Julie Christmas (born December 25, 1975) is an American musician from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. Christmas is her legal middle name; she was named so after the fact that she was born on Christmas day. She is the former lead singer of defunct Brooklyn-based noise rock band

Made Out of Babies Made Out of Babies was a sludge metal band from Brooklyn, New York formed in 2004 that disbanded in 2012. Biography Drawing equally from noise rock bands such as The Jesus Lizard and post-metal bands such as Isis, the band developed a followin ...

and the former lead singer of defunct post-metal supergroup

Battle of Mice Battle of Mice was an American post-metal Supergroup (music), supergroup consisting of Julie Christmas, Josh Graham, Joel Hamilton, Tony Maimone, and Joe Tomino. The band's name was derived from a saying by Alexander the Great pertaining to a m ...

. In 2010, she released a critically acclaimed solo album titled '' The Bad Wife'', and in 2016, she became a featured member on the Swedish post-metal band

Cult of Luna Cult of Luna is a Swedish post-metal band from Umeå founded in 1998. Their style of music is similar to contemporary bands Neurosis and Isis. Cult of Luna was signed to Earache Records in the early 2000s and released five albums, including th ...

's album ''

Mariner A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor' ...

''.

History

Julie Christmas spent the majority of the 2000s as the lead vocalist for the noise rock band Made Out of Babies and the short-lived post-metal supergroup Battle of Mice, the latter of which featured members of The Book of Knots,

Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

and

Red Sparowes Red Sparowes is an American, Los Angeles-based post-rock band, comprising current and former members of Isis, Marriages, The Nocturnes, Halifax Pier, Angel Hair and Pleasure Forever. Their sound is characteristic of soundscape-influenced exper ...

. She sang on three studio albums with Made Out of Babies — ''

Trophy A trophy is a tangible, decorative item used to remind of a specific achievement, serving as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most commonly awarded for sports, sporting events, ranging from youth sports to professional level athlet ...

'' (2005), ''

Coward Cowardice is a characteristic wherein excessive fear prevents an individual from taking a risk or facing danger. It is the opposite of courage. As a label, "cowardice" indicates a failure of character in the face of a challenge. One who succumb ...

'' (2006) and '' The Ruiner'' (2008) — before the band went inactive for a few years and announced that it had officially broken up in 2012. Battle of Mice released one studio album — ''

A Day of Nights ''A Day of Nights'' is the only studio album by American post-metal band Battle of Mice. It was released on October 6, 2006 through Neurot Recordings label. According to singer Julie Christmas, the album is "written in a timeline that mirrors ...

'' (2006) — and a few EPs with Christmas before disbanding in 2009. Julie Christmas provided vocals to the song "Generation of Ghosts" by

Mouth of the Architect Mouth of the Architect is an American heavy metal band from Dayton, Ohio, creating music influenced by and similar to Neurosis, Isis, Pelican, Cult of Luna, and various post-metal bands. They are signed to Translation Loss Records and have rele ...

on their 2008 release '' Quietly''. Christmas is involved with Spylacopa, an experimental musical project headed by

Candiria Candiria is an American band from Brooklyn, New York, mixing progressive metal, metalcore, jazz fusion and hip hop. They are part of the precursors of the mathcore genre with bands like Deadguy or Lethargy.Kevin Stewart-Panko, "The Decade in N ...

guitarist John LaMacchia, along with

Greg Puciato Gregory John Puciato (born March 27, 1980) is an American musician best known as the former lead vocalist and lyricist of the metalcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan. In addition to being a solo artist, he currently fronts Better Lovers and t ...

The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of Consonance and ...

and

Jeff Caxide Jeff Caxide is an American bassist, best known for his time with post-metal band Isis, of which he was a founding member and present until its dissolution in 2010. He was also a founding member of Red Sparowes, but left after the release of the ...

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

. Spylacopa released a self-titled EP in 2008 followed by a studio album in 2015. Julie Christmas released her debut solo album titled ''The Bad Wife'' in late 2010 through Rising Pulse Records. The album's lead single "July 31" was used in the final credits of the 2009

Cuba Gooding Jr. Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. His accolades include an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award. Gooding's breakthrough was in the film ''Boyz n the Hood ...

film '' Wrong Turn at Tahoe''. Christmas said she used her solo career to creatively separate herself from her heavier main projects at the time. She said: "When we started working on ''The Bad Wife'', I was involved in a few different projects that were rough, angry and involved a lot of screaming. I won't ever be able to separate myself from this kind of performance and I don't want to. I do know that, in day-to-day life, I get overwhelmed with emotion about things that have nothing to do with anger, just like everyone else. The project started as a way to show the importance of other feelings, like love." The album was critically acclaimed upon release. Iann Robinson of

CraveOnline Mandatory (formerly CraveOnline Media) is a lifestyle website based in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial D ...

gave the album a nine-out-of-ten rating and said, "''The Bad Wife'' is one of the best albums to come out this year, hands down." Christopher R. Weingarten of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' praised the album and said, "Whether Christmas is headbanging or drowning, ''The Bad Wife'' is remarkably intimate, with the singer letting her voice crack, squeak, and gasp for air, finding the more revealing notes in between the notes." At the time of ''The Bad Wifes release, Christmas was also said to be working on a book titled ''The Scribbles and Scrapes of Amy Anyone: (A Multiple Personality Autobiography)'', featuring illustrations from Nix Turner, who is known for her work on

Emily the Strange Emily the Strange is an illustrated fictional character featured in several comic books, graphic novels and in various merchandise and clothing lines. She was created by Rob Reger for his company Cosmic Debris Etc. Inc. located in San Francisco, ...

. The book was to be accompanied by a musical album to be played while reading the book that would signal the reader when to turn the page. In 2012, Christmas appeared on the record ''From Beyond Love'' by Strings of Consciousness. In 2015, she appeared as a guest on Pigs' album ''Wronger''. Christmas appeared as a featured guest on the Swedish post-metal band

's entire seventh studio album titled ''

'', released on April 8, 2016. Like the rest of the band's discography, ''Mariner'' is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, which touches on themes of exploring outer space. Christmas performed her first show in six years on March 6, 2023, at New York City's

Saint Vitus Bar Saint Vitus, also called Saint Vitus Bar, was a bar and music venue located in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Opened in April 2011, the venue was known for its heavy metal atmosphere. The magazine ''Kerrang!'' described ...

. Her backing band included Cult of Luna guitarist Johannes Persson. Christmas also played the Dutch metal

Roadburn Festival The Roadburn Festival is an annual music festival held each April in Tilburg, Netherlands. It was founded by Walter Hoeijmakers and Jurgen van den Brand in 1999, who ran a stoner rock blog of the same name. The festival has been held at Tilburg ...

in April 2023 after originally being scheduled for the canceled 2020 edition.

Discography

Solo

* ''The Bad Wife'' (2010, Rising Pulse) * ''Coextinction Records 5'' (2011, Coextinction) * ''Ridiculous and Full of Blood'' (2024, Red Creek)

Made Out of Babies

* ''

'' (2005,

Neurot Neurot Recordings is an American independent record label founded by members of avant-garde metal band Neurosis in 1999. Gradually expanding, it has showcased a variety of artists including a number of sludge metal, post-rock, and noise bands. ...

) * ''

'' (2006, Neurot) * '' The Ruiner'' (2008,

The End The End may refer to: Film * The End (1953 film), ''The End'' (1953 film), a film by Christopher Maclaine * The End (1978 film), ''The End'' (1978 film), a comedy by Burt Reynolds * ''The End'' (1995 film), a List of Canadian films of 1995, Cana ...

)

Battle of Mice

* ''Triad'' (split with Made Out of Babies and

) (2006, Neurot) * ''

'' (2006, Neurot) * ''Jesu / Battle of Mice'' (split with Jesu) (2008,

Robotic Empire Robotic Empire is an American independent record label based out of Richmond, Virginia, specializing in hardcore punk, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Some of the most popular bands signed to the label over the years have been pg.99, City o ...

)

Spylacopa

* ''Spylacopa'' (2008, Rising Pulse) * ''Parallels'' (2015, Rising Pulse)

Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas

* ''

'' (2016, Indie)

Guest appearances

References

External links

Official website

Facebook

Julie Christmas
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christmas, Julie Living people American women heavy metal singers American heavy metal singers 1975 births 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Singers from New York (state) Musicians from Brooklyn