Juliet Piper

Photographs, hair & makeup magic by the beautiful Greta Fuentes

Paradise from Juliet Piper on Vimeo.

20 minute imperfect project. song was recorded on one track. footage shot continuously. nothing is edited. very healing to make something like this without pressure. perhaps i will create more :]

This has been a winter of great surprises, some of the wonderful kind, some of the terrifying kind. Some which had me in hospital beds and on operating room tables, and some which had me in the company of beautiful souls I will never forget. Some moments taught me patience and others taught me selfless, unconditional love. And all the healing that takes place after surrendering and letting go.
I am still healing.

More than anything, I spent most of this winter in my car. Not living, but driving everywhere. All the time. The canyons became my best friend. The keeper of my secrets and the audience for all the songs I wrote aloud winding through the roads past the perfect little houses. It smells like orange blossoms and jasmine everywhere right about now, and this alone makes me happy and grateful to be alive.

I survived the wildest winter of my life, and I now realize my own strength and inner power. This is a time of great spiritual growth. It hurts a lot at times, and I often wonder if everyone is feeling this way.

Hours away from the first moments of spring, I feel like this is a good moment to share my dreams and intentions aloud. I hope this season is all about family, friendships, and creating magical, etherial songs. My hands reach for a guitar every second of the day now; my fingertips are paying the price. It is the only pain I have approved of this year. I want to be on stage again. Hopefully April and May will find me in the recording studio, barefoot in summer dresses, twirling around. The storm is clearing and I am beginning to remember who I am and why I make music in the first place. And the reason is simple:
it is the only thing that sets me free.        

Thank you for being in my corner this winter. I am always in yours.

This is the happiest, saddest, most wonderful, terrible, overwhelming time I’ve ever known. I haven’t had much time for music, which breaks my heart, but every spare moment I can find is spent scribbling lyrics and humming melodies and letting my hands play any instrument within reach. I dream of summer when I can dance and run into the ocean perfectly free without any physical ailments.. strong & healed.. and I can smile and shine upon a stage at night with roses in my hair and lavender on my skin. I can’t wait to feel like myself again. January came with a storm. I had to be a warrior. Brave in ways I never could have imagined. I drew arrows on my skin to remind me to be strong. As much as I want to collapse at the end of every single day, I know this is not forever. I know that this is all going to change and be okay. Despite all the pain, the images around me are so beautiful I cannot even comprehend them. My mind is filled to the brim with 30-second moving pictures I could curl up in forever. I think we forget that our ultimate dreams don’t show up with rainbows and confetti. Our problems don’t dissolve. Life still carries on. But that’s no reason to stop believing in magic. Because magic exists even in the hardest of times. It’s not perfect, and it’s not easy, but it’s real. And somehow I can appreciate the beauty even more now. My body may be weak, and my mind may be on fire, but my heart is strong. Because in all this chaos, there is love.

Photo by Amanda Adam

In Los Angeles, we don’t do winter. We do dresses and rooftops and surfing til the sun goes down. Winter isn’t a season. It’s a formality. We put lights on our houses, but it’s just for show. If you put snow in my hands, I probably wouldn’t recognize it. I’m a summer baby,

and I belong no where else.

This autumn I had the incredible honor of being a part of my favorite clothing line’s videos! The Free People Building 25 Blog (which I frequent regularly) is a really sweet blog with clothing and craft ideas, makeup tutorials, recipes, music recommendations, etc. It’s a very happy, inspiring corner of the internet, and I am thrilled to be a part of it. Thank you so much to Brigette at Free People for making this happen and to my beautiful friend Sydney for submitting my songs. I am infinitely grateful!

Watch here, here, & here.

Wednesday, November 21st
@ Hotel Cafe (21+)
Opening for Josh Kelley!
7PM, $10

Saturday, December 15th
@ Hotel Cafe (21+)
HoHotel Holiday Benefit Show
Full line-up at hotelcafe.com
7PM, $10

Friday, December 21st
@ Guitar Merchant (ALL AGES)
with Rose Finkelstein, Alex Trugman
& Youtube star JOULETHIEF
Live Music & Hilarious Video Screening!
7PM, $10

I’m excited to wrap up the year on such a high note!
Hope to see you at one or all of these events.
xo

it’s 3:11am and i am so exhausted. my eyes are heavy and my ears are ringing. but i’m writing this because i don’t want to forget. if there’s one solid reason why i write anything whether it be a song or a poem or an explosion of sleepy eyed words it’s because i don’t want to forget a thing. tonight was extraordinary. charlie, wes, and i drove down to hollywood to play at hotel cafe, which has now become my favorite thing to do. i am beginning to feel more and more at home there; it thrills and amazes me considering all the phenomenal people who have played there before. it’s strange sitting on a bench backstage knowing that adele’s butt might have been there, you know? god, i’m tired. anyways, i wore this beautiful long, blue with gold trim gypsy dress that johanna sent me. i always feel like a goddess when i wear it which makes me wish i could wear it everyday. it might be a little impractical to go grocery shopping in a goddess gown, but nothing i do is practical. so maybe i will wear it more. in addition to my favorite dress were the white, fluffy angel wings growing from my back. i’d like to start wearing those everywhere too. i need more magic if that’s even possible. the room was filled with amazing people who truly listened to every lyric of every song. it is always such an honor and a joy to silence a room during songs and then have them become deliciously loud after each one. it makes me so happy inside. my eyelids are getting heavy. wait wait wait stay awake finish writing. the boys wore bear ears on stage with me and did a wonderful job! when i switched over to the piano i felt completely at home. i forgot i was on stage. it was like being in my living room. i need to play more piano songs. remember that. dancing around at the end of the set with the baby ukulele was excellent. the audience sang so loud. perfect creatures. and then it ended. i hate when my time’s up. it’s like having to leave disneyland when you still want to go on 10 more rides, but tonight, it all just got better. sophie barker and her whole band were so sweet and friendly. i used to listen to her song “in the waiting line” on the garden state soundtrack  on repeat through a walkman when i was thirteen. it was so wild meeting her and talking backstage and hugging this woman whose music got me through the most confusing years of my life. i never told her any of this, but the hug said it all i hope. after sophie’s set, charlie, wes, and i decided to walk down hollywood blvd. just because, and every. single. person. was. wearing. a. costume. and not just a little party city costume or a funny hat, but full-blown amazing head-to-toe costumes. i felt like i was on a movie set with my tattered wings walking down the boulevard on sidewalk stars. i told charlie that i love seeing hundreds of faces i’ve never seen before and really looking at them and he said he found that rather interesting. the lights at highland were bright as ever. when we finally got back to the venue, harper blynn was performing. all four boys did wizard of oz costumes to the extreme. even dorothy. it was brilliant. and hysterical. they did a cover set of the greatest songs and we ended up staying until almost 1am. it wasn’t long before i climbed onto a table to get the best view and have the most room to dance. i hate feeling squished squashed apple sauced. i gotta move. this is the only photograph i have from the whole night. and though you can’t see the room or the stage or my face or my friends, you just have to trust me that the venue was packed and the music was loud and everyone looked like they were having the greatest time of there entire lives. a boy dressed up as a lion was singing thriller and the tin man was playing drums. and i was the angel with wings floating high above the rest of the room, dancing like i had never been freer in my entire life. because the truth is, i haven’t.

I can’t get enough of the work these individuals produce.

1. OLIVIA BEE – Olivia is an extraordinary Portland-based photographer who captures teenage life flawlessly. This short film she made for Hermes blew me away. It’s so magical and youthful and free, all the feelings I love more than anything else. Watch it here.

www.oliviabee.com

2. ED SHEERAN – If you don’t know his name, you need to come out of that rock you’ve been hiding under and look him up. Listen to “The A Team” and “Give Me Love” — It gives me chills.

Ed Sheeran being sneaky. Hidin in some leaves.

3. LANA DEL REY – Her song “National Anthem” is on repeat right now. The music video was shot so brilliantly. And I just can’t stop looking at her face.

“National Anthem” by Lana Del Rey

4. LISSY ELLE – Yet another phenomenal, whimsical photographer with the expansive and colorful imagination of a child. Her 365 projects rock.

www.lissyelle.com

5. NIRRIMI – Australian photographer who documents her gypsy life like a fairy tale storybook. She also writes in such a way that makes a trip to the grocery store sound poetic. I lav it.

www.theroadishome.com

I feel so much less alone in this world when I stumble upon creative people with strong visions. These young artists are exquisite. They constantly create. And like everyone with the insatiable desire to make things, we all keep on keeping on.

xo