From Sidewalks to Stardom, Ūla’s Rise in the Music Scene is Unstoppable
“If you keep persistent and you genuinely have a love and a passion for it, not just wanting to have followers, it will happen”.
From the humble beginnings of busking, to millions tuning in to watch her TikTok covers, Ūla never imagined she’d be playing to packed rooms here and abroad, and repping her aesthetic to the world. This Sydney-based artist is not one to miss, with her bold and visually vibrant personality unashamedly making eyes and ears turn. She’s the epitome of Gen Z and we can’t get enough of her.
With an appetite for 80’s rock and 90’s grunge ingrained deeply within her, and an admiration for bedroom pop, Ūla’s sound celebrates the lovechild of all three. Forget pop-punk and remember “bubblegum grunge” instead. A genre coined by this Y2K icon herself, it’s a nod to her energetic sound incorporating distorted guitars, fast and upbeat drumming that are seamlessly paired with relatable 21st Century lyrics. Our top picks – “god complex”, “gold star” and her most recent release “SCANDAL”.
“My mum raised me on 80's rock like KISS, Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard. KISS is quite possibly my all time favourite band. I don't think anything will beat KISS for me. You can definitely hear some of those influences starting to creep through into my music because they definitely played a massive part of my musical journey,” she says.
The birth of Ūla saw her grinding on the busy street corners of Sydney, busking away in rain, hail and shine; because that’s just the commitment of a star. It’s her youthful exuberance and rebellious spirit that has captured the raging hearts of her peers and soon to be fans, intrigued by her aura and selection of music.
“It became my job for my whole high school life and even a bit post high school. I was busking every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then after high school, I started doing it on weekdays and using that as a job,” she tells Ones To Watch.
Since singing in the streets, mid-pandemic was when the alt pop-star began to flourish into a pro. Not taking restrictions as an excuse, Ūla defied the logistics of isolation and situated herself in the eyes of now more than 1.5 million followers, all possible through the Generation Z tool of TikTok . With an ever-growing fanbase and a new experience to share and bridge the gap, she’s pulling in audiences from far and wide with an enthralling power that reaches you through a phone screen or, if you’re lucky enough, watching her live on stage..
“I'm trying to pursue music by posting on social media. It's definitely the closest way to connect to fans, especially when you've got people from the States and from Europe, I mean, there's no way I can travel around the whole world in a day to meet everybody. So TikTok, and especially the live streaming part of TikTok has become this way to be personal with others.”
It’s with a fiery passion that Ūla is evolving onto bigger and much larger, global audiences. While staying true to her roots and showing up for her followers, her consistency and roar to be heard is what has her rapidly growing fanbase ravenous for more.
