Julius is an artist that likes to experiment with a wide range of media including event management, illustration, design, performance, video, and music. Their most recent album is in collaboration with Ouji.
JuluisTheRobot is originally from Lawton where they graduated from Cameron University with a BFA. After a short stint in Texas upon graduating, they came back to Lawton totally clueless as to what they were going to do. They worked as a janitor and worked as an engraver for a short time. They got a phone call about a screen printing job in Norman and moved a month later. They started working at Bigfoot Creative and became involved with what was then called Dope Chapel, but is now known as The Resonator, a DIY art space in downtown Norman. They have been volunteering with them for over five years now as a resident artist and multimedia consult. They were involved with a number of shows through that space. They were also a producer for Resonator TV that led to a curated New Media Showcase that became a part of the Norman Film Festival in September. During this they helped to raise money for Planned Parenthood and helped to create a platform for independent new media artists to showcase their work through screenings and virtual gallery for digitally created artworks.
They currently live in OKC and have been there for two years now as an active representative of Resonator in the city. They experience people asking about how to book shows in the space and connecting people to it pretty regularly and take pride in showing people that anyone can organize for something they believe in. They recently released a music video for their song "Let's Chill"
Among these things they have participated in shows locally as well. The most recent of those put on by their friends Mike Allen and James Nghiem that run the Any Night POp-Up Art Gallery out of the 51st Street Speakeasy. They've participated in this gallery since they held a Cowboy Bebop themed show in May of 2016. At the time they were just submitting painted works, but for this most recent one they were a part of an hour long live comedy sketch featuring several writers and actors. They were a Comedian Medium for the night. The show was streamed online via Mostly Harmless media. This set was done entirely live and recorded live and it was amazing for them to see something like that happen in that space.
You can view the footage from the livestream here: https://vimeo.com/372093286
Below is their thoughts about the up and coming art space in Oklahoma:
"There’s been a ton of conversations among my friends at different times through college and even now about leaving Oklahoma because there’s “nothing here.” I must argue that this is certainly not the case, especially from what I have seen over the last few years. In order for there to be any sort of change in social or creative scenes there has to be those that stick around to help it grow, and not in the sense of funded communities and organizations, those folks are fine. While these things are beneficial to the community, they can stifle and curate to the point where it is not accessible to a broader range of folks. I'm talking about some real punk shit. Art in bars, performances in warehouses, underground raves, stuff you don't see on the surface. It’s what breeds culture and experience for people. I think there was an article about a “brain drain“ detailing how anyone who holds value intellectually or creatively usually ends up dipping to another state for better opportunities and what have you, and I get it, you gotta go for the gold where ever that ends up being for you, but my aim has always been to stay and grow with my state. I want to represent what is possible and continue the work of encouraging people to change their attitude about this place."
You can catch them ringing in the New Year at Opolis performing alongside Laine from their album Drives like a Dream and keep up with them on Instagram @JuliusTheRobot, or check out their website http://www.jtrpop.com/