March 19, 2026

50. “They’ll Call You Crazy Right Up Until They Call You Genius” – Special Q&A Episode

Show Notes

For 50 episodes, Julian's been asking the questions. Now it's his turn to answer them.

In this special milestone episode, Julian turns the tables on himself” answering the same questions he asks his guests, plus a few from the audience. He gets into his hip-hop-to-alt-rock musical journey, the shows he played around Philadelphia, the moment he realized how much work it actually takes to make it, and why he'd tell any young musician to count the cost of their dream before chasing it. It's honest, funny, and the most personal episode of the show so far.

In this conversation, we get into:

Julian's music career from mixtapes to five albums and opening for Bubba Sparks
Why the best song on every album was never the one he tried to make a hit
What "count the cost of your dream" actually means for young musicians
The Ali McGuire lesson that changed how he thinks about the "how,” not just the "what"
Why they'll call you crazy right up until they call you a genius

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

“Turning Pro” by Steven Pressfield: https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Pro-Steven-Pressfield/dp/1936891034

“The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield: https://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/1936891026

Julian’s book, “The Pain You Choose”: https://a.co/d/01NBukVU

Episode 26: Marc Ramos of Morning Wars – https://pod.link/1810336818/episode/OGU3YzA3MjktOTRkNi00ZmM1LWIyMWItODg2NWM5MzQ4NDg1?view=apps&sort=popularity

Episode 24: mcgwn – https://pod.link/1810336818/episode/NmE3YTI0ZTktZjUyOS00ZjIyLTg2ZTAtZmQ4OTZkMWMyMTI5?view=apps&sort=popularity

Episode 42: AMACULENT (Ali McGuire) – https://pod.link/1810336818/episode/YTFkOGRmMjItMGNkZi00MmNjLWFkZWItMmY5MWRkMTUzMTBi?view=apps&sort=popularity

Music Mentioned in this Episode:

Songs: