1. When did you think about music as a career and what were your first steps into it?
I think someone famous once said 'music picks you, you don't pick music'; that's how it feels for me. Music was something I needed to do and found myself doing and gradually you get kind of hooked on sharing what you're doing because you want to feel connected to other people through music. It's hard to think of it in terms of a 'career' because it feels much more like a fortunate sequence of opportunities to make that happen. You never know what's around the corner and there are no guarantees.
2. Best gigs you've been to?
Prince at the O2, Wild Flowers at The Forge, Radiohead in Finsbury Park [all in London].
3. Fantasy wedding/birthday party band?
The Bee Gees circa 1977.
4. The record you'd take to a desert island?
Making Music by Zakir Hussain – this album never fails to move me. I have listened to it so many times and still absolutely love it.
5. And the book?
I don't get too much time for reading. A long time ago I read Candide by Voltaire which was quite an important book to me and it'd probably be good to be reminded of the morals of the story in a desert island situation.
6. Top three films?
Pan's Labyrinth, Paris Blues, Back to the Future.
7. Worst film you've seen?
I think the bad ones get forgotten instantly.
8. Favourite authors?
See question 5.
9. Sports you most enjoy and top teams?
I've got a bit of a soft spot for boxing because I always used to watch it on TV with my dad. Boxers always seem to wear their hearts on their sleeves and they make themselves incredibly vulnerable, quite a lot like musicians/artists.
10. Ideal holiday destination?
Right now New Orleans, Brazil, South America in general and South Africa are all on my wish list.
11. Who is your best friend and how do you know each other?
All my friends are best at being themselves and they're all wonderful in different ways.
12. Is there a God?
There's a life force, for sure, and God is a word that many use to name it.
Julia Biel plays The MAC in Belfast on Saturday at 8pm, as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival (www.cqaf.com). Tickets £12. The album Love Letters and Other Missiles is out now (www.juliabiel.com)
