Biography

The Early Years
Julian Samuel grew up in Manchester, England where the first song he remembers hearing was Obladi, Oblada by the Beatles. Their brand of melodic songwriting excited him even at that early age and many years later influenced one of his primary musical goals when writing a song…listeners have to want to sing along. At the age of seven, his family moved to the U.S., to Indianapolis, Indiana. While he was in high school, Julian's mother copied a guitar teacher's phone number off a flyer at the local grocery story and got him started playing guitar at the age of 13. His instructor, Mr. Hugh Hanlin, made house calls and inspired Julian to develop his guitar technique and also learn the fundamentals of music. Julian has been playing, singing and writing songs ever since.

After high school, Julian attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. At IU, Julian was exposed to career musicians for the first time. On his dorm floor lived Chris Botti, now Sting's sideman and one of the best known smooth jazz trumpeters in the world; Shawn Pelton, the current drummer on Saturday Night Live, and roommate John England, now a musician in Nashville. While his as-yet undiscovered friends practiced all day and played music all night, Julian was being practical and went to business school, training for a life of corporate ladder climbing. However, his electives were all piano, guitar, and hanging out with his musician friends. A few songs were written, a few coffee houses were played, but music remained in the background.

After graduating from IU, and a year in banking, Julian left Indianapolis to attend the MBA program at Rice University. It was here that he learned the intricacies of marketing strategy and also became acquainted with Macintosh computers, a primary tool of his graphic design and musical creativity. After graduating, a series of corporate jobs got him two things: a desire to work for himself and the money to buy the instruments and recording equipment he needed to record his music. Through all the twists and turns of life, those songs kept playing in his head and wouldn't leave him alone.

These Days
The writing and recording of I See Stars Falling represents a milestone and a turning point for Julian. “It is and may always be the single most important creative thing I've done …because it was written for such an important reason,” he says. “There's no turning back now after this experience—I have to take music seriously. And, my goal is to be a professional songwriter.”

He now plans on recording the rest of his cache of songs, one-by-one and sending them out to the world. Julian plays all manner of guitar and keyboards and writes in many different styles ranging from country (how can you not in Texas) to blues and pop. His next release, Closer Today will be available in late March, the web site www.julian-samuel.com will be launched in June, and a 6-song CD is scheduled to be released by the end of 2004. Meanwhile, he runs his one-man graphic design shop by day and writes and plays his music by night—but this time, music is no longer the hobby but his primary focus. Stay tuned…

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