Introducing

Juliana at the Ipswich Regent

Debut album Holding Up The Sky successfully captures the eclectic musical output of Stoke By Nayland resident Juliana Meyer.

On stage Juliana's voice is accompanied by her guitar and sometimes the piano, but on record she adds bass, cello, violin, mandolin and the glockenspiel to her repertoire.

Her talent can be traced back to a musical family who spent a lot of time performing together whilst living in South Africa during Juliana's early years.

"I've pretty much been doing music for as long as I've been walking - probably even before," Juliana says. "Music has always run in the family.

"I started off listening to my parents' records. I was very much influenced by what they'd be listening to.

"We used to have family concerts when there was a birthday - we'd write a song for whoever's birthday it was.

"Now, I listen to almost everything. It's probably easier to list the things that I don't listen to rather than what I do listen to.

"I listen to everything from classical through to metal, and a lot of things in between."

Jamming

Juliana's musical development continued when she left South Africa and returned to the country of her birth: "When I moved to England as a teenager my eyes were opened to a whole load of different music.

"I made friends with people who were really into music and we used to have jamming sessions up in attics and backyards - creating stuff on the spot.

"When I set out it was more that I'd written loads of songs and I wanted to get them out - not necessarily out there, just out of me.

"Suddenly I had all these tracks recorded so I thought 'put it out there and see what happens'."

Independent woman

Eager for her music to see the light of day, Juliana released Holding Up The Sky on her own label.

"It's completely all on my own. I'm releasing the album as an independent label, which is a lot of work."

But the work paid off when the legendary 100 Club in London played host to a showcase gig for Juliana, where she performed with a nine piece band.

"It was amazing. It's a place that really wears its history on the walls.

"It's got all these pictures of the most incredible, amazing, inspirational musicians and it was amazing to play on the same stage as all these people.

"We had a full capacity and it was the first time I was performing the whole album. I'd got a nine piece band together to help replicate the sound of the album live, as on the album I play most of the instruments myself."

A successful 2007 was capped off by an invitation to play BBC East's Children In Need gala at the Ipswich Regent - where Juliana performed alongside Nate James, Steve Harley and Ruthie Henshall.

So how does Juliana intend to top this in 2008?

"I'm releasing a new single in May and have recorded a video. I'd never thought of making a video but some directors were at the 100 Club and suggested making one.

"I'll go on a tour to promote the single and hopefully play a lot of festivals. I love going to gigs, especially festivals - they're my therapy for the year.

"I'll also carry on doing part time teaching. It would be nice to play music full time but obviously I need some food on the table every now and then!"