SixtyFour Music has recently restructured its New York team, welcoming Julianne Wilson as one of its new senior music supervisors.
With a decade of music supervision, on set, and post production experience, Julianne has provided music and sound solutions for hundreds of clients including Planned Parenthood, Google, Pinterest, Nike, TikTok, The Red Cross, The Democratic Committee, Lincoln, Coach, and a number of independent filmmakers. Over the course of her career, she's had the pleasure of working with acclaimed artists including US Girls, Wye Oak, Emile Mosseri, The Album Leaf, Dan Romer, Photay, Madison McFerrin, Tank and the Bangas, Rapsody, Sylvan Esso, and Gabriel Garzón Montano.
Julianne holds dual degrees in Film and Media studies / Writing Seminars from The Johns Hopkins University, and a masters degree in Global Entertainment and Music Business from Berklee Valencia in Spain. During her time in Valencia, Julianne served as label manager for Berklee College of Music's label, Disrupción Records, as her thesis project.
SixtyFour Music sat down with Julianne to ask her a few questions about her new role, past work, and relationship with music.
Julianne> Tough to choose, but here are some albums that were wonderful soundtracks for different moments of my life:
Vampire Weekend - Contra
Portishead - Dummy
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Joni Mitchell - Blue
Julianne> I studied film and creative writing in college, but music was always at the centre of my story. I grew up an hour outside of New York and took every opportunity I could to take the train into the city to see all of my favourite bands play. When I got to college I thought I wanted to be a film editor, but it wasn't long before I realised that the best part of it for me was to find the songs that'd help tell the story. The initial draw for me was simply that sync is the marriage of my major interests.
After working in the industry for the last decade and studying in a music business masters program last year, I’ve become acutely aware of how difficult it is for artists to make a living through music. It’s a subjective, winner-take-all industry that’s struggling to keep up with evolving models of consumption. This is one of the primary reasons that there’s so much buzz around sync - it's one of the few avenues at this point where musicians can earn a substantial pay check. Beyond the magic of finding the perfect song for picture, it's important to me to play an active role in creating an environment where artists can thrive and create.
Julianne> The collaborative nature of SixtyFour! I love being a part of an international team with diverse backgrounds and skill sets. SixtyFour and our sister company Wave Studios have worked together on the music and sound for incredible films including The Favourite, Nope, and The Lobster. Additionally, I feel very aligned with the values that SixtyFour is built upon. We approach our relationships with our creative partners with integrity and transparency, and strive to connect each project that comes through our doors with artists whose life experiences authentically connect with the stories we’re telling.
Julianne> I love comedy, lyric writing, and A&R, and projects with a purpose. A dream project would be to partner with a curated group of artists on a musical comedy current events bulletin. Musicians would pick a cause of their choice, write a song about it, and consumers would need to donate in order to access the content. Ideally this would be backed by a brand or organization with a strong moral compass and sense of humour.
Julianne> Contributing to the Democratic National Committee's 2020 campaign through music. The musical direction for both pieces I worked on were quite different, but both were meaningful for me. For a more traditional ad, I placed a found a track that’s near and dear to my heart - Regina Spektor's 'Us.' For a longform piece directed by Savannah Leaf and narrated by Nikki Giovanni, I licensed Flying Lotus's 'Siren Song.' Obviously, it was an important election, and it meant a lot to harness the power of great music for a meaningful cause.
Julianne> I'm part of an artist project called Sharon is Karen, and you can find us on all DSPs. I've been writing songs for years, but felt inspired and compelled to start recording them while getting my masters at Berklee's campus in Valencia, Spain last year. I loved being part of that creative and supportive atmosphere, and was lucky enough to collaborate with a number of incredibly talented artists on our first single, Guy From The Internet.