HISTORY
Music was always a driving force for Julian during his early years in the Philippines, and the Beatles invasion in the 60’s kicked that force into over drive. He and his friends would gather around the street corner and wail away while playing a home made guitar. It didn’t matter that this guitar was so bowed that the strings were hard to press down, the joy of performing and finding an appreciative audience in the neighborhood groupies more than compensated for less than perfect equipment. This group eventually formed a five-piece band with the moniker, “Rainmakers” because they noticed that it rained every time they sang. This was the beginning of a lifelong adventure in entertaining.
Julian’s next stop was America in the ’70s. He formed what was to become the first all Filipino band in the Washington, DC area, called the Tasadays, after a Stone Age tribe that was discovered in the jungles of the Philippines around the same time. Eventually the members went their own merry way (anyone who has tried to hold a band together knows, recruiting and training new members can turn into a full-time all encompassing endeavor) but Julian stuck to his music and started developing a unique solo act incorporating the illusions he had developed as an amateur magician into his musical performances. Nothing encourages a performance artist more than enthusiastic crowd support and Julian was pleased to discover that the audience enjoyed participating in the show. This audience support inspired him to install wireless transmitters for his guitar and microphone to allow him unencumbered access to encourage even more audience participation whether it was with a vigorously led sing-a-long or group participation in a magical illusion.
To date, Julian has been successfully performing in and around the Washington metropolitan area for more than 25 years. He maintains his list of musicians and recruits them whenever he gets jobs requiring a duo, trio, or full sized band. He goes under the name Aural Sets.