Ivan Julian

Ivan Julian first gained recognition for his incendiary guitar work amid the dawn of New York punk, yet his career has also encompassed sideman duties across an eclectic array of performers alongside his own endeavors as bandleader, producer, and engineer. Born in 1955 to a naval officer whose postings kept the household in constant motion, the young Julian spent stretches of his childhood in Cuba and Haiti before the family put down roots in Washington, D.C. Early on he took up bassoon and saxophone; at age thirteen he sang in his initial rock band, a Led Zeppelin cover outfit. Soon afterward he switched to guitar, sharpening his skills through brief collegiate study of music theory. A period in the United Kingdom followed, during which he toured as guitarist with the Foundations, the British R&B group whose worldwide success arrived via “Build Me Up Buttercup.” Back in America he settled in New York City just as punk ignited at CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City. In 1976, when ex-Television and Heartbreakers bassist Richard Hell assembled his own group, Julian was recruited on guitar; Richard Hell & the Voidoids quickly emerged as a cornerstone of the city’s early punk era, pairing Julian with Robert Quine in a striking dual-guitar front line. He also co-authored two tracks on the band’s landmark 1977 debut Blank Generation, though the original lineup dissolved and by 1980 Julian launched his own project. The Outsets blended rock, funk, and R&B; their 1983 EP benefited from production by Garland Jeffreys and Bob Clearmountain, establishing the group as a fixture on New York stages and prompting the Clash to enlist Julian for guitar overdubs on Sandinista!, yet wider success eluded them. He disbanded the Outsets to form the Lovelies alongside vocalist Cynthia Sley, late of the Bush Tetras; the sole release, Mad Orphan, appeared in 1988. Subsequent years found him on the road with Shriekback and contributing guitar to Matthew Sweet’s 1991 breakthrough Girlfriend, after which he remained a regular onstage and studio collaborator throughout the ensuing decade. The original Voidoids lineup reconvened with Richard Hell in 2001 to cut the new track “Oh,” and in 2009 Julian supplied fresh guitar leads for a revised version of Hell’s 1982 album Destiny Street. Around the millennium’s turn he joined Matt Verta-Ray of Madder Rose and Speedball Baby in opening the New York City studio NY Hed, where he has since recorded and produced sessions for the Fleshtones, Jon Spencer, the Master Plan, and numerous additional artists. Even with these commitments, Julian has sustained his own writing and recording; after producing tracks for the Spanish outfit Capsula he developed a close association with the band, who served as both accompanists on his 2011 solo debut The Naked Flame and backing unit for a subsequent Spanish tour.