Julian Velard is a singer, songwriter and pianist from New York City. His latest project, Please Don’t Make Me Play Piano Man, is a recorded attempt at a Broadway musical that’s filled with as much humor as it is with melody. In the past, you may have heard him on the Howard Stern show or on NPR’s Ask Me Another. Julian also currently records the podcast Real Gentlemen of Queens with Brian “B-Ski” Collazo, whose name you might remember from an earlier episode of Detoxicity.

In our conversation, Julian wrestles with the idea of defining success on one’s own terms. He also talks about his anti-authoritarian childhood, generational trauma and being a product of your upbringing, not smoothing out his rough edges to be more palatable for the masses, becoming a husband and father himself, and much much more.