Julia Bernat from TYX is a familiar face at Tileyard, being the studio manager at the TYX membership studios. Julia tells us about her journey into the world of music.
Tell us about your background, your upbringing, and your introduction to the world of music.
I grew up in a small Oxfordshire town to a Polish family, which created a lot of varied interests from day one. My older sister has always been an avid gig goer and music fan, and her passion for it led me to explore a huge range of music from a young age – from our mum’s 80s synthpop on the school run, to Myspace-era emo, to finding my own love in dance music through Daft Punk – I’ve tried it all! Many years later I found out this was a running theme in my family, with my grandparents having started bands with their siblings, and some even touring across Poland for many years.
How did you get into the music industry?
From quite early in my teen years I knew music was my future, and even though I originally applied for a Psychology course at university, I ended up switching last minute to study Music Business (sorry mum!). I definitely felt out of my depth having had no real music experience, but the course was great in helping me find my corner of the industry and I was lucky to have lots of passionate music heads around me to guide my journey. University gave me a lot of tools to find my own way in the industry, and by the end of my degree I was writing for two niche, yet respected blogs in the UK Bass music scene. This gave me a great foot in the door within underground dance music, and was a big push in encouraging me to pursue DJing which has become a very important creative outlet to me over the years.
After finishing my degree mid-lockdown, music seemed like a hopeless cause. I decided to take the plunge and make the grand move to London from Birmingham, and landed a receptionist role at one of the lovely Tileyard companies, which led me to be introduced to TYX – the rest is history!
What were some of the barriers you experienced, or still do experience, as a woman in the music industry, if any?
In the recording industry in particular, I’ve found a lot of people are shocked that I am a studio manager. Being a young woman in a studio environment, I’m often referred to as the receptionist or assistant which is pretty disappointing, but it makes me very happy to know there are plenty of women who have worked hard to end up in these roles across some of the most prolific studios in London and have paved the way for people like myself. Dance music has also made huge steps with regards to equality, but many men in the past have been adamant that ‘women can’t dj’ which causes a lot of negativity towards those women who end up breaking through and having a successful career. The great news is, right now there are plenty of women – producers, DJs, collectives – who are incredible role models for those of us just starting their career in dance music and afraid of the future it may hold. Jyoty, Chloe Robinson, Team Woibey, Girls Don’t Sync are just a few fantastic examples.
What would you say to your 16-year-old self about being a woman in music… what to expect, the difficulties, the excitements?
The most important thing would be to trust my own skills. I’ve always felt anxious about not having the technical training many of my peers do, but passion for the craft is equally, if not more, important in an industry as cut-throat as music and recording. I’d also tell myself to stop being afraid of taking up space – your voice is just as important as those trying to shout over you. Keep fighting, keep learning and be the best version of yourself you can be – the right people will notice!
What other exciting things have you been working on lately, either work or personally?
Those who know me personally know I dabble in radio DJing, which I’ve been doing for nearly 2 years on a couple of community radio stations. Recently, I have had the opportunity to move this over to Reprezent Radio which is super exciting – my show has always revolved around giving women and gender minorities in the DJing sphere a platform to showcase their craft and it’s great to be able to take this further, onto London-wide radio with a similar mission.
As for TYX – as we’re still a new business, there is always some form of exciting change going on! We’ve recently expanded to a second site in the gorgeous Tileyard North, and we have huge plans for making the business bigger and better very soon. Watch this space!
