Jullian James » From My Integrated Soul

Metaphorically Speaking

Jullian — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:39:27 +0000

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau

I had always been a tad off beat, a little backwards reading most books, and articles from back to front to know the outcome before the cause. I wanted to feel safe in knowing that what I was spending my time reading, and learning was really worth my energy. I think it was a sort of safety mechanism. “What happens if I read this, and by the end what I have learned gets me nowhere?” “If I get nothing from this what was the point?” So after moving to New York City a year, and some months ago now, I have taken on more of an iridescent view on life, really seeing there is more than meets thee eye to the outcome of anything, and that there is more to be learned in the cause. I look back thinking how ignorant it really was of me to think of receiving an outcome before a cause, how could I really enjoy the fruits with out the labor anyway? It’s a sobering beauty, life and it’s lessons being able to get through the scrambled, the erratic, the deranged, and the delirious. Letting the dust settle to see, and most importantly feel the difference, and knowing the importance to its reason. What a relief huh? Discipline, and a little ingenuity pay off! Metaphorically speaking the outcome of the books we read we may not enjoy, we may not appreciate, and we may not agree with, but the cause from page one into the final chapter tell tale to how we arrived there, and that my friends is most important. When latter days come, and life does it’s circular motion it will always do the same synopsis will show it’s pages, and it is our job to not take our lessons in vein, but the second time around to make a rational, intelligent decision with ALL the information… And so life becomes an intuitive read… Metaphorically Speaking

Billboard.com: Jullian James Releases New Album Featuring Mya

Jullian — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:57:19 +0000

Rocking the same glittering Dolce & Gabbana blazer Beyonce wore at the 2011 VMAs, Jullian James threw one hell of an album release party on Tuesday (Jan. 31) at NYC’s Hudson Terrace. Blending pop, R&B and soul, the singer mixes crooner vocals with the dance moves of Liza Minnelli…

Read more at Billboard.com

The Record

Jullian — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:43:15 +0000

I always felt great artists could invoke feelings in people. Feelings they did not know they did not know. Feelings people had missed in themselves, maybe feelings they pain to feel again, even feelings to inspire new life. Great artists inspire this all through fearless sounds, and words with the last of their mind payed to how ugly it may be, or how close to the bone the pain of these uncoverings may make themselves, and the listener feel. February 8th 2011 I walked into the production studio with a vision. My inspiration was the world, and all that the world entails I wrapped this hefty inspiration around my life story. I took smells, sounds, movements, desires, pains, lessons, colors, music, places, things, people, cultures, time periods, and created a platform of likings for myself somewhere I could sit comfortably, and compose beautiful music. January 24th 2012 I walked out with my vision physically in my hand. In the most literal way I could possibly put it, I held my life in my hands as I walked Hell’s Kitchen uptown making my way home to take a listen. There are many words, and many ways to express a feeling, but when a man is blessed with a physically obtainable vision of all he’s dreamed, anything that could be said out loud would be an understatement to the way his spirit feels inside. Swiftly within the past year my faith has grown strong, my belief in man has grown strong, and my love for this world has grown great. What more could an artist ask for than a platform of unlimited inspiration, and beauty? I say nothing!

Debut Record: “From My Integrated Soul”

The Night Before The Final Mastering

Jullian — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:37:16 +0000

Just about a year ago I made New York City my new home. I moved with no real direction other than a feeling in my gut and a few songs in my back pocket written at some of the most painful stages of my life. I didn’t hope for anything, I wasn’t ready, I didn’t pray too much, and I wasn’t sure I deserved answers, but destiny led me here. That guttural gnawing in my stomach was soon to be answered. I started straight ahead at work on my record and in doing so I found the soul in my sound. I learned of the little trinkets in my tone and the beauty hiding behind the belts of my diaphragm. The gnawing in my belly all these years was just myself needing to be set free. I thought, if I don’t hash through this close-to-the-bone agony to do what I was gifted to do then this will be the end of me. I knew I wouldn’t have the energy left to pick myself up again. Tomorrow I have an appointment to finalize my record. I will go into the mastering session and I will hear so many beautiful sounds blossom like a beautiful rose filled with new life. I will hear my sweat, blood, and tears. My life stories will take off into the sky like a dragonfly. Most of all, I will be doing this knowing that I fought, I believed, I prayed, and so, I finished. This year has been filled with so much soul and so much guts and glory, that it is indescribable how my heart feels so warm and humble. I am jumping into my jacket and snow boots now to head into the studio, one last time. I will be finishing vocals on my song “Dragonfly”, the last song to be completed. What a perfect way to wrap this record and to start my new life, high in the sky where I have always dreamed of being, and so far far from my silhouette of pain. I will check back in tomorrow evening after the mastering of “From My Integrated Soul”. I hope I will be able to rest tonight! I feel so many things~

…And The Day Came

Jullian — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:23:02 +0000

…And the day came when the boy in the over-sized hat grew into his own and was able to open up his gift and share it with the world! The release party has been set to January 31st at The Hudson Terrace, 621 West 46th Street, New York, NY 10036! My first single, “My Sweet Radio,” an acoustic version entitled ”My Radio (The Mississippi Blend),” and one of my feel-so-good tracks, “Don’t Trip, And Fall,” will all be released! It’s been an incredible journey with overwhelming adventures stamped into my memory for the rest of my life. I can only imagine what is to come! If I have learned even just one thing on this path into my own, it is that a second chance is always possible and that with hard work, sweat, and maybe a few buckets of tears, so is happiness! There are so many special people involved in this ever growing project entitled ”From My Integrated Soul” and I hope that they have gained and taken with them even a tinkling of the hope that I have. In essence it seemed so simple. I decided to live, focus, and remedy an itch I wouldn’t have been able to ignore any longer and that’s just making some great ol’ fashion feel good music!!! Thankful to family, friends, and my supporters. Your belief in this project has brought it to life~ Amen

In Between The Beat Of A City’s Tune

Jullian — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:25:10 +0000

Lifted brow to the sky, mild mood, hands held high. “Just give me a beat!” the old fashioned man said. Dressed from head to toe in everything but shirt to shoe cohesion, miss-matching with a bright pink top. Hat to boot, the man couldn’t be more content. All he wanted to do was sing, turning noise into music at every turn, his spirit was as energized as a young boy on Christmas morning awaiting the new family pet to show face from under the tree! This blind man made his way to what we call the city of dreams. To him it was music, the city of noise! At every corner, a new instrument, from the gallop of a horses hoof, to a dogs bark, to a taxi horn, all just enough to inspire a tune! A man most would call homely and unfortunate, on the contrary, he would say, “just consider me the lucky one. I have a gift. I hear sounds most never hear.” When asked to explain, he would reply, “have you been to the park in the village where the pigeons meet? It’s like an arrangement of bells and whistles, an ensemble of feathers, a living breathing orchestra! Or maybe under the streets where millions of feet scurry, shoes are clacking, people huffing to achieve their destinations while trains come to screaming halts. I hear subway vocalists resembling a chorus of sorts to these scurrying entities. Just give me a beat. Sight means no more to me than the excitement of your new sparkling shoe. My ears are my gratitude. The world is my symphony. I need not see what I hear so clearly…” You will find this miss-matched man dancing in the streets, a slanted grin to the left side of his face aimlessly scouring the city for the next big hit! A grateful man, we should say, a free spirit, an angel. How sweet to meet people that dance to different beats, that live and breathe in between the notes of life. How fortunate we are to experience these off-the-beat souls… Refreshing, I’d say. Grateful. I welcome you.

The Singing Dragon

Jullian — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:58:23 +0000

By chance, my producer, Nathanael Nicol, heard the charms of the magnificent man’s chords. Hearing this man, he immediately pulled out his voice memo recorder. In knowing me, he knew a special moment in time would be captured if he could get us both into the same room to do what we have done all our lives apart. Nathanael phoned me in the middle of a meeting with my manager on the Upper West Side. With a certain gratefulness to his voice he said, “Jullian, there’s something really special I want to share with you when you come in today, something we have been searching for this whole time!” Needless to say, I was very curious and thought to myself, “more magic? WOW!!!” I walked into Nightlife Studios a few hours later centered and ready for whatever news he had for me. On the contrary, it was never, ever what I could of imagined. He explained a little, pulled out his voice memo recorder, pressed play and my whole life instantaneously flashed before my eyes. His years, his pain, his knowledge, his passion flew like a cupids bow straight into my spirit. I dreamt of this man my whole life. I needed to be in his presence. I told Nathanael, “my life is about to change, please make this possible.” He responded by saying, “we’ll see buddy, I will do my best. It’s a very interesting situation. We already have the song. It’s complete, but this would take it to that magical place that we have been searching for.” A few days later, with time to brew on how to approach this amazing man with multiple names, Nathanael did it. He made it happen. I was about to experience something so important to my soul, something I truly needed to feel, something that would give me the strength to believe, and something that would just help me understand my sound. Honestly though, to just overall meet an angel was more than enough. What more could someone truly ask for? The morning of our meeting I shook, I was overwhelmed, I was scarce for words. I didn’t know how to feel or act. I didn’t know how to be. I was so grateful I couldn’t move… until I ran into him on the street. We were walking opposite directions. He was on his way to the studio barring a Yankees cap, an orange and black sweater, and a broken down cart carrying all the necessities to make a living down in the subway singing cover songs. It carried, from what I could tell, an old CD player, a big speaker, and an extra fluffy jacket. At first, I wasn’t sure exactly how to get his attention for he went by so many names, including Danny Smalls, Geechee Dan, The Singing Dragon, and The Subway Soul Singer so I just yelled out “DANNY SMALLS!” HAHA! He turned and smiled. I got the feeling it made him happy to hear his name. He has become such an internet success, he must carry around such a beautiful strength knowing people acknowledge this gift from God. I walked up and introduced myself. I felt like a child meeting his idol. All I could say was how grateful I was and what a blessing he was to me personally. I told him he was beautiful and that working with him on this tribute to Sam was more than I could have ever imagined. I’m pretty sure he was confused and didn’t understand why I was out of nowhere baring my soul, but I couldn’t help myself. Who could?… Boy oh boy, could The Dragon talk! He went on about this and that. Every word I soaked in. I asked him questions and was in awe of his responses. He had so much knowledge about the type of music I believed in, so much first hand experience with a lot of the artists that I look up to and most of them being from his time! He told me he talked to Michael Jackson coming out of the Apollo Theater when he was a part of the Jackson 5, a huge point in Michael’s career and in history. I guess they used to sing together backstage. He joked about how tall and big Michael’s afro was. He said, “It looked so heavy, I was surprised he wasn’t walking sideways.” He cracked himself up! Right before we made it up to the studio on 10th ave., he shared a dream with me. He said, “I would like to open for Aerosmith. Those guys make all the girls go crazy. They are so raw when they get on stage, they don’t give a damn about sounding pretty, they just lay it out,” and with that, we finally made it into the studio. When he first heard the tribute to Sam Cooke & his song “Bring It On Home To Me,” he was a little taken back and seemed a little hesitant. Then my producer said, “why don’t you guys just sing it together, see what happens, and remember nothing is written in stone.” Now there are times that you question fate. What is meant to be? Then there are times like these where there is no question, just blatant honesty and truth. Magic. When something happens that was always set to happen, there is a certain thickness in the air, a certain mood, and a certain “knowing” that goes on. It’s just “meant to be”. When we were done with our first round of soulful stature, Dragon said, “yahhh, I think I like it. It’s like an old Mississippi tune,” and from there he would just close his eyes, squeeze his brows together, and feel the music as if our voices were a drug circulating the room. We proceeded to make beautiful music in the booth together, laying our hearts out on that microphone like we were sharing the same exact story with the same meaning from two completely different worlds. He turned to me at one point, took his headphones off, and said, “oh it’s Aerosmith” and I started laughing, overwhelmed. I couldn’t believe he said that. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Nathanael captured this laugh on recording and said, “I’m keeping that in.” I thank this man. He has changed my life and he just doesn’t even know it. For the rest of my life, till the day I die, I know that I have met my idol and great gift of a man I call friend. When I asked him what he wanted to be called on the record, he said, “The Singing Dragon.” Thank you friend~

Please take a minute, and enjoy,
The Singing Dragon

The Bliss Of A Beautiful Journey

Jullian — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:18:49 +0000

Been hard at work for the past few months with everyone working so diligently to make this beautiful project grow! The album is in its last stages of production. The music video for my first single “My Sweet Radio” is completed and ready to rock! We have auditioned the most amazing musicians and have been rehearsing weekly. My producer, Nathanael Nicol, and I have also brought some of the pieces right back to where they started from, on piano, and oh, how beautiful they sound in that sweet spot of soul! Soon it will be a year since we have been brewing this master piece from the ground into a sky of dragonflies! My debut album, “From My Integrated Soul”, along with my very own record label, Jullian Records, has come to life for everyone to enjoy. Hard work is humbling. It is raw. It tends to leave you feeling bare and dazed at times, but oh, how sweet the memories, the magic, and the bond of a true team of souldiers. I will fight for what I believe and my music will be my transport to make that happen! Love, Jullian.

The Summer of Soul

Jullian — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:36:25 +0000

I call this summer The Summer Of Soul. My team and I are cracking down on the album “From My Integrated Soul”. We are going into overdrive to write and produce the most soulful mixings of sound, lyric, and possible color for the album. We are staying true and bringing back old sounds from the 50s & 60s. Live musicians, a little big band, soulful stories, and a lot of feel good music! Stay Tuned!