Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat. Yes, artist/songwriter extraordinaire Julia Michaels named the label she recently started GFY Records. And, yes, it stands for what you think it does.
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“For me, it’s a go f*** yourself to the norms of the music industry,” Michaels explains about the label, as well as the similarly titled song that’s one of the highlights of her recent EP, Second Self. “You’re told that it has to be one way, and you have to go through the major label system to make something of yourself.
“I think times are changing so much. Just this year, I’ve seen so many people start their own labels because they want to have control over their own narrative. They want to be able to take the power back from years of feeling like all these people who don’t really know them don’t believe in them. When I left my label, that is exactly how I was feeling.”
The new label is just part of Michaels’ monster year. Her songwriting efforts with some of the hottest performers of the current era, including Tate McRae and Sabrina Carpenter, mean that her work has been plastered all over radio and the hippest playlists. In addition to the EP, she also has a new album in the works.
“I love these artists so much that I get to make songs with and create worlds with,” Michaels tells American Songwriter about her hot streak. “A few years ago, when we did Emails I Can’t Send for Sabrina, she was performing at the Wiltern. And now she’s headlining Coachella. It’s just amazing to see what time will do, what the right songs will do, and the way that fans just fiercely love these songs that were made from really vulnerable, emotional days in the studio.”
The Rise of a Songwriting Superstar
Michaels’ stats as a songwriter are staggering: No. 1 hits penned for Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, a bevy of charting singles in multiple genres, contributions to multiple Grammy Album of the Year winners, and 60 billion streams of her songwriting and recorded music combined. It makes sense that she got an early start toward all this success, penning her first successful songs when she was in her teens.
“To be honest, I don’t even know if I knew that you could make a living in music when I started writing songs,” Michaels explains. “I started doing it because I don’t really come from a stable home. For me, it was my way of having comfort and finding safety. I could be in my room, and I could write about whatever I wanted to write about.”
Entering songwriting rooms at such a young age could have intimidated lesser writers. But Michaels always possessed a firm belief in her work, even if it meant going against the presupposed norms.
“I was 17 going into studios with people that were in their 30s,” she remembers. “Lots of people trying to tell you what to do and how to do it. Even mentors of mine would be like, ‘You can’t do this in songs.’ There was one person who I love dearly who said, ‘You can’t put questions in choruses.’ And then, I would go and work with other people and think, ‘Why not,’ and test out the theory. Like, is it too late now to say sorry? (quoting a refrain from Bieber’s “Sorry”). I’ve always kind of gone against the grain. I’ve always done what I was told not to do.”
“For instance, when A&R reps say, ‘We need a song like this.’ That meant 50 people would be writing a song like that. And I’d say, ‘Cool, I’m going to do the complete opposite of that.’ Like everybody is trying to write this smash hit song, but we’re going to write the ballad of the album. And maybe it will be good enough to be the single. Like ‘Lose You To Love Me’ (a No. 1 hit for Gomez).”
As much as she loves popping in for one-off co-writes, Michaels cherishes the opportunity to craft LPs with artists. “I personally enjoy when it’s not just one song off of someone’s album that you get to do,” she says. “I love getting to know somebody and spending a year, year-and-a-half, getting to know them and write with them and making this beautiful cohesive album that the whole world gets to love and hold.
“’What do you not have?’” she says of what she asks artists. “‘What’s a feeling that you don’t have yet on the album? And should we write that today? Because if you already have songs about love or songs about heartbreak or about a very specific topic to you, I don’t want to do that. We should do something that maybe you haven’t explored yet and figure out what that sounds like and feels like for you.’”
Self Examination
Even as she remains in demand as a top writer-for-hire, Michaels is revving up her recording activities as well. Which means she needs to save some material for herself, something that she doesn’t always prioritize.
[RELATED: 4 Pop Hits You Didn’t Know Julia Michaels Wrote]
“I am always creating,” she admits. “I probably should save ideas for myself, but I don’t always do that. Sometimes, I think of a title and then think, ‘Oh, this would be so good with this artist. Or maybe this artist would be able to convey it in a different way that’s much cooler than I could.’ The way that I look at it is that we all win at the end of the day. We’re all trying to eat. And we can if we just get out of our own way.”
Second Self is filled with her savvy wordplay and sturdy melodies. There’s also a duet with Maren Morris on “Scissors,” which features one of Michaels’ typically stellar one-liners: If you wanna cut ties, I’ll get the scissors, baby.
“I actually wrote the chorus of ‘Scissors’ in my bathtub,” Michaels laughs. “I write a lot when I’m in the shower. I think it’s because I’m not on my phone. I don’t have anybody trying to get to me. I have no responsibilities. I can self-reflect. I can be in there for however long I want to be in there. A lot of times, my self-reflection will end up being a song. And I was thinking about relationships that I had in my life, not just romantic ones, but platonic ones. I was just thinking about cutting people out. Like, yeah, if you want to cut ties, I’ll get the scissors.”
Setting the Trends, Not Following Them
Michaels, who also writes for country and R&B artists to change things up, explains that her secret to navigating the ever-changing styles of pop music is to ignore them. “I have never followed a trend in music,” she says. “Whenever the A&Rs are like, ‘We need a four-on-the-floor,’ by the time you make this album, those sounds are going to be bye-bye. They’re not even going to be relevant anymore. I’m just not going to do that.”
Her love for the collaborative process keeps things fresh, as does her immersion into the music of new artists. “I love new energies in the room,” she says. “I think it inspires me as well. Take Tate (McRae), for example. She’s so driven, passionate, and hungry. And I really feed off that energy. I want to meet you there. You want to succeed so bad? I want you to succeed so bad. How can I help? How can I be a part of this because I believe in it so much?”
If Second Self is any indication, Michaels should have folks believing in her upcoming album. “It’s me,” she says by way of a coy preview. “You can expect goofiness, kitschiness, it being emotional and vulnerable and raw. I might even have maybe a love song or two, because I’m engaged now.”
Michaels insists her self-created label has changed everything for her work as an artist. “I get to put out music,” she explains. “There was a long time when I wasn’t allowed. Or they didn’t really understand the vision of what I wanted to do. Maybe I wasn’t allowed to have proper budgets to be able to make these songs that I love so dearly come to life visually. Now I get to do that. I get to put out songs that I love, regardless of whether a bunch of people at the top don’t understand it. I understand it. My fans understand it. I get to have creative control, visually, sonically, lyrically, emotionally.”
And Michaels knows exactly whom to thank for persisting long enough to enjoy this amazing year. “Luckily, my fans are so incredible and have been with me every step of the way,” she says. “They’ve seen me be disheartened for maybe five years of feeling like I can’t put out music. They’ve been by my side unconditionally. And they still show up to shows and ask me when I’m going to go on tour. I’m so really, really grateful to them. And I think if it wasn’t for their belief in me, I probably wouldn’t still be doing this.”
Photos by Shervin Lainez
*Photos taken at the GRAMMY museum.
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