Julian Jay Savarin was born and raised on Dominica, an island in the West Indies. After moving to London in the early 1960s, he worked quite successfully as a science fiction writer. Impressed by the London music scene of the late 1960s, he founded the band project Julian’s Treatment. He played the organ and wrote all the lyrics. The other band members were the Australian-born singer Cathy Pruden, the guitarist and flautist Del Watkins, the bassist John Dover and Jack Drummond on drums.

Their first and only album A Time Before This was released in June 1970 on Miki Dallon’s label Young Blood, with a cover artwork by Peter Lee, who also designed the provocative cover for Elias Hulk Unchained. This conceptual work is based on a twelve-chapter science fiction novel by Savarin and is accompanied by psychedelic progressive rock featuring expansive, ethereal organ sounds and a virtuoso rhythm section. Magnificent female vocal performances as well as occasional spoken dialogue enhance the cosmic feel of the entire album. Shortly afterwards, however, the group disbanded and Julian Jay Savarin recorded his solo album Waiters On The Dance in 1971. The double album A Time Before This is another forgotten and obscure gem of progressive and psychedelic rock, which is now extremely rare as a UK original on the small Young Blood label.