Julie Christmas Issue #30

The Battle Of Mice and Made Out Of Babies singer opens up about her intense stage persona and the difficulties of working with exes

By Ophi Edut and Tali Edut The Astro Twins
Published: December 1st, 2006 | 12:00am

STATS

Julie Christmas was born on December 25, 1975, at approximately 2 a.m. in Brooklyn

DR. JEKYLL AND MS. HYDE
Capricorns can look like the girls next door, but slap on the stage makeup, and you have a wild child, like Capricorns David Bowie and Marilyn Manson. The Moon rules desires and impulses, and Julie’s is in perfection-seeking Virgo. She’s picky and particular, giving her two cents on every word and noticing every flaw. Virgo is ruled by information planet Mercury. She loves facts and trivia, which probably influences her music strongly.

I think one of the most common responses I get when people listen to either band or see the live shows is that people are surprised to hear such big, nasty sounds coming out of a relatively small human thing. The wild-child parallel is correct onstage (and sometimes off) — it is as much a part of my personality as noticing every flaw and giving my two cents on every word. I am comfortable with having some people appreciate what I do and some people think of me as a total bitch. It’s the same thing that makes me able to totally let loose on stage.

REBEL YELL
Julie has the unlikely combo of Uranus, planet of rebellion and shock, and Venus, planet of beauty and femininity, in her first house, which dictates one’s appearance. Both planets are in Scorpio (the sex sign), which gives her a powerful, even extreme edge. This is a person who wants to reinvent beauty or use her sexuality to challenge people’s perceptions.

I spend very little time thinking about what I wear, [but] I always wear black liquid eyeliner. Fashion is as valid a creative expression as any other, [but] I am very sick of seeing the same bullshit all the time. Conventional standards of beauty don’t have to disappear, but let’s make things a little more interesting. I let everyone in the audience see me turn sweaty and purple and veiny, and I scream as loud as I can and it’s not at all pretty.

EXPRESSIVE FREEDOM
Julie has powerful Pluto opposite expansive Jupiter, which can make her stubborn and a bit militant in her views, especially when it comes to balancing relationships and individuality. Her deepest psychological transformations arise when she heals from difficult relationships. Or she may have witnessed an outrageous inequality that profoundly shaped her art.

Oh yes — so stubborn. I spiral into an uncontrollable rage at times, but arguing is a healthy thing when warranted. I’ve had my share of breakups, [but] there isn’t a breakup in my history that has profoundly affected me psychologically. Witnessing or being part of an outrageous inequality shapes all art fundamentally in one way or another. Creative expression in different forms is a tool we all should use to say things that just don’t translate into words.