GIULIETTE PRICE BLENDING THE OLD WITH THE NEW

“JUST AS I AM, I FEEL LIKE I’M ALREADY MAKING RIPPLES”

Interview by Emily Freedman, Images by Jonathan Inglis

I first heard Price perform at the Baxter Theatre in 2024. I found myself in a sonic landscape where the old-school charm of romantic Jazz met the raw affect of Pop, and where vulnerability was harnessed as confessional power. Later that year, at 196 Victoria, I met Price properly for the first time. She was just as compelling in person as on stage: speaking with the same blend of softness and edge that soares through her music. In that conversation we discussed her unique and significant positionality as a queer woman in the jazz scene. Recently, my friend Jonathan Inglis undertook a photoshoot with Price, resulting in stunning visuals. We decided we needed an interview to put text to image to reflect the presence of Giuliette Price.

Tell me about yourself, who you are, what do you do?

“Woah haha this is a surprisingly difficult question! So, if anything I’m a creative. I’d like to say I’m an artist because I think that, yes I sing, but there’s so much more that I draw from in my music that I think qualifies me as an artist before anything.”

“Primarily, I’m a singer/songwriter from Johannesburg. I grew up there and I started studying at Wits in 2019 and 2020 then I moved to UCT. When I started my foundation year at Wits I didn’t know how to read music yet so I went from not knowing how to read, all the way to Grade five music theory.”

“I then went into first year. My singing mentor at the time- who graduated from UCT- told me that she really thought that I belonged in Cape Town. And yeah, that kind of planted the seed in my head and I took the leap and literally moved to Cape Town. I very much came not knowing what the fuck I was doing and it kind of all worked out, which was really cool!”

Tell me a bit more about your pathway to music. What made you- at the end of High School- want to read and learn music?

“I had been singing throughout my whole life but I was kind of discouraged by a few people in my world about pursuing music when I was eighteen. I didn’t know exactly what to go into so I took a gap year. I worked two service industry jobs, I made some money, and it was in that gap year that I asked: ‘What is the value that I can bring to the world?’. And there was no other answer. I felt like this talent and gift that I have is very connected to the purpose that my life could have.”

“I think my mom had a really big role to play in that. She’s a worship leader at the local church in our little area back in Joburg. She had been in music since she was twelve. I had been surrounded by music throughout my life because of her. She was jumping, dancing, and singing on stage for nine months with me in her stomach. I don’t know how my mother did that, in heels, doing the most!”

Were you raised in a Church-oriented home?

“Yes. My sister and I were very involved. We started going with my mom to choir practice and just listening in on whatever she was doing. And then, as we got older, we started going to youth and there were major productions that you’d get involved in.”

“That was all lots of fun. Both my sister and I went to music lessons at church. I learnt how to play the guitar with one of the worship leaders. I think I must’ve been like thirteen when my mom and dad bought me my first pink nylon stringed guitar.”

“But yeah, being so close to my mom made me realise that, this beautiful gift that she uses, is very within my blood. It was literally just a matter of stepping into that and deciding like…okay we’re going to do this.”

“And like I said before, I’d like to think of myself as an artist because, yes, I sing and that’s a cool thing, but I also paint, I also draw, I do collage, and I could’ve gone into graphic design.”

Do you draw from other sources of creativity in your sound?

“Definitely. I think, specifically with music, it’s so fluid you know? It can turn into anything. If I had to be playing in a key of E-major…that could be anything. That could be red, it could be green, it could be purple. And using the lens of visual art and the understanding of the fluidity of music, and just kind of having an open mind about your sound, already helps any sort of inspiration come into that expression.”

“Also, sometimes when I create something on paper, I’ll be really inspired by what I’m seeing and I’ll think about what this would look like in a song. I really like collaging. Collaging is a big influence on what I’m doing sonically.”

“In that vein, I don’t really start at any specific point. Most of the time, I’ll do a little collage thing, not for the purpose of trying to make a song afterwards but just to make something because I’m inspired to make something.”

“The imagery might be something like lightning on dry terrain or whatever is inspired by the energy or mood I'm feeling. And then I think it’s very easy for me , in my own interpretation, to copy and paste that into a song. And it’s not always going to be very obvious to other people but to me that translation is very clear.”

When I last heard you perform, you incorporated poetry and Shakespeare into your sound- tell me more about that

“That’s what I’ve been playing around with recently. I wanted to run with this whole romantic thing. I bought Paradise Lost by Milton and thought it was so beautifully written. I’ve kind of sat with this book and its language for a little while.”

“That kind of romantic energy is something that I want to see in the world. I think that the music that is being made today, in the pop world, is very much like the ‘I don’t need you’ stuff, and I love that, I really do believe in that kind of message of figuring things out for yourself.”

“But, because I’ve studied Jazz, I also know the power in lyrics of yearning, it’s very romantic. If I lose you what should I do? Where is my life? What is my meaning? I wanted a bit more yearning. I also thought it’d be appropriate since my name is Giuliette. I’m just leaning into this lovergirl thing.”

Tell me more about the exploration of love in the Jazz genre

“In the Jazz world the narrative back then- referring to many of the standards-  was very much like, ‘I love you but I don’t want to lose you and I’ll do anything for you’. And I really like that. I like not being scared to speak about someone in that way.”

“So I think that might be something people would want to connect with. And it’s fun, making little poems and little stories. It’s romantic. Jazz is about liberation, it’s about freedom, and it’s about a revolution. I don’t take that lightly and I love that I’m a part of that, but I think I’m making it my own. I’m using what I’ve learnt to tell my own story-engaging the realm of the personal.”

Does your music have a message that you want to communicate?

“For the longest time making music has been the way that I process things. Love, lust, and heartbreak at the moment.”

“I'm working on a new project and I’ve had to kind of operate with a different mindset, I’m pushing myself. I’m in the process of realising my message in a bigger scope. I think that maybe in my last project, where I had to establish myself, I felt the need to get approval from people at the college. Now I’m figuring out how to do it for myself.”

“For the longest time I felt that I wasn’t really contributing to the genre as a white girl from Joburg, but I also think that my perspective as a Queer person, and as a femmebody is a valuable perspective.”

“Message wise: let’s not be afraid to love. Let’s not be afraid to fall. Let’s not be afraid to figure shit out and to tell someone how they make us feel. And I think the whole point for me is to express myself and maybe I’ll put down for someone else how they’re really feeling.”

What has your proudest moment in your career been, so far?

“The Baxter performance that I did in July last year. It was really cool. I did my final recital and that was a huge success and the day after, I went into a meeting with Quiet Life and they offered me this distribution/recording deal for my EP.”

“Working on a new EP with some of the industry’s best producers is something that I’m really proud of and I think that the timeline of it was very special. It was almost like I graduated from college and now I’m graduating into an artist. I went from being an independent artist to being a signed artist.”

“I’d also say getting into the National Youth Jazz Band was also something very special for me, to be able to work with Afrika Mkhize and to be conducted by him last year. That was very special because it had also been something I had been working towards for the last two years.”

“And moving. Moving down to Cape Town.”

So your mentor at Wits was right when she told you to move?

“Yes!”

I wanted to dig a bit more into genre. Why Jazz? What made you go down the route of studying and pursuing Jazz specifically?

“I’ve always been in love with Jazz. When I learned it was possible to study Jazz, I knew that was where I wanted to be. It was people like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, and Carmen McRae who really inspired me because of their technical ability.”

“Those were elements that I wanted to draw on for my own sound. So I’d say it’s very much about a resonance between my sound and the sound of Jazz. With studying, it’s about learning the history, specifically South African history surrounding Jazz. It gives an artist important context- I know that my music is connected to something bigger than me.”

How would you describe the sound of your music?

“I’d say it’s very singer/songwriter sprinkled with some Jazz. I like how it’s packaged in this modern way but then you hear the chord progression or the melody and you feel like it’s giving ‘old school’. It’s following tradition and I like that, I do. I think it brings a sophistication to Pop music, it brings a soulfulness to Pop music, it brings a different edge, and I think the sound is so distinct and makes my ear gravitate towards it.”

So would you say that you blend Jazz with Pop?

“Yes. It’s difficult to figure out what category to put that into. If I were to call the music Jazz, I think I would piss off a few people. Because I mean yes it’s Jazz-inspired, but I don’t think it’s solely and purely Jazz.”

I would classify Jazz as swing, improvisation, blues, and syncopation. My music is not necessarily swing, but it is very Bluesy, and very improvised, and my melodies are very syncopated.  I also do a lot of solos which feel very jazz-oriented.”

Tell me a little bit about your personal style and your performance image

“Hmm my personal style…of course with the eyeliner, the shaved head, and the corsets. I have a best friend in Joburg who sources a lot of clothes and has her own apartment with her own thrifting page and she’s also a designer. So we had been working on a few things together. I pleaded for her to style me! She came up with this really cool idea of using the stockings as gloves almost. What I try to go for is a modern neon take on the corset- sophisticated but in a rebellious way.”

“I like that there’s this juxtaposition between a romantic kind of male gaze looking outfit with a very ‘fuck you’ kind of energy with my shaved head. A very modern take on something that’s already been done before.”

“I think it’s literally just stuck now. She styled me for a few of my gigs and now if you’re going to come to a Giuliette Price show, you’re going to get a corset or you’re going to get a little button up with a little collar. A lot of sophistication and also rebellion.”

How do you think about your presence as a Queer person and a woman in the scene?

“So I think, as a woman, I’m not happy with the industry. I’m quite angry at the industry. I’ve noticed a lot of problems with musicians and the way that they treat women, the way that they undermine women, and the way that they take from women, sexually.”

“I’ve seen it in many ways and I’ve experienced it for myself. I’ve seen it in many situations, in the college as well. And I’m upset about that and I think that my perspective just on that alone is super valuable. The fact that I don’t take shit is already creating ripples. It’s already shaking people and it’s already pissing people off. I think that’s necessary work. Standing up for women is a big part of who I am and standing up for myself is an even bigger part of who I am.”

“As a Queer person, I feel like everyday I’m facing these norms and biting back when someone says something ignorant and I’m calling people out when I feel like being taken advantage of.”

“I’m not afraid to make a noise about it and in my day to day life I challenge these things that I’m not happy about. I think as a Queer person, I want to support my community, I want to uplift my community, and I want to shed light on situations and things that straight people are not exposed to.”

“Just as I am, I feel like I’m already making ripples, it’s shaking people, and it’s pissing people off. But like sorry, I have something to say and I’m going to tell you that you’re an ignorant motherfucker if you piss me off.”

“And if you say something that is misogynistic, racist, or homophobic - I will challenge you and if you undermine me, that’s because you’re insecure. So yes, I think coming from Jazz Fest, I was very upset about how people interacted with me in the space and how men- who I know have taken advantage of people in the industry, sexually- are up on those stages and how they continue to mistreat their wives, how they continue to spread diseases, and say problematic shit as well. And coming from that Friday night, I was so upset and I spoke to people about it. I’m not happy with how it is and I think that my presence challenges everything that I’m not happy with.”

In genre, sound, personal influences, style and message, Price draws on tradition and the aesthetics of the old. She takes these themes and merges them with fresh, progressive values and techniques, ultimately reinventing her sources into an offering that is exciting, nostalgic, emotionally resonant and subversive. Price is not just blending genres—she’s building a language that reflects her whole being. 

Look out for her next project in collaboration with Quiet Life and her performance at the Two Oceans Aquarium on the 27th of August 2025.