From a feature in The Boston Globe by James Sullivan, Juliana on The Police:

“I was a huge fan,” she said. “I had everything. All the B-sides. I had all the bootlegs on cassette. I knew every second of every bootleg. Every nuance.” While still in high school, she saw more than one Police show at the “enormo-domes,” including the 1983 gig the band played at what was then Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, with the Fixx and A Flock of Seagulls.

Sullivan also mentions a bit about the writing project she's working on:

Since finishing the latest album, she has turned her attention to some new long-form writing — essays, mainly, about the process of making a record from an artist’s perspective.

From an interview by Bruce Fagerstrom for Magnet Magazine:

[BF] Sting has commented that the surface prettiness of “Every Breath You Take” lulls some people into missing the sinister nature of the lyrics. As a singer how do you approach songs with such strong narratives? I’d throw “Roxanne” into that as well.

[JH] I know these songs and the melodies so well that I almost don’t even think about the lyrics because they are like second nature to me. Especially when I am singing; singing is such a physical act for me. I rarely think about the words I am singing. It’s just trying to push the notes out. But when I listen, I am drawn to things that have a darkness, have more than one layer of meaning. I get bored by love songs, I don’t relate to them. If “Every Breath You Take” were a straight-up “I love you forever, baby” song, it would bore me.

Juliana, from an interview with Will Hodge for GRAMMY.com, on the genesis of her latest covers project:

Almost immediately after releasing the Olivia Newton-John album, I started thinking about who I should do next. For a while, I was actually thinking of doing Phil Collins, both his solo songs and also his time in Genesis. I had already started to make a list of his songs when one day I was listening to "Long Long Way to Go" from No Jacket Required. Sting sings background vocals on that song and as soon as I heard his voice, I was immediately struck by the thought, "Wait, I should really be doing The Police."

I have much more of a connection to The Police and was a bigger fan of them than I ever was of Phil Collins. Apart from two Genesis albums that I really love, Duke and Abacab, Phil Collins is more of a singles artist to me. But growing up, I was truly fanatical about The Police and had all their albums and knew all the deep cuts. I just switched my brain over to Police mode and that became the new concept.

From Darryl Sterdan's interview with Juliana for Tinnitist:

Are you already writing your next album?

JH: I’m actually trying to write some other stuff first. I’m taking a few months to write a long-form prose thing. But I’m starting to get ideas bubbling up, and I’m writing down some lyrical ideas. So I have a feeling I’m going to start writing pretty soon.

Do you think it will be another introspective album like Weird?

JH: No. I think it’s going to be like Rage Against the Machine, but my style. It’s going to be a protest record. But I want to do something that’s really really simple, with repetitive choruses and not a lot of words so it’s deceptively easy to sing along with — but very definitely protest music.

From an excellent article by Justin Chadwick for Albumism where Juliana comments on each of the songs on the new record:

“Every Breath You Take”

This is another one of those deceptive creations that at first makes you think you are listening to a straight-up love song. But really it’s pretty twisted, sung from the point of view of a creepy stalker, a person who won’t go away, who is obsessed with an ex. The song structure—the way it moves and flows and builds—is perfection. It’s sonic ambrosia. I can’t get enough of it. This song is the gift that keeps on giving

From an interview by Katherine Yeske Taylor for The Big Takeover, Juliana on upcoming plans:

So you’ve already started working on your next album of originals?

JULIANA HATFIELD: Well, I am actually taking a little break. I’m writing other stuff, I’m working on a longer form prose thing. I wanted to step away from making music for a couple months, just to write this other stuff, and then I’ll get back to songwriting in the beginning of the new year. I have to be creative: I also draw and paint. I have to be doing something all the time or I just go crazy.

Are you going to do any tour dates for this Police covers album?

JULIANA HATFIELD: Yeah, we’re going to tour in January and February, about a month in the States. It’s going to start in Chicago and go down and West and all around and end up in New York around Valentine’s Day. We’re still finalizing the dates, but we’ll put them out there as soon as they’re all fixed.

Juliana, from an interview by Dave Rayburn for Discussions Magazine covering a number of area around the soon the be released Police covers project:

DR: ...Why The Police?

JH: I sort of did it on a whim. Actually, I was preparing to do Phil Collins covers, and then sort of at the last minute… you know what, I don’t really have an emotional connection to Phil Collins. And, there’s just not enough depth there. So, I just went sort of automatically to The Police because I do have an emotional connection from childhood. They were a big, big thing for me during my adolescence. Same as with the Olivia Newton-John record. It’s like I’m being drawn toward artists that were very important to me at a certain time in my life. I mean, I have a plan to do more of these albums and I think that in the future I’ll be able to look back and say, “Oh yes, these all had something to do with what I became.”

Ahead of her Detroit show this week, Juliana is interviewed by Jeremy Porter for The Pencilstorm:

JP: Weird feels like a natural transition from Pussycat and JHSONJ – not so much lyrically but musically. The guitar tones, arrangements and riffs have a nice growth but a consistent feel that sort of takes your natural pop vocals and vocal melodies and puts them above a musical bed that weaves somewhere between 70s classic rock and indie-pop-rock. Do you approach the writing process with a direction in mind? Or do you just sit down and whatever happens, happens? Can you expand on that a bit and how it might relate to the feel of this trilogy of records as compared to some of your previous releases?

JH: I never have a direction plan when I sit down to write. I have an open mind. But I do have habits and things that I tend to do over and over again. I can't change my instincts. I have a certain aesthetic preferences, and I have a certain natural, personal style that I have settled into and I produce all my own stuff which is why my stuff lately tends to have a sound and a feel. It's raw and unpolished but also really melodic. I am also in love with the mellotron flutes sound on my Microkorg keyboard that I acquired about five years ago so that sound ends up on everything I do these days. No matter how gnarly the guitars get, I always like to mix in some keyboard flutes. It sounds good with everything.

Juliana, interviewed by Scott Tady, for The Beaver County Times ahead of her show in Pittsburgh, commenting on Weird and the recent video for Broken Doll:

“I think (the video) came out really funny but also provocative. Another thing in it is physical comedy, which I’ve always wanted to do. I’m a big fan of pratfalls, so I wanted to do that. Like Chevy Chase in the ’70s on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ or Chris Farley. So I got to do some of those falls,” Hatfield. “But it’s also making a point about how women in our society are put out to pasture. And it’s making fun of glamor, which is based on such a lie.”

See also a separate interview with Jeff Niesel for Cleveland Scene, also about the lineup for the US dates:

For the current tour, Hatfield recruited Dean Fisher to play bass and has “two local Boston guys who I’ve never toured with before” in the band as well. They'll play songs from her 30-plus year career.

Freda, John, and Juliana are interviewed by Jack Rabid for Rock and Roll Globe to talk about the reissue of Innocence and Experience. It's an excellent read. They talk about an unreleased song ("Radiator") which they all seem to love and which any fan reading will now be very keen to hear! They also all speak in remarkably candid detail about the early 90s break up. An excerpt:

FREDA: Regarding our demise, it was indeed, as Juliana remembers, long and drawn out! What was hardest for me was that we agreed to break up but kept playing shows, mostly to fulfill our obligations. Being a dead band rocking was no fun, and on one long tour I was very depressed then got super sick and went home in the middle—to be replaced by Juliana’s brother—and then I opted out of our final tour of Europe because it just felt sad and pointless to me. I’ve always needed to feel like I’m working with a sense of hope and direction and forward momentum, and the Blake Babies had that in our early years, which was exciting, and when that was gone I checked out, disappointed and a little wounded. Now I wish I had rallied to keep my shit together for a strong ending. My regret about that was one factor in my suggesting the [2001 comeback fourth LP] God Bless the Blake Babies reunion album and tour—I wanted a happier final chapter for us! I’m not sure if it’s because of the reunion or because of time, or because of love and friendship, but I don’t have any bad feelings about the breakup now. I just feel lucky I ever got to be in a band with Juliana and John.

From a feature published today at Under the Radar:

For our recurring Self-Portrait feature we ask a musician to take a self-portrait photo (or paint/draw a self-portrait) and write a list of personal things about themselves, things that their fans might not already know about them. This Self-Portrait is by Juliana Hatfield.
...
Read on as Hatfield writes about the skill she wants to master, her hands, and the thing that most makes her stomach queasy.

Read Juliana's words in the article at http://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/self-portrait_juliana_hatfield

Patrick Hickey Jr, with a great interview for Review Fix with John and Juliana reflecting on the recently reissued 1993 Blake Babies compilation:

Review Fix: What made this album special for you when it was originally released?

JH: Well, it was a compilation of a lot of stuff that had already been released so for me personally it wasn’t so crucial that it was even put together. But I think it was nice for a lot of people out there who maybe hadn’t heard the original albums to be able to grab one single overview that contained a bunch of songs from a bunch of different places so that they could get a taste of the band.

JS: I enjoyed compiling this album, but it was intended to be a sort of retrospective once the band was in the process of breaking up. It was really emotional for us at the time, but I think we all believed we were on our way to more significant career accomplishments after Blake Babies. It was true for each of us I suppose, but not necessarily in the careers we intended. But I think it’s undeniable that our band launched Juliana as a force in popular music in the 90s, and any ambivalence I might have felt at the time has resolved into feeling very proud of what we all did together.

Evan Sawdey, writing for PopMatters:

...for 2019, Hatfield continues her potent brand of catchy songwriting but marries it to lyrics dealing with ennui, alienation, and the difficulty of fitting into modern society with her new studio album Weird. In many ways, the vibe of the album is a bit of a throwback to her early-2000s records, but her maturity and wit is on full display even as she juggles some treacherous topics, just as her idols like the Kinks and the Merge Records family have done before.

So to celebrate the occasion, PopMatters asked Hatfield to fill out her own "Fave Five", this time choosing the topic of "Top Five Albums That Were Spun the Most on the Record Player of My Pre-Pubescence". Given how much she nods her heroes on Weird, it was as fitting a tribute as we could've asked for.

Find out which 5 albums Juliana mentions in the article:

https://www.popmatters.com/fave-five-juliana-hatfield-2627933426.html

Jim Beaugez, interviewing Juliana for GuitarPlayer.com:

[JB] Were there times on Weird when you dug particularly deep into the guitar tones?

[JH] Yeah, there were lots of sonic experiments, like the solo on “Lost Ship.” We recorded the guitar solo direct into the Neve console. No amplifier. That’s how I got that cool sound.

That’s also how Nirvana did “Territorial Pissings” [on Nevermind].

Oh, did they? I love the sound of it. It sounds like something’s broken. In the song “It’s So Weird,” we did the solo through a Leslie speaker, which I haven’t done much on my records. My favorite pedal was a Zvex Fuzz Factory, which I played on some stuff on this album. It’s my new favorite pedal.

Christine Stonat, interviewing Juliana about Weird for Weird:

weird: As to be heard on your new album “Weird” your music might sound a little more “pop” today but still has this revolutionary rock punk attitude that comes with your voice and sound and often poetical lyrics. If you look back on over 25 years of your solo music what would you say has changed the most within your music?

Juliana Hatfield: I think my voice has changed a little — it has gotten a little bit lower (but not a lot). And I think my lyrics are a little less about me and all of my feelings and a little more about how I see the world around me. But I am still a revolutionary punk!

Juliana is interviewed by Chris Collingwood (of Fountains of Wayne) in an article at Talkhouse:

Chris: It seems like whatever you’re singing about, you have an inherent tunefulness. Even on Pussycat, where you’re singing about horrible things, it’s catchy and it draws you in with great melodies.

Juliana: I can’t help myself. I can’t change who I am. I’m more appreciating it now. I’ve been frustrated like anyone. You feel like you’re repeating yourself, and I have these habits, and I can’t break the habits but really it’s just who I am. My musical persona—I was born with it, I think. Sometimes it feels frustrating because I can’t really alter it, or if I did it would probably come across as inauthentic.

Chris: Is it ever the case that the narrator in your songs isn’t you?

Juliana: In most of my songs, when people assume I’m talking about myself, they’re usually right. I don’t really take on other personas. Generally, I don’t put myself in the mind of people that are not me. The new record is all me, totally. Everything on this record is very personal.

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Chris Steffen, interviewing Juliana for AllMusic:

AllMusic: "It's So Weird" really lays bare your contentment with and inclination towards solitude.

Hatfield: I was intending to have it be an album about the comfort of aloneness, or the comfort of living in a small space and not venturing outside of a small radius, outside of a few blocks. I was going to focus on all of the things that went on in this small apartment. I know from experience that there are people out there who don’t really understand how being alone can be a wonderful experience. For me, I really love solitude, and it’s like medicine. After I’ve been with other people, out in public, I always feel a little bit weakened, and I need to go be alone, and that gives me my strength back. I think a lot of people are afraid of being alone, they don’t want to be alone, a lot of people have the goal to find a partner to share their lives with, but I’ve never been like that. I understand that it makes certain people uncomfortable.

That song starts with a conversation I was having with my brother, and he was asking me, “Don’t you ever need your arms around someone?” and I’m like, “No, I don’t. Is that weird?” I’m a little sensitive about it, because I think people are going to think I’m weird, or they’re not going to believe me. There are always people who are like, “You just haven’t found the right person yet,” and people who say that to me just don’t understand what it is to be content, alone.

The excellent interview continues to expand upon the solitude theme of Weird. Recommended.

The second video from Weird is animated, colorized, and directed by Jed Davis.

Juliana, speaking to Consequence of Sound, where the video premiered today:

The repeated “All Right, Yeah” in the choruses was my attempt to write a big, dumb hook that people could sing along to at hockey games or football games or other sports events. I was thinking of Blur’s “Song 2” and its “Woo Hoo!” choruses. I want to be the song that comes on in the stadium after a big goal, or touchdown, or whatever. I also had an alternate image of drunken pals with their arms around each others’ shoulders, jumping up and down and yelling “All Right, Yeah!” all together as a group, at some celebratory gathering like a wedding reception or graduation party. I wanted this song to work in these kinds of contexts. I don’t know if I succeeded. Probably not. My dreams for my songs are often at odds with the world outside of my head.

Read the whole article in Consequence of Sound's Origins series - "a new music feature in which we give an artist we like a chance to dig into what inspired their latest song":

https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/01/juliana-hatfield-origins-all-right-yeah-video/