Julian Gray Discusses His New ‘CONTRAST’ Era

Julian Gray and Richard Patrick sat down with us to discuss their latest collaboration, “Out Here,” what’s to come on CONTRAST, and more.

Gone are the days of artists playing it small, and for Julian Gray, a new era of music is here to shake things up. Known for his unique blend of house, techno, and electro, the ‘progress-o’ powerhouse has risen to the top with his melodic soundscapes and unwavering passion for the scene. Labels like mau5trap, Monstercat Silk, Anjunabeats, and Colorize have been taken by his stroke of creative genius, featuring his music and broadening his discography to bring him to a new era that he’s entered.

Julian’s discography is full of hypnotic EPs, singles, and remixes that have undoubtedly shaped him into the artist he is today. Now, he’s taking his signature sound to new heights with his forthcoming album CONTRAST, set to release this fall. To announce this new project, he has teamed up with rock legend Richard Patrick of Nine Inch Nails and Filter to create “Out Here,” the album’s first single that is out now across all platforms.

Julian Gray is on the cusp of some massive career changes, so we sat down with the rising star to discuss all the exciting things currently in the works. Richard Patrick also stopped by to give deeper insight into the new single, how the two met, and what led to this surprisingly seamless collaboration.

Watch the full interview with Julian Gray and Richard Patrick on YouTube, and read on for some of the highlights from our conversation.

An energetic buzz filled the air of that tiny, intimate studio in the heart of Silverlake. As we settled into the interview, we couldn’t help but feel something special was about to take place. We began by deeply diving into Julian’s recent exploration of new sounds and styles.

“I was releasing a lot of material with the intention of chasing labels and accelerating the growth of the project. I hit a wall last year, so I started writing music with some other incredible creatives and went out to the desert, wrote some new material, and it inspired me to get back to the roots of the project and focus on the creative energy that got me into writing initially.“

Like many artists, Julian got a little lost in the logistics and took some time away from the project. However, it turns out that hiatus was exactly what he needed to remember why he began creating in the first place, which ignited a fire within him again.

“I went back to the Julian Gray project after dealing with this collaborative project, and it invigorated the creative process; it shifted the sound a little bit to stuff that is really core to my identity. This long gap has enabled me to approach creativity in a new way, and it’s refreshing in that sense. It’s nice to get my foot back on the pedal.”

Julian’s recent single “Out Here” featuring Richard Patrick is a testament to his sonic vision for CONTRAST and beyond. As we dove deeper into the single, vocalist Richard Patrick compared the differences between making an electronic track and his creative process as a rock artist.

“It’s very similar, actually. It’s a lot of Dropbox, emails, and texting,” Richard shared. “Back in the day, we would get into a room together and flush out ideas as a rock band. When I left Nine Inch Nails to start Filter, I had an 8-track, an E Max Sampler, and a Mac computer, and we went crazy and bought a four thousand dollar gigabyte hard drive, so it was all home recording, kind of like what it is today.”

As we took a trip down memory lane, Richard touched on how he and Julian met, which all began online. “I had just discovered Rezz, and I thought she was amazing, so I was interested in how she got her sounds. Julian had a YouTube video about it, so I just reached out, and it turns out he lived ten minutes from me,” he shared.

[Julian] came to a few Filter shows, and eventually, he asked about the collaboration and sent me over the music, and it was, by far, some of the greatest stuff I’ve ever heard. It was this amazing bed of hypnotic music that reminded me of music I had heard in the ’90s by Coil.
Richard Patrick

Richard also discussed the creative process for the lyrics, recalling how he channeled his youth by remembering the times he would go out to the desert to get “psilocybic” and come back feeling inspired.

When I asked if there was an opportunity to see Richard perform the song live for Julian’s sets someday, they both lit up as if they hadn’t even thought of that and began envisioning when that could come to fruition. So for those of you going to Dreamstate SoCal, keep your eyes peeled for a potential surprise at Julian’s set on the mainstage this year.

I was curious to know how past Julian Gray, who was just starting out in his music career, would feel seeing his name on such a massive lineup like Dreamstate. “Thinking back to when I was first starting, I was fresh out of high school pursuing this Hollywood dream, sleeping on people’s floors and whatnot,” he said. “Seeing my name on a marquee with artists like Above & Beyond would be surreal to me at that point.”

This is probably one of the bigger shows I’ve ever played, especially on a stage of this scale. I can’t even imagine how I would feel, but I would be very grateful
Julian Gray

It’s safe to say that Julian Gray is just scratching the surface of what he is destined to achieve, and we can’t wait to see where his journey takes him next: to CONTRAST and beyond.

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