Julian Liberator

As one of the three Liberator DJs, alongside Chris and Aaron, Julian Liberator has been an integral part of techno’s thriving underground and free party scene for well over a decade. It all started for the Liberators many, many moons ago, possibly even as far back as the late 80s…

Around that time Chris and Julian were both squatting in North London and both been involved in punk bands and squatting scene throughout the 80s. At the time Julian was already being turned on to the emerging techno sound and had begun buying releases from the likes of R&S and Frank De Wulf. However, at the time there was next to nothing in terms of clubs or parties playing that sort of music. Unperturbed, Julian began doing house parties, at his own house. With no decks to speak of, music was provided by tape decks and tapes put together before the party. With techno tapes playing in one room, and punk rock upstairs, it was an inauspicious start, but a start nonetheless. The parties continued for a year, during which time the free party techno scene had begun to gather pace, sound systems were springing up playing early hardcore and bleepy techno. It was around this time that Julian & Chris caught wind of a DJ by the name of Aaron, who lived down the road and more importantly who owned a pair of decks. Together with Aaron, they started the Liberator free parties and the rest as they say is history…

Since that time the Liberator name and Stay Up Forever collective have become an underground global sensation, in which Julian has played no small part. Working alongside the usual SUF suspects, like D.A.V.E. the Drummer, Guy McAffer. Julian has been involved in a great many productions and projects over the years often assuming numerous guises; such as Cyborg X (with Chris Liberator) and forming the stupendous techno live act A+E Dept together with D.D.R.

4×4
More recently Julian has become known for his techno imprint 4×4, a label which he runs with Mara Branco (aka DJ Bruiser). Each release on the label offers four cuts of percussive loop driven techno, each track entitled either Hard, Funky, Clanking or Deep; depending on its overall sound. The label has released material by many of the SUF, as well as the likes of Mark Verbos and Christian Varela. More recently the label has been branching out in new territory with recent releases from DJ Rush, Paul Langley and Mark Hawkins. While the latest offering from Julian himself, features an incredible cut-up of a live jazz drum solo, indicating that Julian may indeed have gone a bit wonky… (OK, maybe only a bit).