Rising Stars: Meet Julian Apter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julian Apter.

Hi Julian, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in a musical family. Every Saturday, my mother would play her favorite salsa radio station, Alma del Barrio, and every Sunday, my father would play opera on his favorite station KUSC. My dad is a violinist, my mom’s brother is a guitarist. They both lived in West Africa and the Caribbean at different points in time, and their music collections are very eclectic. There was always good music on in the house and they often took us to museums on weekends. They really fostered my appreciation for culture and the arts from an early age.

Guitar lessons started at age seven, and I fell in love with playing Beatles songs. My listening and interests moved quickly from rock to blues, then to funk, then hip hop, and a couple of years later jazz.

In middle school, I got an Apple computer with iTunes and started digitizing my parent’s CD collection. Every day, I would get home from school and listen to a CD as it got uploaded onto iTunes. Still today, I like to buy physical formats and listen to whole albums.

I joined a jazz band, and after the summer after middle school ended, some of the members and I continued to play together. We formed a band, rehearsed the entire summer, and played our first gig at our local coffee shop (the Talking Stick on Lincoln Blvd, RIP).

We were lucky to have a lot of opportunities to perform through our high school jazz program. From penthouses to Petco openings, we really never said no to gigs.

And we still play together today. Shout out to some of my oldest friends and musical collaborators, Andrés Orellana and Zach Gotler, both great musicians in the LA area doing cool things.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The artistic path always has its trials and tribulations. Wages for gigs are the same that they were in the seventies. Rent and the cost of living is super high. There is dealing with rejection and frustration; some days you feel like you sound bad and things aren’t going how you thought they would. It’s ups and downs.

Going to a conservatory for jazz is a humbling experience, just as living within the art scenes of Los Angeles and New York City is too. I went to the New School and did their dual degree program, studying jazz guitar and anthropology. In New York City especially, you’re constantly reminded that the ocean of talent is vast and you are just a small part of it. But all you can do is be you and work on what makes you unique. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t worry about others, or at least not too much. Work on what sets you apart.

I was in jazz education programs from a young age, and while that high-octane mentality can foster healthy competition, it can also make you feel like you will never be good enough. When talking to older generations, outlooks can be bleak. Music has become so institutionalized, and there aren’t opportunities to play like there used to be. The greatest bands of all time played a lot, sometimes three sets a night, five nights a week. It might be hard to imagine, but there used to be live music at almost every hotel, club, bar, and social event.

When I went to a conservatory in New York, it took years before I really found my sound and niche. And I still feel like I’m searching. In those practice rooms, I sometimes felt like a cog in a giant wheel. And playing concerts for my colleagues, it felt like they were just analyzing your mistakes, and everyone was trying to sound more hip than the next guy. If you can survive jazz school, you develop a strong sense of self. You have to learn how to just play and not care about what others think about you.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a professional musician. I’ve worked in record stores, music studios, university music archives, and now for my day job, I am an audiovisual technician. On Sundays, I have a church gig and then work at a wine shop. Musically I do a lot of different things: I play guitar and bass, make beats, offer tracking and mixing services, teach, DJ, dig for records, and sell vinyl on Discogs. I’ve been awarded grants to do musical research throughout West Africa and the Caribbean. People know me for playing African and Caribbean music. I have a multicultural focus, just like I love jazz and hip hop, I love music from Cuba, Haiti, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Congo. I have a band called Shake Bodi; we play afrobeats and ndombolo.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Focus on developing your own sound. And other hobbies are healthy. I recently restored a drum kit from the 1960s I bought off Craigslist in really bad condition. It took a lot of time to clean and fix up, which took time away from practicing, but it was a very rewarding experience. Seeing these drums transform from dusty and rusted to polished and shining was cool. And they sound so good.

I really appreciate a good sound system. A lot of people just listen to music on the go nowadays, I prioritize sitting down and listening to music as a ritual. Listening is crucial.

Contact Info:

• Website: julianapter.com
• Instagram: @julian_apter @shakebodiband