Julian Neville

Julian Neville (born May 14, 1985) is an Australian recording artist, singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and principal songwriter of the English rock band Turrentine Jones.^[1][2]

Early life

Neville was born in Waratah, a suburb of Newcastle in Australia and raised in Gloucester, a small rural town in New South Wales. He attended Gloucester High School (1997-2003) and was later described by his Music teacher, Andrew Scully, as "someone quick to learn, with a natural ear to pick up a guitar and play what he heard. Neville was never particularly vocal, but you could sense when pieces of music moved him."^[3]

Neville spent most of his early childhood years listening to soul and early rock and roll citing Booker T & The MG’s and The Animals as early influences. Neville turned his attentions to guitar music following the breakthrough of grunge in the 90's. Neville's mother gave him a classical guitar for his birthday when he was 6–7 years old and he began learning.^[4]

In 2008, Neville left Australia for England having revealed becoming jaded with the local music scene at a young age where he had performed alongside several notable artists including David Knopfler of Dire Straits and Colin Hay of Men at Work. In his own words: “I gave myself too many distractions and felt I wasn't getting anywhere — Just blasting and laughing my way through the time. It was great. I had fun. But I needed a release.” - Julian Neville.

Career

Turrentine Jones

Neville moved from Australia to the United Kingdom in 2009, where he had performed as a solo acoustic singer-songwriter supporting the likes of David Knopfler of Dire Straits and Colin Hay of Men At Work. After several line-up changes, demo releases and low-key gigs in London and Manchester, Turrentine Jones officially settled on a line-up in 2012 which consisted of Julian Neville, Thomas Scotson and Rich Watts.

The band's debut single Le Debut was released on 19 February 2012 which included the tracks "Slam the Door" and "Candy Snake". The single "Slam the Door" picked up two awards at the Exposure Music Awards in London for Best Male Act and Best Blues Act in October 2012. The band released a further two singles "Show Me Mercy" and "Della May".^[5]

Neville's songwriting with Turrentine Jones has been described often as sultry and darkly-sensual, which he matches with wit, warmth and a spoonful or two of suggestion in his lyrics. This is particularly highlighted on the band's first two single releases Le Début and Show Me Mercy.^[6]

During an interview in February 2013 Neville described Turrentine Jones as a study in contrasts:

"I consider myself gruff and guardedly wry, while Rich Watts (drummer) is more voluble and outwardly enthusiastic. Thomas Scotson (Hammond organ) is from Finland... we're all from different countries actually." - Julian Neville^[7]

Turrentine Jones performing live at Glastonbury in 2013

In 2013 the band performed on the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury Festival, one of the largest UK festivals, and were the third most shared act of the day on the BBC website.^[8] The Telegraph's Rupert Hawksley and Florence Waters highlighted the buzz surrounding the group during their coverage of the festival.^[9][10] During their performance of the song Slam the Door, Rich Watts wore the optical head-mounted Google Glass. According to The Guardian's Jemima Kiss the band became the first to perform on stage using this new technology.^[11]

Shortly after, the band signed a publishing deal with Rough Trade and released their debut album, ‘Our Days’, on 11 August 2014.^[12] The leading single, ‘Moonlight Is On Yer Side’, received airplay on over 40 stations in the UK and was labelled a ‘Future Classic’ by national UK radio station, Real Radio XS.^[13]

Turrentine Jones were XFMs 'Band of the Month' for November, featuring regularly on the Evening Show with Danielle Perry.^[14]

On 19 November, Turrentine Jones released their second single, Love Heard You Coming from the debut album Our Days and accompanying music video. The music video featured several notable industry figures and UK radio presenters including Loz Guest (Kerrang! Radio/Planet Rock), Sarah Champion (Absolute Radio), Vicki Blight (Absolute Radio), Johnny Doom (Kerrang! Radio), Jake Thomson (Kerrang! Radio), Tim Cocker (XFM) as well as actor and actresses Ben Batt (Shameless, The Go Between) and Rebecca Atkinson (Shameless) respectively.^[15]

In 2015, the band focused largely on festivals across the UK and Europe; performing at Dot To Dot Festival in both Manchester and Nottingham, Tramlines Festival and Monmouth Music Festival.^[16] Internationally, the band appeared on the British Knights' Stage at Sziget Festival in Budapest, Europe’s largest music festival on August 16, 2015.^[17] The band received an overwhelming majority of votes (3657) during a competition run by one of the festival’s official partners; beating 300 bands across Europe to first place.^[18]

On 19 January 2016, Turrentine Jones announced they would be collaborating with fans on their second studio album for release later in the year.^[19]

On 8 February, following on from the success of the previous summer, Turrentine Jones were confirmed for Kendal Calling, their first appearance at the UK music festival.^[20]

Equipment

Guitars

• Fender Telecaster
• Fender Jazzmaster - Used on "Della May"
• Fender Bronco - Used on "Candy Snake"
• Gibson Les Paul Custom
• Cole Clark FL2AC
• Taylor 414CE

Endorsement

Julian Neville is endorsed by Peavey and Cornell, boutique valve amplifiers.

Discography

Turrentine Jones

• 2012 – Le Début
• 2012 – Show Me Mercy
• 2013 – Della May
• 2014 – Our Days

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Turrentine Jones.

• turrentinejones.info