Julian Velard

Julian Velard (born October 6, 1979), is an American pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer born and raised in New York City. In addition to releasing albums of original material, he is a regular guest on NPR's Ask Me Another[1] and The Wrap Up Show, and he has composed music and lent his vocals to Coca-Cola, Aldi, Wix.com, BuzzFeed, The New Republic and The New York Knicks. Velard teaches songwriting on the online training site Linkedin Learning.[2]

Julian Velard
Julian Velard at Paradiso Grote Zaal in Amsterdam, NL, November 2014
Background information
Birth nameJulian Adam Velard
Born (1979-10-06) October 6, 1979
New York City, New York, U.S.
GenresSinger/Songwriter
InstrumentsVocals
Piano
Keyboards
Years active2001–present
LabelsLucky Number (2007)
Angel Music (2007–2008)
Virgin Records (2008–2009)
Planeteer Records (2010–2012)
Chloebro Records (2013-Present)
Websitewww.JulianVelard.com

Early life

Velard was born in New York City on the Upper West Side on Manhattan. His mother, Margaret is a 4-time Jeopardy! Champion and queen-sized pantyhose model.[3] His father, Maxime, was a hidden child during the Holocaust.[4] He emigrated from Paris in 1963 and worked in computers and designed the technology for the first ATM for Citibank.

Education

Velard attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. He then attended Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts where he majored in composition. There he studied with Jazz legend Yusef Lateef. During college, he spent a semester abroad in Paris where he studied with pianist Kirk Lightsey.

Musical career

Upon graduating college, Velard moved to Brooklyn and began his career as a professional musician. Gigging at night, he supported himself by working as a nursery school gym teacher.[5] In 2003 he released his debut album, Nitetime.

In the fall of 2006 Velard released an EP entitled The Movies Without You, produced by Roger Greenawalt. In 2007, Velard signed a multi-album record deal with Angel Music Group and subsequently moved to London.[6] The following year he was the opening act for Amy Macdonald on her This Is The Life UK Tour.[7]

In June 2008 EMI eliminated 2,000 positions worldwide and Velard's major label debut, The Planeteer, was shelved. In early 2009 after a short stint at Virgin Records, Velard was dropped.

In November 2009 Velard released The Planeteer independently. Soon after Olly Murs recorded Velard’s song Hold On for his debut album which went on to go 2x platinum in the UK.[8] During this time he opened the first half of Jamie Cullum's 2010 US Tour.

In 2011, Velard released Mr. Saturday Night through Universal Music Group. The album was well received in the UK, with Velard appearing on ITV’s This Morning as well as The Alan Titchmarsh Show and BBC’s The Review Show. The album was also released in the Netherlands due to an online discovery by radio and TV host Gerard Ekdom. After connecting with Ekdom, Velard achieved cult success in the Netherlands, playing Serious Request, and headlining his own show at Paradiso .

In 2011, Velard's voice was featured at The World of Coca-Cola in The Great Happyfication exhibit.

In July of 2012, his song about New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin was featured in the New York Times[9].

On November 26, 2012, Velard taped his first show of Ask Me Another. He has since become the go-to substitute for house musician Johnathan Coulton.

On June 16, 2014, Velard released a New York City concept album titled, If You Don't Like It, You Can Leave. The album was well received by critics.[10] Velard opened a tour for Paul Carrack that July.

On October 5, 2015, Velard released his single, The Night Ed Sheeran Slept On My Couch. The song was featured on Popcrush and The Guardian.[11] The song is based on actual events.

On November 18, 2015, Velard appeared for the first time on The Wrap-Up Show. Velard has since become a regular on the show, and several of his original, improvised songs have been played on The Howard Stern Show.

On June 16, 2017, Velard released a 9 song LP entitled, Fancy Words For Failure. The Wall Street Journal [12] published a profile of Velard and his year long residency at Joe's Pub.

In January 2018, Velard's H.P. Joelcraft, a mash up of Billy Joel's Pianoman and H.P. Lovecraft's Nemesis, was featured on The Nerdist,[13] Polygon,[14] The A.V Club,[15] Mashable,[16] and Bloody Disgusting[17] among others.

In 2019, Velard released an EP of comedy duets with comedian Brooke Van Poppelen entitled Comfort Zone.

In 2020, Velard's song Everyday Amazing was chosen as the new theme for Aldi in the UK

Velard's auto-biographical concept album and musical entitled Please Don't Make Me Play Piano Man is due out in 2020. He is running a Kickstarter campaign for the project.


Discography

Studio albums

  • 2003 Nitetime
  • 2009 The Planeteer
  • 2011 Mr. Saturday Night
  • 2014 If You Don’t Like It, You Can Leave
  • 2017 Fancy Words For Failure
  • 2020 Please Don't Make Me Play Piano Man

EPs, singles and live recordings

  • 2003 Make Me Feel
  • 2006 The Movies Without You
  • 2009 Another Guy's Song
  • 2012 The Mighty Lin
  • 2012 Person Of Interest
  • 2013 Tiny Aeroplane
  • 2015 The Night Ed Sheeran Slept On My Couch
  • 2017 Sweatpants on the Living Room Floor
  • 2018 Sad Dad
  • 2019 Comfort Zone
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References
  1. "Blurred Rhymes". NPR. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  2. "Julian Velard". Lynda.com. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  3. Paul Lester, New Band Of The Day, No 312 Julian Velard, The Guardian, (April 29, 2008)
  4. Paul Lester, Julian Velard: Sad, Lonely… and loved by Housewives, The Jewish Chronicle (June 20, 2008)
  5. Dan Kane, Julian Velard to Perform Heartfelt Songs at Auricle, Cantonrep.com (October 28, 2011)
  6. Gary K Julian Velard, (May 27, 2008)
  7. Lyndsey Ure, Saturday 24/5/08 Amy Macdonald, Julian Velard, Pete Du Pon @ Carling Academy Glasgow, (May 28, 2008)
  8. Alan Jones, "Official Album Chart analysis: Olly Murs becomes 10th X-Factor No.1". Music Week. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  9. Appleman, Jake (February 27, 2012). "Jeremy Lin: The Song". Off the Dribble. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  10. Dave Lifton, "CD Review: If You Don't Like It, You Can Leave", (June 10, 2014)
  11. "This Week's New Tracks", (October 2, 2015)
  12. "Brooklyn Musician Taps Failure As His Muse", (July 11, 2017)
  13. "AN H.P. LOVECRAFT POEM SET TO BILLY JOEL MUSIC IS PIANO MAD", (January 20, 2018)
  14. "Enjoy this H.P. Lovecraft poem sung to the tune of Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’", (January 22, 2018)
  15. "We have unlocked the deep, terrible heart of evil lurking within the so-called “Piano Man”", (January 22, 2018)
  16. "AN H.P. LOVECRAFT POEM SET TO BILLY JOEL MUSIC IS PIANO MAD", (January 20, 2018)
  17. "H.P. Lovecraft Poem Sung Like Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” is Pure Magic", (January 22, 2018)
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