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Jules Liesl is here to remind females all around the world that whatever they want in life, they can achieve. Hailing from Florida but having lived in Los Angeles for over a decade now, moving across the country at the young age of 19, Jules got her start as a professional model before discovering her newfound love and passion for music.

Now, she shifts her focus to perfecting her craft, even recently shutting down her second show in Los Angeles at Social House in West Hollywood. Inspired directly by Britney Spears, Jules creates her own version of early 2000’s pop, deeming herself as a “pop princess” and her sound “very majestic and magical.”

With songs like “If I Were A Genie” and “Toxic Boy,” Jules creates from a heartfelt space. With her own struggles with mental health, which include a severe eating disorder at 16 years old, Jules quickly had to take hold of her health and wellness, with music being her safe space and escape.

Sheen Magazine spoke with Jules Liesl at her residence in Los Angeles to discuss her roots, transitioning from modeling to music, the story behind “Toxic Boy,” overcoming her eating disorder, studio essentials, and more!

First question for those that don’t know who is Jules Liesl?

Well, it’s my alter ego. Because my real name is Jilian, but I go by Jules.

 How did that come about?

When I started Instagram, which was however long ago, I had my name as Jillian Liesl. Because my middle name is Liesl. I said “I’m going to change it to something,” because I started getting noticed more and a bigger following. I wanted to protect my family a little bit. I guess I was paranoid at that time. It was weird to have a big following, it was crazy. I was paranoid, so I changed my name. [laughs]

How did you start building your social media following?

I started modeling for bikini companies and got noticed on Instagram. Started building, and more companies started noticing me. It was mostly bikinis and lingerie, and then I got picked up by Maxum and bigger brands. That was fun. That’s how I really built it.

Were you doing music the whole time?

No, I didn’t do music until about 5 years ago. That’s new.

What sparked it?

My friend heard me sing and he said “Wait, what? This is crazy. We have to do something.” My mom showed him a video of me singing. He’s like “wait, I didn’t know you could sing?” [laughs]

Have you been secretly singing your whole life?

Not secretly, but I gave it up at 16 and said “I’m never going to do anything with this.” I just started back up and someone believed in me, so now I have to do this. It’s fun.

How does it feel to be doing music?

I love it. It’s so much fun, like finally. Literally finally.

I saw that Brittney Spears is a big influence of yours?

Yeah, I love her. She’s amazing. Literally, I used to pretend my Barbies were Britney and Justin and they were singing on stage. [laughs]

What brought you to Los Angeles?

I came out here just to live in California. I first moved to Orange County, then I thought “okay, it’s time to get to LA.” I moved to LA when I started modeling more. It was getting more frequent and it was too hard to drive back and forth an hour and a half every day. I moved and it was the best decision I’ve ever made. I love LA.

What part of Florida are you from?

Palm Beach Gardens. It’s a little beach town. It’s cute.

Do you miss it?

I miss the weather honestly. I love the rain and I like humidity. I don’t like the dry heat like we have here.

I know “Toxic Boy” was a big record for you right?

Yeah, that’s my first song I ever recorded. We wrote it in 15 minutes, it was crazy. I went to the bathroom and my co-writer and my producer were in the room, getting the track together. Building it a little bit. I went to the bathroom and came back, they said “we have the whole song done. We just need some lyrics.” It was done already in literally 10 minutes. [laughs] It was crazy. It happened really fast, so it was meant to be.

Did a certain boy inspire the song?

Yeah actually, someone close to here. My neighbor and I were dating, he lives in that building. [points out the window] We met and I said “where do you live?” He said “I live in Hollywood now,” I said “I live in Hollywood.” He said where he lived, I said “wait, what’s your view?” He sent me a picture and I said “that’s my apartment! What the fuck?” He said “come to your window,” I went to the window and we waved. We started talking, but he’s definitely the toxic boy. The lyrics are “let me tell you about this boy on my street, thinking he can disrespect me.” It’s perfect. [laughs]

Does he know it’s about him?

Yeah I sent it to him. I told him to send it to his girlfriend too.

Did you have guidance when you started recording professionally, versus singing for fun?

I had a whole team that was helping me, writing and producing. We did a whole writing camp where we did 20 songs throughout 2 months or something crazy. We did song after song after song, that’s really how I learned how to do it all. Now we’re just dropping singles until we’re going to do an EP soon.

You’re doing everything independent I’m guessing? How’s that been?

It’s been great. I don’t trust anyone yet, so… [laughs]

I love your song “If I Were a Genie,” was it inspired by Disney?

I’m obsessed with Disney, so it’s inspired by it. It’s about Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, so it’s definitely Disney-inspired.

What do you want fans to get from this record?

Definitely to be positive and independent. You don’t need anybody. You don’t need a man. And if they are gonna come, they better rub on your fucking lamp and give you 3 wishes. [laughs]

 3 things you need in the studio at all times?

Crystals, weed, and some funky lights. The fourth thing would be good takeout, like Chinese food or Del Taco. Something fatty and gross, that’s the best.

I’m big on mental health, talk about how far you’ve come. How were you able to overcome the eating disorder?

I’m still dealing with it, but not to a crazy extent. It’s always in the back of my head of how do I look? What fits me? But I never weigh myself, I make sure to never do that so it doesn’t get in my head too much. I like to eat. I thought why do I want to be skinny, when I can eat good food? I don’t care, a man is going to love me the way I am no matter what size I am. I’m going to love myself no matter what size I am, so why am I trying to be skinny as fuck? I don’t give a fuck about that, I just want to eat. I just overcame that. Now, I’m pretty good I guess.

Just with the modeling, that must’ve been a lot of pressure?

Oh, it was so hard with the modeling. Constantly being told to be skinnier or you need to lose weight, whatever it is. Being compared to people all the time. Now, I’m compared to no one. I’m just compared to myself, so that’s good.

Are you focused on music now?

Yeah, full music. I don’t model at all anymore

How does that feel?

Great, I hated modeling. It was awful. All the body stuff was really hard. People in the industry are gross, men are just gross. It was time to move on. I felt like all of my energy was going into the wrong places and in the wrong people. It just was not for me anymore. I thought this is not what I want to do. Music is what I’ve always wanted to do, always always always.

How does it feel to have your own show tonight at Social House?

It’s crazy! I’m scared. I’m so excited, but I’m scared as shit. Literally, but it’ll be so much fun. I just get nervous. I have really bad abandonment issues so I’m afraid everyone’s going to leave and not show up. That no one’s going to even come. I really hope people show up.

Publicist: She had the same fears for her show at the Viper Room, and she packed the place.

Yeah, we sold out. And packed it. I had 40 tickets, there were probably 70 people there. It was really good, I’m just paranoid.

Do you have a big LA fanbase?

My fanbase is in different countries. We’re working on getting my fanbase in the US, but my fanbase is in Indonesia, Germany, and Pakistan. All over the world, everywhere. But not as much in America. A lot of people come to the shows o show support in LA, so that’s really good. But we’re building a fanbase for sure.

Do you have any beauty go to’s?

Coconut oil. Definitely lash serum. Grandelash, they’re so good. You can buy it on Sephora, or Amazon. They have a brow serum too I have, that’s really good. I love a good serum.

Any goals for yourself at this point in your career?

I really want to play at the VMA’s. That’s my goal.

How important are visuals to you?

Super important. I have all my ideas for all my music videos planned out. For my sets and everything, everything’s planned out way ahead of time. I’m so excited, and I’m really creative.

One thing fans may not know about you?

I’m really shy, but no one would ever think that. I actually hate people. I hate talking to people, I get really nervous. I get nervous around people. I get really bad anxiety and I don’t think people would know that. Because I come off as really bubbly and easy-going. I guess that’s how I am, but I’m also like “oh my god, all these people are looking at me! What’s the fuck?” It’s scary.

Anything else you want the people to know?

New music is coming out soon, so stay tuned.