Julia Michaels feels like a therapist. The 23-year-old songwriter—and now, solo artist—has penned hits with some of the biggest pop acts from Justin Bieber to Britney Spears, and she admits the writing sessions can get personal, vulnerable and sometimes awkward—like therapy. “I go into the room and talk to them, and try and make them feel calm,” she said, “And what happens in that room stays in that room.”

After years working behind-the-scenes (she wrote her first single 19), things changed when Michaels penned “Issues,” her minimal, yet radio-friendly hit inspired by a tense moment in her relationship. The song was too close to home to give to someone else—so she kept it for herself, and released it as solo artist this January. It’s already spent at least 15 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.

Meredith Truax

“Issues” may be Michaels’ debut single, but you’ve heard more songs by her than you know. “Sorry” by Justin Bieber? Hers. “Good For You” by Selena Gomez? She wrote it. “Close” by Nick Jonas? She’s in the credits. “Used to Love You” by Gwen Stefani? Yeah, she had a hand in that, too.

One of her most recently-released works is Selena Gomez’s “Bad Liar,” which actually sounds quite similar to “Issues.” Michaels teamed up with her frequent collaborator Justin Trainer and Ian Kirkpatrick for the single, and even fulfilled her “biggest dream on this earth” by working with Talking Heads’ David Byrne. (They sampled the baseline from the band’s “Psycho Killer.”)

Just last night, Michaels announced she’s releasing another solo single, “Uh Huh” on June 2, and her first EP is well on its way.

Below, Michaels spills her creative genius with BAZAAR.com.

“Issues” stemmed from an argument with her significant other.

“I actually wrote it about a fight I had with my boyfriend. I tend to be a very non-confrontational person, so a lot of the time he will just fight at me, and I just kind of listen. A lot of the times I want to scream what I want to say, and it won’t come out, like my mind won’t work with my mouth sometimes, so basically everything I wanted to say but couldn’t say, I put in ‘Issues,’ and ‘Issues’ is me and my boyfriend, and my relationship, (but mostly me) in three minutes, seriously.”

Other artists wanted to take the song, but she kept it for herself.

“When I write for other people, or with other people, I tend to put a little bit of myself in everything that I write, but not this much. I’m uncomfortable with the idea of someone singing such a personal song of mine. And here we are!”

In fact, writing "Issues" was the moment she realized she wanted to become a solo artist.

“Well I think I’ve gotten really good at hiding behind people, and when you do that, you forget that you have a voice, and sometimes it just gets lost. And when I wrote ‘Issues,’ I felt like I had found my voice and I had felt like I had found a song like me. It was the first time I had written a song that felt like me.”

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Going solo taught her the importance of fans.

“It’s overwhelming sometimes, but also rewarding. I have never really had that connection to the fans because I’ve never been in the forefront, so that’s been really awesome, to see people feel connected to you and your song so fast. Spotify the other day actually took me through who’s listening around the world and it’s just so amazing to see how many people you affect with your music.”

Even after all those years working with big-time artists, there are still some things she didn’t expect in the process of becoming one.

“I didn’t expect the amount of work that goes into it. My naïve brain is like, ‘Oh yeah I’ll put out a song and I hope it does well, and if it doesn’t, okay.’ But you also have to do interviews and photoshoots and fly all over the world, and all that stuff, and that part didn’t even phase me and you start to get used to it and get in the groove and then you start making room for fun things. Once, we had three hours to spare in Mexico, and we were like, “What’s something fun we can do for three hours?’ So we rode roller coasters all day. In Australia, we climbed a 400 foot bridge and sang karaoke. You have to make room for those things.”

"I felt like I had found my voice and I had felt like I had found a song like me."

She has crippling stage fright.

“Performing is actually kind of hard for me. I have really bad performance anxiety, which I didn’t know I had until I started singing for people! That’s been really hard to overcome. I get really nervous, and my hands get sweaty and I start to shake, and feel like I’m going to pass out. I feel like I’m starting to become a little bit more confident in it. And hopefully it continues! Because panic anxiety is not fun!”

To her and other artists, writing songs is like therapy.

“I feel like I’m their therapist, I go into the room and talk to them, and try and make them feel calm and what happens in that room stays in that room. Versus when I write, I dig into things I necessarily don’t want to dig into. And that’s where it gets interesting for me. You get used to being everyone else’s comfort zone and then you have to be your own.”

Michaels performs at Wango Tango. Getty Images

How does she know what will make a good song?

“Honestly it’s just something you feel. It’s something that when someone says it, there’s some type or emotion or experience that you connect it to, and it will happen in a flash. You hear the word and start thinking about all these things you’ve been through and all those things you would say about that word, and it’s just like a lightbulb. I can’t even really explain it, like, a subconscious thing, you hear the word and you know.”

She’s releasing an EP soon. The two biggest themes? Emotions and sex.

“Right now, the two main subjects that I talk about are the emotional side of me and the sexual side of me, and that’s because those are the two that I know best of myself, so those are the easiest to write about. I think a lot of the EP is going to be of that topic.”

She hopes her listeners can connect and look up to her.

“I also want to write songs for people that want to have fun, and want to feel free, and I also want to write songs for the kids that feel like they’re unnoticed and unimportant because I have been there. I had an artist when I was that age that I looked up to, and I’m hopefully doing that with ‘Issues’ now. My main thing is to build a connection, I think that’s so important, and I hope that I am. Just seeing the reactions, and what they say to me everyday, and that ‘Issues’ is helping them, and helping them realize that they’re going through something, is really awesome to me.”

Being in a writing session with another artist is being really vulnerable with a stranger.

“When you’re in a writing session, you’re basically getting naked to people you don’t know. You have to bare your soul to complete strangers and trust that they’re going to understand what you want to say. So a connection is always established quite quickly. Whether they want to keep that connection around is up to them.”

Videos on social media have shown Michaels in the studio with Selena Gomez, but she says they’re not working on anything together.

“[Laughs] No, no.” [Editor’s note: Michaels is credited on “Bad Liar.”]

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She’s been collaborating with fellow songwriter Justin Tranter for about three years. Their writing process is nearly intuitive and involves no judgement.

“It’s nice to have somebody that doesn’t judge you and will try anything with you. My brain will get really overstimulated really easily. If we’re in a room and we’re doing a melody and they’re singing, and I can’t focus, so it’s nice to have somebody in the room that knows that and is just like, ‘Can you wait 5 seconds?’”

Michaels is only 23 years old. She wrote her first single—for Selena Gomez—when she was 19.

“I used to do demos around the city, I would just sing all the time because I needed to pay my rent. But I also wanted to write, and I thought that was a really good way to do it. And I met this woman Lindy Robbins when I was 19, and had success right off the bat. She and I wrote ‘Slow Down’ for Selena when I was 19, which was my first single ever, and ‘Miss Movin’ On’ around the same time too.

“When you’re in a writing session, you’re basically getting naked to people you don’t know."

It took writing a theme song for a Disney show (at the age of 17) to realize songwriting was her calling.

“I’ve always loved words and I’ve always written poetry and when I was 12 my mom got me a piano and I started to put those words to music. I had hoped I would always do something with music, but it wasn’t until I did the theme song for ‘Austin & Ally’ when I was 17, that I was like, “Oh! Maybe I can do this! Maybe this doesn’t have to be a hobby, I can do this.’”

She’s driven by other strong female songwriters, much like herself.

“I’ve always looked up to female songwriters, like Diane Warren, who is an incredible one, and Linda Perry was always a big one for me. In terms of artists, I’ve always loved P!nk and Fiona Apple. I always loved that P!nk wrote her own lyrics and it wasn’t’ so kitschy, they were real, honest lyrics, like ‘Family Portrait’ is an incredible song. And Fiona Apple is probably one of the best lyrics ever.”

Her biggest challenge so far actually has nothing to do with songwriting.

“I don’t know if I have a biggest challenge in my songwriting career, but I would say my biggest challenge right now is, probably, most likely, performing. [Laughs]”

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This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Erica Gonzales Erica Gonzales is the Culture and Content Strategy Editor for BAZAAR.com, where she oversees news and culture coverage, including celebrity, music, TV, movies, and more.

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