Julien-K is an American

electronic rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrume ...

band based in

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, California, that began as a side project for electronic music created by

Amir Derakh Amir Davidson, professionally known as Amir Derakh, is an American musician and record producer. He is currently the guitarist and the synthesizer player for the band Julien-K, and was the guitarist for the band Dead by Sunrise. He was once the g ...

and

Ryan Shuck Ryan Shuck is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer, producer, and entrepreneur. A co-founder of industrial rock band Orgy, Shuck is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist in electronic rock band Julien-K, and lead singer of the rock ...

from

Orgy In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party consisting of at least five members where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex. Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swin ...

, alongside Anthony 'Fu' Valcic. The band's name comes from the movie '' American Gigolo'', where

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

's character was named Julian Kaye.

History

After the release of Orgy's third album, ''

Punk Statik Paranoia ''Punk Statik Paranoia'' is the third album by the industrial metal band Orgy. It was released on February 24, 2004, their first independent recording. The album's style is a big departure from the electronic rock Electronic rock is a music ...

'', internal conflicts within the band caused Shuck and Derakh to find themselves writing songs that lead vocalist Jay Gordon had no interest in working on. The pair opted to continue writing and recording material, with Shuck stepping in on vocals, before deciding to launch their own side project with the addition of drummer Elias 'Bones' Rodriguez and keyboardist Brandon Belsky. Julien-K's webpage was launched in the summer of 2003 with initial demo versions of songs "Look at You", "Kick the Bass", "Someday Soon", "Everyone Knows", and "Technical Difficulties", the latter of which was later featured both in the film and on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

from Michael Bay's 2007 ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

''. Their debut album, ''

Death to Analog ''Death to Analog'' is the first album by the American rock band Julien-K, which had a limited release on March 10, 2009, with a vinyl release on April 7, the digital release and worldwide release on October 20, and the European/Digi-Pak relea ...

'', which was mixed by

Tim Palmer Timothy J. Palmer (born 4 October 1962, in North Shields) is an English record producer, audio engineer, guitarist and songwriter of rock music, rock and alternative rock, alternative music. He Audio mixing (recorded music), mixed Pearl Jam's d ...

, was released on March 10, 2009, in the US, and later on March 5, 2010, in Europe. The album was initially planned to be released on February 17, 2009, the date the United States switched from analog to digital television. Julien-K lent musical contributions to several video games, including ''

Sonic Heroes is a 2003 3D platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega as part of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. The player races a team of series characters through levels to amass rings, defeat robots, and collect the seven Cha ...

'' ("This Machine"), ''

Shadow the Hedgehog is a fictional character appearing in Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. Shadow was created by Takashi Iizuka and Shiro Maekawa, and first made his debut in ''Sonic Adventure 2'' (2001). Although this was intended to be his only appearan ...

'' ("Waking Up"), and the musical score for the 2009 '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' video game. '' We're Here With You'', the band's second album, was released on January 23, 2012. Julien-K's third album, ''California Noir'' was released in two 'chapters' as a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

, with Chapter One - '' Analog Beaches & Digital Cities'' - in March 2015 and Chapter Two - '' Nightlife in Neon'' - in August 2016. The band started Indiegogo campaigns to support the funding of each, each with goal of collecting $10,000, which were both reached in just one day with the final totals surpassing $28,000 for Chapter One and $43,000 for Chapter Two. In May 2017 the band announced '' Time Capsule: A Future Retrospective'', a four-disc 64-track set of previously unreleased material, and again launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund it, reaching almost $12,000 of the $15,000 goal in less than two hours, once again meeting their goal within a day, and ultimately finishing the campaign with $50,520. In the summer of the same year, Julien-K toured as direct support for the band PIG, which consists of former members of the pioneering industrial rock outfit KMFDM. They were also joined by electro-rock band Ghostfeeder. On July 18, 2018, they announced their fifth album, ''Harmonic Disruptor'' via another Indiegogo campaign. The album's concept is a homage to the style that Julien-K were known for when they first started out as a group, during the ''

'' era, with a much darker and heavier industrial metal sound. It was eventually released on 17 April 2020.

Collaborations

Julien-K teamed up with the late

Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter who was best known as the lead vocalist of rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of the bands Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, ...

, former

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

lead vocalist, to perform the song "Let Down" for the ReAct Now: Music & Relief televised concert. The Julien-K production team of Derakh, Shuck and Valcic also worked with Chester Bennington to perform an exclusive version of the song "Morning After" for the '' Underworld: Evolution soundtrack'' and for the remix album of the band

Mindless Self Indulgence Mindless Self Indulgence (often referred to as MSI) is an American electropunk band formed in New York City in 1997. Their music has a mixed style which includes punk rock, alternative rock, electronica, techno, industrial, hip hop, and breakb ...

's "What Do They Know?". The track was released as a bonus remix on ''Another Mindless Rip Off'', with a completely "Instrumental DJ Dub" version being released for free download on their official website. Julien-K has also teamed up on

's solo project, the band called

Dead by Sunrise Dead by Sunrise (formerly known as Snow White Tan) was an American rock supergroup formed in 2005 by vocalist Chester Bennington who was best known as the lead vocalist of Linkin Park. The band also consisted of Amir Derakh, Ryan Shuck, Bran ...

. Dead by Sunrise has since released their debut album ''

Out of Ashes ''Out of Ashes'' is the only studio album by American rock band Dead by Sunrise, which consisted of Linkin Park lead vocalist Chester Bennington and Amir Derakh, Ryan Shuck, Anthony 'Fu' Valcic, Brandon Belsky, and Elias Andra of Julien-K. It wa ...

'' on October 13, 2009. The band was on hiatus ever since, and with Bennington's passing in 2017, its fate is currently unknown. During Projekt Revolution 2007, Bennington replaced lead singer Ryan Shuck for the Chicago date of the tour while Shuck attended his brother's wedding. Julien-K, mostly Amir, collaborated with Brandon Smith of

The Anix The Anix is a former American rock band and currently a solo electronic project run by Los Angeles-based music producer Brandon Smith who was originally the band's frontman. History Early years (2001–2007) The Anix was formed in 2001 by Brand ...

for three singles, "ANTILIFE", "Your Lies Are Like Fire" including a live acoustic cover of "Where Is My Mind?" by

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...

. All of them appeared on The Anix's studio album REVENGE.

Touring

In 2007, prior to the release of their debut album, Julien-K was on the main stage for Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution tour and one of the opening bands for

Evanescence Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut ...

's North American "The Open Door" tour, and followed it up in 2008 opening for

, with supporting bands

Fake Shark - Real Zombie! Fake Shark (formerly known as Fake Shark – Real Zombie!) is a Canadian electronic indie-pop band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Formed in 2005, their early musical style mainly combined elements of dance punk and IDM but have since shifte ...

, London After Midnight,

The Birthday Massacre The Birthday Massacre (abbreviated TBM) is a Canadian rock band , formed in 1999 in London, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto, Ontario. The current lineup consists of lead vocalist Sara 'Chibi' Taylor, rhythm guitarist Michael Rainbow, le ...

and Combichrist. In July 2010 the band announced their first European tour, scheduled for August and September, playing in Germany, Netherlands, France and England. Julien-K appeared as the musical guest at the fourth annual

Summer of Sonic is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

fan convention in London on 25 June 2011 as part of their second European tour. Following the release of ''We're Here With You'', the band embarked on their third European tour, supporting Mindless Self Indulgence in fall 2012.

Band members

Current members *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s *

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

, samples, keyboards,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s, bass *

Galen Waling Galen Waling (born 1986) is an American–Canadian dual citizen rock and metal drummer. He is the drummer for Left Spine Down and Stiff Valentine, and he has worked with SMP, 16volt 16volt is an American industrial rock band featuring E ...

– drums Session and live members * Brandon Belsky – keyboards, bass,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

Bobby Hewitt Orgy is an American rock band formed in 1994, from Los Angeles, California. They have described their industrial rock music as "death pop". The band is best known for their cover version of the New Order song " Blue Monday", and the song " Stit ...

– drums * Alex Gonzales –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Paige Haley Paige Haley (born May 10, 1966) is an American musician and record producer. Born and raised in Alameda, California, as Brad Armstrong. He is close friends with Jay Gordon, another member of their band Orgy. He used to paint houses for a liv ...

– bass * Elias 'Bones' Rodriguez – live drums, backing vocals * Bidi Cobra – keyboards, bass, backing vocals * Anthony 'Fu' Valcic – bass,

s, programming, samples

JK DJS

Aside from the band,

and Brandon Belsky used to DJ under the moniker of JK DJS. They did their first DJ performance together December 31, 2007 at a hotel resort in

Del Mar Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "from the sea". It may refer to: Places in the United States * Del Mar, California * Del Mar High School, located in San Jose, California * Del Mar racetrack, located in Del Mar, California * Del Mar Fai ...

(

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Since then they have played numerous shows and have released some of their DJ sets as free downloads from their MySpace. However, since Brandon is no longer a part of Julien-K, it can be assumed that the project has been discontinued.

Released DJ sets

*Fuck Me I'm Famous (2008) *Deviant Din (2008) *Electric Summer (2008)

JK DJ's edits

*Cities In Dust (JK DJS Edit) *Spiral (Felix Cartal Remix) (JK DJS Edit)

Discography

* ''

'' (2009) * '' We're Here With You'' (2012) * '' California Noir - Chapter One: Analog Beaches & Digital Cities'' (2015) * '' California Noir - Chapter Two: Nightlife in Neon'' (2016) * '' Harmonic Disruptor'' (2020)

Music videos

References

External links

*
Blender.com Interview
*

The Second Supper The Second Supper was a web site and newspaper published in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The newspaper was published weekly from its headquarters in Downtown La Crosse. Originally created as a satirical newspaper, The Second Supper has since 2007 become ...

br>Interview with Ryan Shuck
{{Authority control Alternative dance musical groups Alternative rock groups from California American synth-pop groups American electronic rock musical groups Metropolis Records artists Musical groups established in 2003 American musical trios Sonic the Hedgehog