The Big Apple’s Julian Velard was once quoted as being “too weird for pop, and too pop for weird” and the first of those two statements is definitely portrayed in his latest video blog entry following his performance last month in Belfast.
The vlog is actually quite humorous. It starts off with Julian rushing to catch a plane, and barely (as in sprinting through the airport) making it. The video also introduces fans to some of the most important people in Julian’s tour world, including his stage band whom with Julian seems to be incredibly close.
The five minute video covers the entire Belfast experience, which is limited to his thoughts about the other bands on the bill, and celebrating afterwards. While watching himself on national television, fans can watch an apparently drunk and incredibly excited Julian perform an impromptu interpretive dance in his hotel room.
I must admit, the earlier remark about Julian being weird is a bit of an oversimplification. Although the piano pop star is a self proclaimed nut job, I found his reaction to his Belfast experience to be sadly quite normal, as anyone would feel a little goofy given the circumstances.
I also feel that the introduction to the other members of the tour team is an important touching step for Julian. The vlog is an important key for any performer or famous personality to reach fans, and it is a positive experience for them to ‘meet’ the people who are involved with their idols. Personally I think that since we have met these interesting characters, they should be featured in other entries in the future, and I hope that they are.
As an artist, Julian does a fantastic job at keeping fans up to date with not only what’s happening in the now, but the future as well. For instance we look forward to ringing in the New Year with him at his double bill show on the 31st.
In the closing seconds of his video blog entry Julian admits “My life is amazing,” which certainly appears to be true after the antics we have seen from him in a matter of minutes, we should all be so lucky.
And for all those who have been on another planet of late, check out this great cover of Katy Perry's Hot N Cold by Julian, its taken YouTube by Storm!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EjtQngHUaKU
Peace x
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Julian Velard - Double Bill of Pop Piano!
Ringing in the New Year
Transplanted New York piano-pop hero Julian Velard will be returning home and subsequently capping off 2008 with a bang.
After playing one final show in Glasgow on the 21st of December alongside Scottish singer/songwriter Amy MacDonald, (which I’m inclined to add has already been sold out) he’ll be heading home to the states for Christmas celebrations.
When the routine hoop-lah of Christmas has come to a close, Julian will be playing a double bill on the 31st to ring in the New Year.
The show will be held at the Rockwood Music Centre in New York, where he’ll be playing two shows, one from 7-9pm and the second from 930-1130pm ending just in time for New York natives to participate in the cities notorious New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The venue is located at 196 Allen Street in downtown NYC, and tickets are still available from upwards of $20 USD, although they’re not expected to last much longer.
Tickets are available through several different options, including Julian Velard’s myspace.com page, as well as his official website. The tickets to this unique performance are incredibly limited, so fans located in and around the city are encouraged to commit to buying quickly if they opt to attend.
The epic return of Julian to his home turf is quickly ramping up to be a spectacular event. As memory serves, the Big Apple wasn’t the kindest of mistresses to his career in earlier years, although his recent musical acclaim will surely change all of that.
Both New Year’s Eve shows will feature giveaways, contests and a welcoming cheer to the pending New Year, and the latter of the two will feature a champagne toast appropriately at midnight. I’ll also add the gig features a thus far undisclosed “special guest.”
Julian took the time to announce the end-of-year show in his latest video blog, in which he states that he hopes the coming year will be just as prosperous for him and us (his fans) as this year was. As a fan it is easy to follow suit and look bravely and eagerly toward what ’09 may have in store for all of us.
If you haven't already seen this great cover on YouTube, check it out!:
Katy Perry Stripped Hot N Cold Cover by Julian Velard
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EjtQngHUaKU
Transplanted New York piano-pop hero Julian Velard will be returning home and subsequently capping off 2008 with a bang.
After playing one final show in Glasgow on the 21st of December alongside Scottish singer/songwriter Amy MacDonald, (which I’m inclined to add has already been sold out) he’ll be heading home to the states for Christmas celebrations.
When the routine hoop-lah of Christmas has come to a close, Julian will be playing a double bill on the 31st to ring in the New Year.
The show will be held at the Rockwood Music Centre in New York, where he’ll be playing two shows, one from 7-9pm and the second from 930-1130pm ending just in time for New York natives to participate in the cities notorious New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The venue is located at 196 Allen Street in downtown NYC, and tickets are still available from upwards of $20 USD, although they’re not expected to last much longer.
Tickets are available through several different options, including Julian Velard’s myspace.com page, as well as his official website. The tickets to this unique performance are incredibly limited, so fans located in and around the city are encouraged to commit to buying quickly if they opt to attend.
The epic return of Julian to his home turf is quickly ramping up to be a spectacular event. As memory serves, the Big Apple wasn’t the kindest of mistresses to his career in earlier years, although his recent musical acclaim will surely change all of that.
Both New Year’s Eve shows will feature giveaways, contests and a welcoming cheer to the pending New Year, and the latter of the two will feature a champagne toast appropriately at midnight. I’ll also add the gig features a thus far undisclosed “special guest.”
Julian took the time to announce the end-of-year show in his latest video blog, in which he states that he hopes the coming year will be just as prosperous for him and us (his fans) as this year was. As a fan it is easy to follow suit and look bravely and eagerly toward what ’09 may have in store for all of us.
If you haven't already seen this great cover on YouTube, check it out!:
Katy Perry Stripped Hot N Cold Cover by Julian Velard
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EjtQngHUaKU
Monday, 1 December 2008
Mr. Popularity - Piano Pop from New York City
Since coming from his status as relative-nobody in NYC’s underground music scene, Julian Velard is picking up momentum. His peppy piano-pop style is leaving a mark on the hearts of fans worldwide.
After growing a cult UK fan base on myspace, which now exceeds the total of 10,000 fans, he uprooted to England (where the highest concentration of fans seemed to be) to extend his reach by signing with Virgin. And it’s working.
Perhaps Europe was simply waiting for an awkward, free-spirited musical hero to take the continent by force. Being compared to pop idols such as Elton John and Elvis Costello must cast a pretty tall shadow, but it doesn’t seem to shake him. This artist seems to be relatively unmoved by the fame and fortune aspect of the music biz anyways.
At this exact moment, Julian has 582 fans on his facebook page (the last of which is me) through ilike, where all his video blogs and links to other sites can be found. Julian is said to have been “too weird for pop and too pop for weird” and you have to see it to believe it.
Julian’s Kyte channel is also played simultaneously around the world on over 100 different websites, and has been viewed atleast 25,000 times.
On Youtube, Julian Velard has over 26 video’s posted including music videos, live performances and his video blogs. This Velard media outlet has 91 subscribers and is constantly being viewed. Notably, the music video for Jimmy Dean & Steve McQueen, Julian’s first single has received just shy of 27,000 views since its posting on May 14th.
With the release of his album coming up, we’ll see where this goes, but we can definitely expect this New York oddball to going from pop hit to pop star in a matter of months, especially if the full album lives up to the singles that have already been released.
As the spotlight slowly wanders over to Julian, we wonder if he will reach the level of notoriety of the pop legends he is already being compared to.
After growing a cult UK fan base on myspace, which now exceeds the total of 10,000 fans, he uprooted to England (where the highest concentration of fans seemed to be) to extend his reach by signing with Virgin. And it’s working.
Perhaps Europe was simply waiting for an awkward, free-spirited musical hero to take the continent by force. Being compared to pop idols such as Elton John and Elvis Costello must cast a pretty tall shadow, but it doesn’t seem to shake him. This artist seems to be relatively unmoved by the fame and fortune aspect of the music biz anyways.
At this exact moment, Julian has 582 fans on his facebook page (the last of which is me) through ilike, where all his video blogs and links to other sites can be found. Julian is said to have been “too weird for pop and too pop for weird” and you have to see it to believe it.
Julian’s Kyte channel is also played simultaneously around the world on over 100 different websites, and has been viewed atleast 25,000 times.
On Youtube, Julian Velard has over 26 video’s posted including music videos, live performances and his video blogs. This Velard media outlet has 91 subscribers and is constantly being viewed. Notably, the music video for Jimmy Dean & Steve McQueen, Julian’s first single has received just shy of 27,000 views since its posting on May 14th.
With the release of his album coming up, we’ll see where this goes, but we can definitely expect this New York oddball to going from pop hit to pop star in a matter of months, especially if the full album lives up to the singles that have already been released.
As the spotlight slowly wanders over to Julian, we wonder if he will reach the level of notoriety of the pop legends he is already being compared to.
Monday, 24 November 2008
Julian Velard: Catchy Piano Pop
This ironic and well-put quote is exactly how piano pop up-and-comer Julian Velard describes the attention he’s been receiving lately. His recent victories include a ton of media attention, especially on Youtube, and his first headlining gig in over 6 months this past week in the town he’s housed in, London, England.
This Quentin Tarentino-meets-Elton John performer has been keeping quite busy lately what with a pending record release, as well as a tour through Europe, although he still manages to find time to post both video and text blogs to keep his constantly growing fan base well informed.
Like many true musical artists, Julian admits that he prefers live shows and events to album versions of his songs. He finds album tracks to be very defining and therefore need to be perfect, whereas in live sets he is free to play the same song angrily, or softly or however is best suited to the venue.
“The record is the statement, the live show is the interpretation.” This is how Julian summed up his take on the album vs. live show conundrum to Botonist interviewer Jordan Carp.
Record making was apparently an arduous process for Velard, because of how “minute” everything needed to be. Based on his strange personality, one could assume that going over every detail until it was polished and perfect would be a tedious task that would clash heavily with his character.
Julian describes the tracks on his forthcoming album, The Planeteer, as “cuddly and friendly with an almost game-show vibe, but there’s a very dark side to them as well.” This is easy to understand, since his upbeat style songs are usually centered around loneliness, and the romance of the concept.
The beauty in Julian’s songs come from the reason for their creation. He is not an artist simply capitalizing on the enjoyment people take in his music, but writes for the love of doing so. Simply put, he is an odd sort of character with a passion and talent, who makes his music his own way, and for his own reasons.
Julian admitted, “I just wanna make music and be great. That’s enough of a challenge” when asked about becoming famous by ShowMeHowToPlay.com. There is no argument that Julian Velard truly is a great singer/songwriter/performer, and because of that, fame will follow.
Monday, 10 November 2008
“And it feels like love again for the first time”
Is a lyric that certainly rings true when listeners hear New York artist Julian Velard’s upbeat, piano pop music. There are certain elements of his style that simply captivate listeners and absorb them into his art.
Velard uses his strong voice and piano skills to keep his songs peppy and lighthearted, which are reminiscent of American artist Billy Joel, but Velard’s songs are so catchy, so down to earth, so REAL they’d make Jack Johnson shake.
Born and raised in New York, NY on October 6th 1979, Julian has been shaping his craft since he was young, attending Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, and later attending Hampshire College. It was there he studied under world-renowned saxophonist and jazz musician Yusef Lateef.
Getting his name out there was hard for Julian in the United States. He seemed to simply be a footnote to the musical movement in New York City, that is until one day record company EMI told him they wanted to sign him in the summer of 2007. As it had turned out he was more famous than even he had known. Thanks to myspace.com Julian had become and internet sensation across the pond, scoring thousands of fans that included big time music executives.
After signing to EMI he moved to London, England to further pursue his career, and gather an even bigger fan base.
As soon as he hit the scene he began touring, he has toured with several artists throughout the UK, Ireland, and North America. This includes a four-month sold out tour with Scottish singer/songwriter Amy Macdonald earlier this year.
In June of 2008, Velard released his first single: Jimmy Dean & Steve McQueen. This will be the first song on Julian’s forth-coming album The Planeteer, which features other major tracks like Joni and Love Again for the First Time. This album is a whimsical take on the ups and downs in any normal persons life.
Although Julian Velard’s music is identified as piano pop, many feel that label is inappropriate because unlike most music in the pop genre, his songs are soulful and speak true into the lives of their listeners.
Since his career is only beginning to blossom, we can expect to see a lot more from Julian Velard in the near future. One can foresee him being the type of artist to continually re-define both himself and his music to continually impress and surprise his obvious soon-to-be cult fan base.
Velard uses his strong voice and piano skills to keep his songs peppy and lighthearted, which are reminiscent of American artist Billy Joel, but Velard’s songs are so catchy, so down to earth, so REAL they’d make Jack Johnson shake.
Born and raised in New York, NY on October 6th 1979, Julian has been shaping his craft since he was young, attending Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, and later attending Hampshire College. It was there he studied under world-renowned saxophonist and jazz musician Yusef Lateef.
Getting his name out there was hard for Julian in the United States. He seemed to simply be a footnote to the musical movement in New York City, that is until one day record company EMI told him they wanted to sign him in the summer of 2007. As it had turned out he was more famous than even he had known. Thanks to myspace.com Julian had become and internet sensation across the pond, scoring thousands of fans that included big time music executives.
After signing to EMI he moved to London, England to further pursue his career, and gather an even bigger fan base.
As soon as he hit the scene he began touring, he has toured with several artists throughout the UK, Ireland, and North America. This includes a four-month sold out tour with Scottish singer/songwriter Amy Macdonald earlier this year.
In June of 2008, Velard released his first single: Jimmy Dean & Steve McQueen. This will be the first song on Julian’s forth-coming album The Planeteer, which features other major tracks like Joni and Love Again for the First Time. This album is a whimsical take on the ups and downs in any normal persons life.
Although Julian Velard’s music is identified as piano pop, many feel that label is inappropriate because unlike most music in the pop genre, his songs are soulful and speak true into the lives of their listeners.
Since his career is only beginning to blossom, we can expect to see a lot more from Julian Velard in the near future. One can foresee him being the type of artist to continually re-define both himself and his music to continually impress and surprise his obvious soon-to-be cult fan base.
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