Julian Tepper

Tepper was born in New York City and raised on Manhattan's Upper East Side. His father, Robert Tepper, is a musician best known for writing the 1980 ballad "Into the Night" and for writing and recording "No Easy Way Out", which appeared in the 1985 film Rocky IV.

Novels

Tepper's debut novel, Balls, was published in 2012. The book is a dark comedy about Henry Schiller, a 30-year-old piano player and neurotic Jew who lives in Manhattan with his younger, more musically gifted girlfriend Paula. When Henry discovers that he has testicular cancer, it prompts an existential crisis. The book has been praised for capturing the feel of New York City. Tepper started writing it in New Orleans and continued it in Finland, but stated that the book didn't start to take form until he returned to New York. Tepper has said Balls was influenced by Saul Bellow's 1964 novel Herzog, as well as the work of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Franz Kafka and Woody Allen.

Tepper's second novel, Ark, was published in 2016. Set in Manhattan, it follows three generations of the formerly wealthy, artistic, infighting Arkin family. Some of the characters were based on Tepper's real-life family members. The New York Times wrote, "Despite some early stumbles, 'Ark' is an engaging and entertaining novel, and an insightful take on just how easy it can be to slip from the upper class."

In 2016, Tepper stated that he is working on an autobiographical novel tentatively titled Between the Records, based on his own, as well as his family's, life in music.

The Oracle Club

Tepper and artist Jenna Gribbon founded The Oracle Club in 2011, a members-only literary salon and workspace for artists and writers in Long Island City, Queens, which closed in 2017.

Music

Tepper played bass in The Natural History, an indie rock trio formed in New York in 2001, with his brother Max Tepper on lead vocals and guitar. He co-wrote their song "Don’t You Ever", which was covered by Spoon as "Don't You Evah" on their 2007 album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and was also released as a single/EP on April 8, 2008. The original version by The Natural History was included on the 8-song EP, alongside remixes of the Spoon version by Ted Leo, Diplo and Matthew Dear. The Natural History released an EP and two full-length albums and disbanded in 2005.

Tepper lives with his partner Jenna Gribbon and their son Silas in Long Island City, Queens.

• The Natural History (EP on Startime International, 2002)
• Beat Beat Heartbeat (LP on Startime International, 2003)
• People That I Meet (LP on Beat Beat Beat, 2007)

• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (as Deli Waiter, dir. Stephen Daldry, 2011)
• Gossip Girl (as himself, "Salon of the Dead", season 5, episode 20, April 16, 2012)