Punk and Post-Punk pioneer Ivan Julian has announced new solo album Swing Your Lanterns for February 2023 via Pravda Records. Ivan Julian has had a long and distinguished career as a New York songwriter and guitarist. As a founder member of Richard Hell & The Voidoids, Julian was a part of the original Punk scene while sowing the seeds for Post-Punk. Swing Your Lanterns is being released as download, CD, 12” vinyl LP and on streaming platforms.
The album was produced by Julian, recorded to 2” tape at his own SuperGiraffeSound studio in Brooklyn, New York as well as Raxtrax Studio in Chicago, Illinois. Julian himself performed on a multiude of instruments including guitars, organ and even electric Bulbul Tarang (an instrument found in India and Japan). He was joined in the studio by drummer Florent Barbier (Elliot Murphy), Keith Streng (The Fleshtones) on percussion and backing vocals, Nick Tremulis on guitar and backing vocals, and bassist Derek Brandt, as well as James Burke also on bass, among others.
The songs on Swing Your Lanterns “reflect Ivan’s experiences over the last five years and beyond set against the contemporary sociopolitical stage, asking the question: where do you stand during troubled times, and will you remain vigilant?”
Ivan Julian grew up in a series of exotic locales, headed to London after graduation and joined U.K. R&B band The Foundations, (“Build Me Up Buttercup”). While touring he decided to settle in Macedonia and study its traditional music, which had a major influence on his playing thereafter. When Julian returned to the U.S., he settled in New York and soon became a founding guitarist and composer for Art-Punks Richard Hell and the Voidoids, teaming up with Punk poet Hell, guitarist Robert Quine (Lou Reed) and drummer Marc Bell (later Marky Ramone).
After the Voidoids, Ivan fronted the rock / funk / African beat combo The Outsets before forming The Lovelies with Bush Tetras’ singer Cynthia Sley. He also reunited with Hell for an extensive tour of Japan. Julian would go on to collaborate with a wide array of acts, including The Clash, Shriekback, Afrika Bambaataa and Bernie Worrell of Parliament/Funkadelic. He also spent much of the 1990s touring and recording with Matthew Sweet.
In recent years, Ivan has concentrated mainly on studio work, establishing his SuperGiraffeSound recording studio, as well as producing and recording artists including Sean Lennon and The Fleshtones. In addition, he released his solo debut, The Naked Flame.
