Velard was born in New York City on the Upper West Side on Manhattan. His mother, Margaret is a 4-time Jeopardy! Champion and queen-sized pantyhose model. His father, Maxime, was a hidden child during the Holocaust. He emigrated from Paris in 1963 and worked in computers and designed the technology for the first ATM for Citibank.
Education
Velard attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. He then attended Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts where he majored in composition. There he studied with Jazz legend Yusef Lateef. During college, he spent a semester abroad in Paris where he studied with pianist Kirk Lightsey.
Musical career
Upon graduating college, Velard moved to Brooklyn and began his career as a professional musician. Gigging at night, he supported himself by working as a nursery school gym teacher. In 2003 he released his debut album, Nitetime. In the fall of 2006 Velard released an EP entitled The MoviesWithout You, produced by Roger Greenawalt. In 2007, Velard signed a multi-album record deal with Angel Music Group and subsequently moved to London. The following year he was the opening act for Amy Macdonald on her This Is The Life UK Tour. In June 2008 EMI eliminated 2,000 positions worldwide and Velard's major label debut, The Planeteer, was shelved. In early 2009 after a short stint at Virgin Records, Velard was dropped. In November 2009 Velard released The Planeteer independently. Soon after Olly Murs recorded Velard’s song Hold On for his debut album which went on to go 2x platinum in the UK. During this time he opened the first half of Jamie Cullum's 2010 US Tour. In 2011, Velard released Mr. Saturday Night through Universal Music Group. The album was well received in the UK, with Velard appearing on ITV’s This Morning as well as The Alan Titchmarsh Show and BBC’s The Review Show. The album was also released in the Netherlands due to an online discovery by radio and TV host Gerard Ekdom. After connecting with Ekdom, Velard achieved cult success in the Netherlands, playing Serious Request, and headlining his own show at Paradiso. In 2011, Velard's voice was featured at The World of Coca-Cola in The Great Happyfication exhibit. In July of 2012, his song about New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin was featured in the New York Times. On November 26, 2012, Velard taped his first show of Ask Me Another. He has since become the go-to substitute for house musician Johnathan Coulton. On June 16, 2014, Velard released a New York City concept album titled, If You Don't Like It, You Can Leave. The album was well received by critics. Velard opened a tour for Paul Carrack that July. On October 5, 2015, Velard released his single, The Night Ed Sheeran Slept On My Couch. The song was featured on Popcrush and The Guardian. The song is based on actual events. On November 18, 2015, Velard appeared for the first time on The Wrap-Up Show. Velard has since become a regular on the show, and several of his original, improvised songs have been played on The Howard Stern Show. On June 16, 2017, Velard released a 9 song LP entitled, Fancy Words For Failure. The Wall Street Journal published a profile of Velard and his year long residency at Joe's Pub. In January 2018, Velard's H.P. Joelcraft, a mash up of Billy Joel's Pianoman and H.P. Lovecraft's Nemesis, was featured on The Nerdist, Polygon, The A.V Club, Mashable, and Bloody Disgusting among others. In 2019, Velard released an EP of comedy duets with comedian Brooke Van Poppelen entitled Comfort Zone. In 2020, Velard's song Everyday Amazing was chosen as the new theme for Aldi in the UK Velard's auto-biographical concept album and musical entitled Please Don't Make Me Play Piano Man is due out in 2020. He is running a Kickstarter campaign for the project.
