made that night. I hadn’t been at my job for too long and still didn’t consider myself extremely close with everyone yet. However, that night I got close with someone who is now my ride or die, and someone I see everyday and still get excited. Who knows if that would have happened so fast, if it weren’t for me hyperventilating in the middle of the bar!

Another reason I was so dramatic, was because I thought this was my ONE chance to see The Weeknd. I know, silly right? One of the most famous artists right now, I thought this would be my only opportunity. I know how tours work, it’ll be AGES before he goes on another. WRONG. After Coachella, he fell on every single festival lineup for the rest of 2018. So my lucky ass, got to pick and choose when I would see him next. Let me tell you, the wait will be so worth it.

That weekend, I spent with amazing people, almost making me forget that I was even supposed to be in Indio! That’s the beauty I thought I would be missing. My favorite parts of Coachella were all here at home with me, and I didn’t realize until I took a step back. While there were no disasters (other than my new holographic Adidas cutting up my ankles), the memories from that Friday-Sunday will last me just as long. So, that’s the takeaway, Festival FOMO is 100% in your head, it isn’t real, just like the glorious pictures on Instagram. Go to the concerts when you can, and when you can’t, just realize everything happens for a reason. Live music is forever and so are the friends and memories that happen along side it. Oh, and don’t be a brat like me??

Hey there….I know it’s been 97 years since I last wrote something. As much as I would love to instantly blame writers block, it was just simply that this was put on the backburner. Also, as much as I would love to promise that there won’t be such a long hiatus again…I’M NO LIAR. Anyways, let’s get to something that I am really excited about.

So, I have never been one to glorify my birthday. I love other people’s way more than my own for some reason. It may have to do with the fact that the Fourth of July happens to be the day after. The excitement of seeing who is more American than the next person, seems to overshadow the fact that I am aging. However, if there is one thing I do love, it’s playlists. Any occasion is one to coagulate all my favorite tunes into one place. Also, seeing as I always end up the designated DJ at other get togethers, it’d be wrong if I didn’t supply the tunes for my own event.

Obviously, this playlist has to be amazing. Of course, I will be dropping the link to it once it gets a little closer to the date. However, since most of you will not be aging on the same day as me, consider it your playlist to be American to. Now, before anyone decides to have some serious questions about what the name of this is going to be, let me explain. It has become a trend since turning 21, that I get so drunk on my birthday, my body cannot even fathom seeing sunlight on the 4th. In my defense, I do happen to spend my birthday partying at the most MURCA place of all……American Junkie. I can probably write a whole separate post on why that’s my favorite bar, and my friends would still question what is wrong with me. That’s besides the point. While I am extremely intoxicated, I love to tell my friends and even strangers, that I “was born before America.” I think for some reason, drunk me needs to validate that I am so drunk and this country is somehow to blame. Or, I just think I was born in 1776 and am way cooler than anyone else at the club. I think the second option makes more sense. I also like to make claims that because my birthday is the day before everyone’s favorite holiday, that somehow makes me more American than anyone else. I’m telling you, the minute I have a single sip of alcohol, all remaining logic leaves my brain.

So, it’d honestly be a crime to not name this playlist: “I Was Born Before America.” Not only will people who accidentally stumble upon my Spotify be EXTREMELY confused, but I think people will respect me a little bit more (LOL). So, obviously, this playlist needs to be the best. If I am going to talk the talk, I have no choice but to walk the walk. This playlist will be a combination of songs that give me the nostalgic summer vibe. The vibe that you hear when it’s Winter or Fall, and you get a little lump in your throat. It will also incorporate some songs from my new turn up playlist (coming soon to this blog!!). Now, like every celebrity, if you are here when this posts I will be making you wait. It’s like I am launching some new merch or something, right? However, again, I am no liar. I will definitely be making you wait because there is a total of ONE song in the playlist right now. By the time this posts, there may be two, but don’t be reading this hoping for miracles. Chances are, if you are here and there is a playlist linked below, you are either A) here a week before my birthday when I drop it, or B) here after my birthday in which case if you didn’t wish me a happy birthday feel free to leave and delete me off everything.

I hope you enjoy the playlist and use it for your American festivities, aka shotgunning beers and smashing the can on your head. Just remember, I was born before America, making anything I do automatically cooler. 😉

Let me just start off by saying, if you were a fan of my first Coachella disaster, then you are most likely going to be a fan of this one. So, it is a year later in the world famous Coachella Valley and you would think we would be professionals at this by now. At this point, this is our third time at this festival and nothing has changed. We are still about to make even dumber decisions, except we just don’t know it yet!

It’s 8am, we are loading the rest of our snacks into the car on top of the mounds of pillows and blankets that are smashed in the trunk. Why all the pillows and blankets? You ask. Oh because this year we are trying something new! We are going to save money on a hotel and car camp instead! Luxury right?? I would be lying if I said I wasn’t actually really excited. The thought of being able to walk from the stage to your tent and falling right asleep seemed ideal. It also seemed like it would be amazing to be able to wake up to the sound of music on the grounds. I would also be lying if I said I wasn’t extremely, extremely wrong in these fantasies.

So there we are, driving early because a couple of our friends have to go pick up their tickets at Will Call. Already, we are experiencing some red flags that we obviously choose to ignore. There was a mishap with the tickets at Will Call and someone had stolen our friend’s tickets. Of course right? Our friends come back after probably 40-ish minutes, just looking so extremely stressed out. However, we all are hyping each other up saying it’s going to be smooth sailing from here on out. Again, so wrong.

As we pull into a spot, I for one am shocked at how little space there is between cars. No joke, if you opened the car door too wide you would probably slam into the next person’s car. Instantly, I realize we are going to have to become really good acquaintances with our neighbors. Our neighbors to the right were: a couple who just wouldn’t stop fighting (the guy slept on the ground out of the tent the majority of the weekend), and some 30 year olds who brought huge speakers to blast their horrible music. This is my first time ever sleeping in a tent outdoors and I am already rattled.

Once our living quarters are set up, we decide it is time to stomp the grounds. Immediately upon entering, we find a lost purse, that we will later realize is CURSED. Summer picks it up and decides to carry it around, until it is convenient to return it to lost and found. The day seems to breeze by with no complications (suspicious, right?). Suddenly, it is night, aka time to consume some illegal substances. Instantly, and I mean INSTANTLY, things go wrong. By now, you are probably wondering why the hell I keep going to Coachella. It can never be a smooth sailing experience like the Instagram models have. Our friend becomes super sick and sprints away from the group, and shortly after, our other friend loses his phone. Fantastic. Keep in mind, at this point, we are just assuming it is bad luck, and not the purse.

Deciding the day has been way too long, myself and a couple friends (including the one who lost his phone), figure it is best to head back to the campsite and just chill. We even go to the lost and found to see if the phone has miraculously turned up. Of course, it hasn’t. As the rest of the group slowly starts trickling back, we decide at the early hours of 1am, that it is time to go to bed. Oh, you thought we would just sleep that easily? Unfortunately our 30 year old neighbors decided to come back at 3AM and BLAST some horrible music that they probably made themselves on Garage Band. However, eventually our bodies become so accustomed to their noise, it’s almost like a soft breeze lulling us to sleep.

For some reason, my dreamy brain assumed that waking up ON the Coachella campgrounds was going to be majestic like in a movie. Yeah, no. As if being woken up by the sun at 7AM wasn’t bad enough, a MASSIVE moth is ricocheting off the walls of our tent. With it being gross and hot in the desert, my friend and I decide we want to go take a shower. So we make moves over to the “deluxe showers.” Now don’t be fooled, the deluxe part just means a porta potty with a showerhead. As we get closer, we realize there is no way we are going to even make it. The line is huge, meaning there will be no water left by the time it is our turn. So, we decide to walk back. Now, at this time, I have no idea that my friends back at the campsite are experiencing ACTUAL HELL. As we are walking, we see a bunch of police go by on horses, followed by fire department golf carts with their sirens blaring. We start to crack jokes about how it is only day two and people are already making mistakes. We find it even FUNNIER, that the cops are turning on to our “street.” Then, we round the corner. There, we see our whole squad circled around a charred tarp. When I say charred, I mean this tarp was blue and it is now pitch black.

After the cops leave, I find out, that someone tried to make ramen with our mini stove (pictured below and with the title), and it no joke blew up. Me being me, I start cracking up. I wasn’t there for the trauma, so I am having a blast videoing the cops and the mini stove in question. Once the police leave, we all decide it is time to get out of there and go enjoy some music. Our friend’s phone is still missing, we still have the unknown cursed purse, but we are FINALLY READY TO HAVE A GOOD TIME. Nothing bad happens for the rest of the day, probably because everyone is too exhausted to even move.

To make this long story short, at some point in the night on Day Two, my friend decides we need to return this purse because it has been too long. No joke, the second she returns it, suddenly our friend’s phone is at the lost and found. No more disasters happen, and everyone is in a good mood. Day 3 goes so smoothly. I, like every year, grow stronger on the last day. So, I am super upset to leave and return back to real life. That night, I realized that Coachella also did not want me to leave. We packed up the entirety of the campsite, only to have the guards tell us that we were not allowed to start lining up to leave until 2am. At this point, it is probably midnight. So, we all pull out blankets and take naps on the ground. Just like they did when the dinosaurs were around.

Now, I know this story was way more complex and probably made no sense to anyone who wasn’t there. However, I think it is going to fit well in the theme of festival disasters, as I am SURE there will be more in the years to come. If you like these stories though, definitely let me know, as always there is more where these came from!

For those of you who are naive and oblivious….THE PURGE IS COMING. I can’t tell you when, but my senses have been tingling for months now, telling me it is soon. Although, when you turn on the news it kind of feels like we are already in the midst of it. When I used to think about the purge, I always thought about what stores I would rob in order to get my fashion game to a new level. Now, especially today, I am thinking of all the trash men who have somehow climbed their way on to my list. Listen FBI, before you come for me, I am not explicitly stating that I am going to be the one to take them out, okay? I know I am not alone out there. We all have someone who has hurt us in ways not even our friends and family can imagine. Whether it is a guy/girl, a friend, or just a stranger. So sometimes, it is good for your mental health to decide who to get rid of when the purge decides to come.

The reason I am writing this isn’t to solely get you fired up about robbing banks and murder (although that is a plus, right?). This post is about the music that you will need to get you through that crazy 24 hours. While we wait for the purge though, it is also nice to have a playlist that makes you feel like an absolute badass. I originally came up with this idea at the end of 2017, when I was going through a really difficult time in my life. It didn’t even have anything to do with the purge. The playlist was called: Boy Bye. Eventually, I realized that this playlist made me feel so powerful that I didn’t want it to only apply to bad times with men, or when I was feeling down. I wanted it to be for my most badass times, to hype me up when I am already on an adrenaline buzz. So, I changed the name to: The Purge. Super simple, yet so effective. I mean C’MON, you’re never going to be more badass than when you’re slaying boys and robbing Urban Outfitters.

So my advice to you, make a playlist that you would feel amazing listening to when the purge comes around. Whether you’re getting revenge, or robbing Sephora. I want your playlist to make you feel that adrenaline every day of your life. The playlist you can turn to when you need an extra push, when you need to remember you the hell you are, and the playlist to adjust to any mood you may be feeling. Now, unlike the summer playlist, you ARE allowed to have some sad songs. I have a couple in mine, and I don’t even like sad music! However, sometimes in the midst of our badass moments, the songs with an awesome beat and sadder lyrics, are the ones to hype us up more. Especially when the purge happens. Who are you going to be thinking of when that breakup beat hits?

As always, I am going to link my purge playlist down below. Feel free to let me know any songs you have that you think I would feel badass listening to. Also, go ahead and use it as a stepping stone for your own playlist. Steal some ideas or songs from mine and run with it. It’s 2018, the year of our best selves. So, keep that in mind when you’re making your playlist, and I hope to see you thriving when the purge comes (LOL). Also, if anyone thought the OG killer in the first Purge movie was hot, please hit me up I feel so alone in thinking that.

Hey how’s it goin’? I’m Julianna, and if you couldn’t tell already, I am super passionate about music. It’s my world, and I have had some fun and crazy experiences with it. I figured I would give you all a glimpse into my life, and also a little musical insight. I pride myself on making the best playlists and sharing them with my friends, and everyone else on the planet. You’re soon going to find out that I NEVER shut up about concerts and music festivals. You know those memes about people saying, “Wow, that festival changed my life!” Well that’s me. Seriously. With that being said, I hope you love this page as much as I do, and learn something new about the music industry while you are here.

Feel free to contact me with any post ideas you want to see, constructive criticism (but be nice, I’m a Cancer, so I am sensitive), song suggestions, and anything else you think of when you see this blog!

Or, find me at the next festival!

With summer just a few weeks away, it is essential to have a go-to playlist for any situation. Im talking about a playlist so fire that your hands won’t be trembling when a pal hands you the aux cord. While everyone’s music taste is different, the general theme of summer has to be there. If you’re the type of person who loves sad music on every occasion, you need to leave that mentality behind for three months. This playlist needs to get you and whoever is with you HYPED. It’s summer, the happiest time of the year, baby.

Contrary to popular belief, each new summer playlist does not have to be entirely new songs that weren’t used in previous years. In my opinion, I love when I am driving with the windows down and a song from the summer before starts playing. That’s why summer mixes are SO important. Each song will be filled with memories for years to come. This playlist needs to be so fire that not only can you have your best experiences listening to it, but also your worst and most reckless.

I am biased so I am going to go ahead and post a list of songs that are for sure going to be a part of my perfect summer vibe. Feel free to steal some, or please comment below some that you think I would love!!

Summer 2018 Playlist (subject to change in the midst of summer):