I started when I was in high school, as a coping mechanism really. I was very overweight and had lots of pimples and found it hard to socialise with people, so songs and music were really my way of dealing with those emotions.
It was always sort of in the background; I never thought I would end up doing it as a career. Then somewhere in college I made a decision to go all out with it. I felt that made sense.
How did you get your big break then?
Well I was in New York for about six or seven years pounding it out, touring up and down the States, doing my own gigs and a lot of piano bar gigs and weddings. And about two years ago I started getting a lot of emails and messages on MySpace from a publishing company and a lawyer.
Tell us about your single ‘Love again for the first time’.
It’s defiantly got that cinematic feel. It’s a song that I wrote when I first came to London and I fell head-over-heels for a writer from The Guardian. It was just a week long thing, but I thought she liked me.
It pulled the song out of me which is totally fine, but for me it’s that notion of being at the top of a rollercoaster, and you’re at that point where you could still get off and you don’t have to go on the journey. You look at the whole situation and think: ‘Alright, I’m prepared to make this jump but don’t let me get burned again because I’ve been burned before’.
It’s a really upbeat, happy song, but if you listen to the lyrics there’s something very weary about it. It’s also the new city aspect; I’d moved from New York to London and I thought: ‘I’m ready for this, I’m ready to be excited again, but please don’t treat me bad’.
Would you compare yourself to any other musicians?
No, I’m in a league of my own. Some people have compared me to James Morrison, and I can see that people could associate me with that on the surface, but not underneath. A lot of those guys seem like really nice guys; James Blunt, James Morrison, and Jamie Cullen. I’ve met Jamie Cullen actually, and he’s a really nice guy - what a legend.
I’m a nice guy too, but I’m a little bit stranger than that. That’s why I find guys like Kanye West so interesting; there’s something really wrong with him. He’s able to make great music but you can feel that sense of suffering. But if you’re interesting it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re an ass!
What do you like to do in your spare time?
If I say that I surf the Internet, does that mean I’m a dork? (No, we all do it).
I go to the gym. Well, not really; I pretend to go the gym and just basically hang out there. I play the piano, surf the Internet, eat yoghurt and watch movies. I usually do something active outside during the week that I enjoy, but other than that it’s a very embryonic little existence.
But I like what I like. People always try to get me to see art, and I can’t stand doing that. I can’t be bothered going to museums. I know there’s probably some amazing stuff there, and I am a fan of visual art, but I prefer watching movies. It’s pretty pathetic.
Julian’s debut album, ‘The Planeteer’ is out on 9th March 2009.
His singles, ‘Jimmy Dean and Steve Mcqueen’, and ‘Love Again for the First Time’ can be downloaded now.
By Kay Taylor