Check Out Julianna Sma’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julianna Sma.

Hi Julianna, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up on the south side of Atlanta. My household had a family member where I faced certain kinds of abuse. I grew up with very low self-esteem and health issues. I always loved music though. I would write songs as early as 15 about how people were walking contradictions. I would play at funerals, play for my church. But it felt very out-of-body for me as a kid to sing for these adults and be so emotionally available for them through music, when no one had been available for me. So as a songwriter, I was very melancholy – and really was trained to believe I was so ugly and disgusting that I was pretty much worthless.

I ended up teaching myself piano. The skill of it, both playing and singing at the same time, was such a boost of confidence for me. I felt safe in the black and white keys.

At 17 I also started playing guitar, and had my first Atlanta gig at CenterStage Atlanta. I forgot how I got the booking but I befriended the booking agent there. There were periods of being offered contracts and gigs. Some ended in just another typical story of an older man trying to take advantage of a younger woman’s talent. I was naive and was trying to navigate this “big” and “new” scene of Atlanta. and because of the abuse I faced in childhood, sometimes I found myself in bad company.

In the mix of those pitfalls, some very cool things happened. I learned how to produce music and audio engineer. Through college I also worked as a go-go dancer dancing for a company that allowed me to meet and perform with Dubstep and Trance DJ’s who were rising in the 2014-2o16 era. That was a really wild time. I ended up singing for some local Dj’s at music festivals in the Atlanta area. I had many “close” moments where I could have landed a collaboration with big, national headliners from these fests, but at this time, I was struggling with sobriety and basic stability. I was still in a chaotic inner-state.

Again, I found myself in some dark situations. At the old “Iris” Club in 2014, the company I worked for and now known as “Believe Music Hall” downtown – I was sexually assaulted by a man in a music group booked as talent for that weekend. It happened back-stage, in public. None of the other dancers said anything when I told them. The female head of the group explicitly told me to not say a word. I remember freezing. But then my Anger was determined to advocate for myself, and I ended up finding the Owner, who did end up throwing the entertainment group out. It still stuck with me for a long time. And I never pressed charged. Because I didn’t even know that was a thing. I must have been 18.

Once graduating college, I slowly merged into the Acoustic Music scene of Atlanta. It was safer, less chaotic. I found myself playing in all black-establishments where R&B reigned. I had to learn how to fit in, in a space that was unfamiliar to me, yet resonated with my soul. So I learned to fall in love with R&B, Alt-Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul, and play 7 & 9 chords. I learned Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, India Arie, countless others. As a mixed woman (Nicaraguan, Italian, White), it was always hard for me to find my “group”. But I learned to make music my home. That was my entry way to feeling at peace with myself. I put in the work – I could hit the notes and play the songs and it earned me really beautiful bookings around Atlanta for a while.

I fell out of love with music for a while after COVID hit. I ended up moving to Spain for a year. I had to show myself life was bigger than what I knew. And there’s more to life than just music.

There’s also more to me than just music. Im a spiritual person. I love to cook, I love to make people laugh and secretly want to do stand-up. I want to become an advocate for women.

For now, at age 29, Im back in atlanta performing again. Im currently playing a couple gigs, one being in Sandy Springs at Moustache Lounge on Sundays where I can play this old, rusty grand piano – and it’s actually fulfilling. Nobody knows me there. I sit behind this piano and I just play what the people want to hear. Its dope. Out of both respect and love for the culture, I try to rehearse to the best of my ability – because the people of Atlanta – they KNOW the lyrics to songs. So you gotta be prepared for the people.

Im grateful where Im at – sometimes I still have this melancholy side to me, and I dont know if that will ever go away. but my producer name is “shebloom” right, so I think of it like, im for sure a flower coming up through the concrete.

I think the Universe still has some secrets up its sleeve for me. Im not done yet. I stay humble with my hands open. With life now, no hay prisa – in Spanish, that means there is no rush.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a sound designer for women – I’ve produced through my following on Tiktok mostly – but also in the Atlanta area. I like to produce earthy, poppy, soulful stuff.

Im most proud of learning how to audio engineer and produce because its a technical skillset that took alot of time and practice.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
The music of course is the best thing about Atl. The worst? The dating scene.

Pricing:

• 5o$/hr In-Your-Home Recording Services: Women Only
• Live Bookings: 400$ for 3 Hours

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shebloom.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shebloom
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@fembience