Richard Julian is one of the music industry's best-kept secrets. Highly regarded among peers, he is both a gifted composer and a storyteller with an honest, if ironic point of view. His songs, often confessional, and always cinematic, are likely to leave a lasting impression. As a songwriter, he has been compared to Paul Simon, Beck, and Prince and his 1999 release, Smash Palace, found a welcome home at AAA radio, reaching #16. He has toured throughout the United States and Europe, opening for an array of major recording artists as well as headlining in nightclubs.
Richard Julian grew up in Arden, Delaware - a small Bohemian community 30 miles south of Philadelphia. Demonstrating an early talent for music, he was classically trained on piano at age six, jumping to modern music theory in his early teens. He wrote his first song when he was fourteen.
Delaware, being no hot bed of musical stardom, an 18 year old Richard headed west toward L.A., but only got as far as Las Vegas. There, he met and played keyboards for cocktail aces Johnny Rico and Pete L'Angelle (This is not a myth). After a year of cranking out "When You're Smiling" in various casinos and dives, Richard read an article about the happening New York songwriter scene while waiting in a dentist's office. "Ladies' Home Journal, I think." With a longing to perform his original material, Julian headed back East where he soon established himself as a well-respected songwriter/performer on a buzzing New York City music scene.
A recording contract was soon to follow and Julian released two records on the Blackbird/Sire label. The new recordings revealed a bold artist searching for his true voice, and finding it in a pile of odds and ends covering a wide spectrum of pop and other influences. On Smash Palace, his second effort, Julian teamed up with infamous Nashville producer Brad Jones and departed from the more standard singer-songwriter fare, creating a swirling blend of horns, woodwinds, vibes, piano, hand drums, loops, and samples. At the center, though, was Richard's voice and guitar, making keen observations about love and hate in a tricky universe - a musician combining the finer points of lyric, melody, irony, and booty. It is regarded by many as one of the most overlooked gems of the last couple of years, perhaps a victim of an unestablished upstart label.
And strangely, his song Roman Polanski fell into the hands of the infamous director himself, who sent along a letter of thanks from Paris, something Julian regards as a real high point.
Currently, Richard is preparing to tour nationally throughout 2002, starting in the southeast this February. Other singers are beginning to find Julian's work as well. Art Garfunkel recently recorded 'Young and Free,' a song from Julian's self-titled debut record.
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