At 3 years old, UCLA alumnus Julian Le began playing classical piano under the guidance of his parents. From then on, he played the instrument regularly, garnering gigs at churches and with his band around Los Angeles throughout his college career.
Today, he has performed with artists such as Chris Brown, Childish Gambino and Kendrick Lamar.
In December, Le joined R&B artist Jhené Aiko on her headlining North American tour. He will be part of Aiko’s band opening for J. Cole’s European summer tour in May. He will co-host and perform at a concert at The Lyric Theatre Tuesday night.
The Daily Bruin’s Alisha Kapur spoke with Le about his own music, his work with Aiko and his future plans as a musician.
Daily Bruin: How would you describe your music?
Julian Le: Anywhere from classical to jazz to world music; (it’s) kind of a little bit of everything.
DB: How did your time at UCLA affect you and your music?
JL: I definitely got into Indian music a lot and then I kind of got back in touch with Chinese music … so it was a cool place for me to kind of combine a bunch of different cultures and music together.
DB: Can you tell me about your show Tuesday?
JL: It’s a live dance music event, and it’s basically also an open jam session. … It’s mainly for the dancers too. There’s going to be a lot of touring musicians and a lot of touring dance groups. … We’re all just going to be having a big party, basically, with live music.
We’re all kind of in a circle of musicians and we all play with each other. … This one is our own event. It’s the first time we’re doing it as like my own event and as my friend Asa’s, who I’m doing it with.
DB: How did you start working with Jhené?
JL: I kind of started playing a lot of church gigs at the beginning of college. I started really getting into church music and gospel music, so through that I met a lot of musicians, and one of those musicians I met was this drummer named Brian Patterson who used to play with Chris Brown.
We vibed really well, and he hit me up to come audition with his band, and then we auditioned for Jhené Aiko’s part of the band, and then we got the spot.
DB: What was it like performing with Jhené Aiko on her North American tour?
JL: It was amazing. She’s an awesome person. The band is real cool too, but I actually recently got to spend some studio time with Jhené, and just seeing the way she works is very inspiring. She stays very true to herself. She takes her craft very seriously.
She’s just a nice person to be around too. It’s very humbling to be around someone that is doing so well in the music industry but is such a good person and just really dope at what they do.
DB: Was touring something you’ve always wanted to do?
JL: Absolutely. From when I graduated high school, I definitely wanted to be on tour.
I definitely wanted to do something that allowed me to travel and at the same time something that I loved, so it worked out really nicely.
DB: What are you looking forward to with the European tour with Jhené?
JL: We’ll be opening for J. Cole, and I’ve always liked J. Cole’s music. It’s kind of interesting … because I actually opened up for J. Cole with my own group at UCLA for Hip Hop Explosion, so it’s funny to be opening for him again with Jhené Aiko this time. It’ll be awesome, and it’s in Europe. I’m excited to see how a European crowd will react to Jhené’s music, and I’m sure she’ll get a lot of positive feedback.
DB: What was your transition like from being a music student to a keyboardist for a Top 40 artist?
JL: I couldn’t have asked for a better way to come out of college. I lucked out. Right after college, I snagged my first tour with (artists) named Dumbfoundead and Anderson .Paak and George Watsky, then right after that I got the Jhené Aiko gig. It was just a really nice way to transition from college to life outside of college.
DB: Do you want to do your own headlining in the future?
JL: Oh yeah, in the future. I love working with Jhené, so I still want to work with her, but at the same time, I think it’s important that I still remain creative with my own music as well. I’m always making my own stuff, so I always want to be playing shows with my own stuff, but at the same time I want to be playing with other people too, especially Jhené.
Compiled by Alisha Kapur, A&E contributor.