Meet the artists of Lightning in a Bottle 2017: Julia Govor
Lightning in a Bottle has become a veritable institution over the past several years. Held annually in the expanse of Bradley, CA, the annual gathering has gained a reputation as California’s premier Memorial Day Weekend festival. The eclectic billing of the Lightning stage, formidable bass of Thunder, and exceptional house and techno selection of Woogie combine to make LiB a haven for tasteful electronic music fans of all creeds. This year, Bassnectar, Richie Hawtin, and Bonobo are among the many acts which will draw a broad crowd into the festival. To take a closer look, we’ve tapped some of our favorite acts on the roster for an interview series leading up to the weekend.
Without exception, every artist that has gained worldwide acclaim has a unique and interesting story to tell. However, Russian producer and DJ Julia Govor has had a longer and more colorful journey than most. She got her start in a small military town in Abkhazia, DJing with cassettes at the town’s nightclub and acting as the lead singer for a local band before moving to Russia to study film and TV production.
Govor worked for some time as an on-air personality for Miller TV and MTV before returning to the DJ world and quickly finding worldwide success. Alongside her regular sets at the Moscow underground club Arma17, she made appearances at such prestigious festivals as Movement in Detroit and ADE in Amsterdam.
She soon began producing her own original music that, accordingly, found its way to some of the biggest labels in the underground and above. The producer’s eclectic sound – both in her originals and in her track selection – reflects a mature emotional landscape found in only the uppermost echelons of the techno world. Julia Govor takes great pride in helping the listener discover more of their own emotional landscape, which is exactly what she will be doing on Sunday at the Woogie stage from 4:30 to 6:30pm.
Tickets for Lightning in a Bottle are still available here. Enter for a chance to win two 4-day festival passes below the interview.
What was your first label release? Would you still play it in a show?
Visionquest “Alice”. It was a collaboration, we recorded in 2010 and it took me 2 years to find a label. The first few years I played it often. But to be honest, I like to play my unreleased music more than my released. I can hear what’s missing or what is worth to take out, I can hear what’s happening with my tracks in the clubs in terms of arrangement and mixing clearer. Also I really enjoy playing my friend’s unreleased music, because I like to give them feedback. Feedback is very important for musicians. It’s another way to show that you actually care. Especially when you can vent it deep, with on point comments. There are no words to express my feeling when I hear another producer or DJ playing my music loud. There are no words to express my feeling when I see that my friend’s music has a deep connection with the audience during my sets.
What has been the biggest breakthrough of your career?
There is no “breakthrough” because I don’t make goals and plan, I don’t believe that it has any connection with creativity and art. I make music with a reason. Every single song I work on is another way on how can I find myself, the way I can express my feelings through sound in the present. Every signed release is another way to find someone in this world who would feel the same.
What are you looking forward to most about Lightning in a Bottle?
I heard there are the most beautiful sunsets in America!
Is there anything that you think festivals and the music industry in general should be doing to help the environment on a larger scale?
Music festivals are already helping the environment on a larger scale, thousands of people come to celebrate their life where they try to find peace and happiness, open their minds, because we’re constantly facing problems, our world today is crazy! Music festivals and events are kinda the last things where people go and communicate with each others, talk, dance, enjoy the moment. The era of social media is separating people, making them comfortable to be alone and in the end we are depressed and lonely. Of course we need to look deeper into some problems and find many aspects why and how bad are outdoor festivals for nature, we would but there are a bunch of other bigger problems we are facing these days: people are always looking for problems, for the negative, but nobody is actually trying to find a solution on how to fix it. Everybody just complains. But what if we just tried to care about what we have and enjoyed it?
If you could be another artist for a day, who would you pick?
I like how you jump from one serious topic to another ;) Okay: I would like to have hands like Jeff Mills, ears like Kamran Sadeghi, nose like Daphny Oram, lips like Dasha Rush, eyes like Ricardo Villalobos, legs like Delia Derbyshire, and a heart like Patti Smith.
If you could recommend three artists to catch from the lineup, who would you pick?
Lauren Lane, Tini, and Richie Hawtin.
If you were recruited to provide an Essential Mix in 2017, what’s the one song you couldn’t leave out?
Kamran Sadeghi – “Brothers.”
Enter below to win two 4-day walk-in camping passes for Lightning in a Bottle.