Julian Velard
Julian Velard is a contemporary artist and a massive film buff. Signed by Virgin UK, the 29-year-old musician has been touring America over the past few years and has finally come to England to promote his new album, ‘The Planeteer’.
He talks exclusively to FemaleFirst about horror movies, his secret obsession with ‘The Forty Year Old Virgin’, and his abnormally large feet.
First of all, is it true that you always perform barefoot?
No, that’s somehow a lie that filtered from the Internet. I tried performing barefoot for about half a year when I first started out, but it was cutting my feet up and they were getting really disgusting and dirty.
It also had some gross hippie connotations which I wanted to get away from. And now that I’m living in London, the selection of shoes that you guys have here makes me think that there’s no reason anyone would want to go barefoot.
Why did you decide to do it in the first place then?
I don’t know; I’m really weird like that! I don’t like to wear jeweler either. Having things hanging on me feels weird, especially when I’m performing. I was doing a session yesterday and I had to take my watch off to sing, which makes absolutely no sense.
At one point I associated shoes with that, but I also have really big feet so most shoes don’t fit me. People make fun of me for that.
Your album, ‘The Planeteer’ is released in March next year, how would you describe your music and song choices?
It’s all my original material, and movies were a huge influence for it. I look at each song as a three or four minute movie; I’m describing a situation or a scenario in very visual ways. There are a lot of cinematic influences in the sounds that come out, so it’s almost like a non-camp version of a Broadway show.
Who influences you as an artist?
My biggest influences are guys like Stevie Wonder and Elton John, but I listen to bands like Girls Aloud too.
I like a lot of weird music and anything that I find different and interesting. Lately, I’ve found myself listening to the new Kanye West album a lot because it’s so weird. The whole thing is like a robot voice, it’s got lots of strange little things; it’s cool.
But my favourites are those seventies classic songs from Elton John and Billy Joel.
You mentioned that you base your songs on films, are there any particular films which influenced your music?
I have a song called ‘Jimmy Dean and Steve Mcqueen’ which came out last year. There are loads of movie references in each of the songs. I watch a lot of cheap horror movies and in a weird way, I take that visceral aesthetic and put it into a setting in a song.
So your girlfriend isn’t actually turning into a monster, but by describing various graphics, I can produce the feeling of heartache. There’s something really immediate about films such as Halloween, The Thing and The Clockwork Orange, and something very shocking about it, but you can take the shock and terror out of it and that really filters into the tunes. There are lots of big cinematic themes; it’s a little bit over the top at times.
So what are some of your all-time favourite films?
Mcqueen films are defiantly my favourites. And I don’t know why, but I have this obsessive relationship with the ‘Forty Year Old Virgin’; I watch that movie a lot. I don’t like admitting that it’s one of my all-time favourite films, but I watch it so much that I suppose it has to be.
I’m also a big Kubrick fan so I love the Clockwork Orange, and I like John Carpenter’s work.
It sounds ridiculous, but I also think that Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is just a genius movie. I get a real buzz from watching movies that provide you with a deep emotional experience.
How did you get involved in writing music?
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
Julian Velard is a contemporary artist and a massive film buff. Signed by Virgin UK, the 29-year-old musician has been touring America over the past few years and has finally come to England to promote his new album, ‘The Planeteer’.
He talks exclusively to FemaleFirst about horror movies, his secret obsession with ‘The Forty Year Old Virgin’, and his abnormally large feet.
First of all, is it true that you always perform barefoot?
No, that’s somehow a lie that filtered from the Internet. I tried performing barefoot for about half a year when I first started out, but it was cutting my feet up and they were getting really disgusting and dirty.
It also had some gross hippie connotations which I wanted to get away from. And now that I’m living in London, the selection of shoes that you guys have here makes me think that there’s no reason anyone would want to go barefoot.
Why did you decide to do it in the first place then?
I don’t know; I’m really weird like that! I don’t like to wear jeweler either. Having things hanging on me feels weird, especially when I’m performing. I was doing a session yesterday and I had to take my watch off to sing, which makes absolutely no sense.
At one point I associated shoes with that, but I also have really big feet so most shoes don’t fit me. People make fun of me for that.
Your album, ‘The Planeteer’ is released in March next year, how would you describe your music and song choices?
It’s all my original material, and movies were a huge influence for it. I look at each song as a three or four minute movie; I’m describing a situation or a scenario in very visual ways. There are a lot of cinematic influences in the sounds that come out, so it’s almost like a non-camp version of a Broadway show.
Who influences you as an artist?
My biggest influences are guys like Stevie Wonder and Elton John, but I listen to bands like Girls Aloud too.
I like a lot of weird music and anything that I find different and interesting. Lately, I’ve found myself listening to the new Kanye West album a lot because it’s so weird. The whole thing is like a robot voice, it’s got lots of strange little things; it’s cool.
But my favourites are those seventies classic songs from Elton John and Billy Joel.
You mentioned that you base your songs on films, are there any particular films which influenced your music?
I have a song called ‘Jimmy Dean and Steve Mcqueen’ which came out last year. There are loads of movie references in each of the songs. I watch a lot of cheap horror movies and in a weird way, I take that visceral aesthetic and put it into a setting in a song.
So your girlfriend isn’t actually turning into a monster, but by describing various graphics, I can produce the feeling of heartache. There’s something really immediate about films such as Halloween, The Thing and The Clockwork Orange, and something very shocking about it, but you can take the shock and terror out of it and that really filters into the tunes. There are lots of big cinematic themes; it’s a little bit over the top at times.
So what are some of your all-time favourite films?
Mcqueen films are defiantly my favourites. And I don’t know why, but I have this obsessive relationship with the ‘Forty Year Old Virgin’; I watch that movie a lot. I don’t like admitting that it’s one of my all-time favourite films, but I watch it so much that I suppose it has to be.
I’m also a big Kubrick fan so I love the Clockwork Orange, and I like John Carpenter’s work.
It sounds ridiculous, but I also think that Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is just a genius movie. I get a real buzz from watching movies that provide you with a deep emotional experience.
How did you get involved in writing music?