John Zonn/Interview
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This interview was conducted on February 15, 2007
WMG Abby: You mentioned your music is a mix of various artists like Byrne, Cocker, Cohen, Hansen, Oldfield, Otway, Petty, Reed, Tilbrook, Waits & Williams, could you elaborate on that?
Yes, well I was due to play a gig at a venue in London and the promoter wanted to arrive at a catch phrase with which to describe my music. So I suggested to him a few of my musical influences and he put the rest together like I was a hybrid plant created from various genes of other artists. With the list of names, I am trying to concisely describe myself in terms that people with a bit of musical knowledge may understand. However, I don't expect most people to know the artist 'Beck' by his surname (Hansen), or likewise Richard Thompson by his surname, so in many ways I am being selective about the kind of audience I hope to attract, like a flower attracting certain types of flying insect. But I'm not a flower! Through using surnames, I am also playing on something that I have noticed certain devoted music fans do: For example, people often say "Hendrix" or "Clapton", when they really mean 'Jimi Hendrix' and 'Eric Clapton'!
WMG: Basically, what is the kind of music you are aiming at?
Well, take 'Weird Al Yankovic' or 'John Otway'. Their music is mostly 'ideas-based', which almost rules them out from being defined through a classifiable 'style' as they use the kind of music that best fits the idea they are working on. This is the genre within which I would place myself, one that stands the test of time.
WMG: Photocopy of My Mind was your first release. What was it like finally having an album out?
OK. So, I had recorded two cassette albums in 1988, but they never really got past the cutting-room floor, as it were. With Photocopy of My Mind, I was harking back to those earlier previous times and saying "Hey, I have an album out now and I'm really happy about it, because it's like I've been given a second chance!" So, as you can imagine, it was very uplifting.
WMG: Why would you say that Hard Fruit is a contradictory approach to the 80's?
I'd say that, because the songs I was writing then, and the styles of music I was using, to me seemed to be vastly different to the homogenising infertile mass of UK/US 1980's culture that had been offering up the likes of 'futurism', 'new-wave' and 'plastic-pop'. The song 'Computerised Doom' is an example of how I parodied the contemporary music style whilst declaring the future to be doomed because of computers and technology.
WMG: Where do you get your inspiration in writing your songs?
I get inspiration from pretty much anything around me. Usually I am just going about my day-to-day business, when suddenly I have a kind of 'melding of thoughts' on a certain subject that may have been on my mind for some time. It could be a social/political issue or something more personal to me, that I am taking a fresh look at. I guess you could say that my song-writing is inspired by sudden realisations or 'jumps' in my understanding of reality.
WMG: What was it like being praised and awarded such prestigious accolades??
Well, praise is always good, where it is due, and usually I can decide for myself whether I deserve it. However, humans being social animals, it's nice to have some positive or critical feedback from others, in order to feel accepted in the community, as it were. As a singer/musician in the 21st Century, it is possible to feel part of many communities - be they: local, national or international - and I feel proud to receive accolades from any of these.
WMG: What was it like touring just recently in London?
My base is Brighton, which is probably home to more musicians, artists and writers per square kilometre than any other town in the UK. This is a benefit in many ways, as I can feel comfortable walking the streets or lying on the beach at any time of day or night. However, if you know anything about 'hunting', you will know that too much competition (which there is in Brighton) can leave you feeling hungry. Thus, I really enjoyed trying out the fresh 'game' in a different place, where (whilst I'm fairly acquainted with London) there are always new sights and sounds to excite one.
WMG: I see a lot of upcoming musicians going the same path as yours, what can you offer that will differ you from those other artists?
You're right in what you say, and so where do I differ? What hopefully sets me apart from others is that I think I am less commercially-orientated and just happy to be able to get on with my own stuff. I enjoy music for it's own sake and not for the material wealth that can be gained from it. I can earn money doing all sorts of things, but it doesn't buy me the kind of happiness that I get from creating.
WMG: How would you deal if you were criticised as another musician?
How would I deal with the criticism of being called 'another musician?' I would say: "Yes, I am, there are loads of us aren't there?" With a population of over 4 billion, there are - rather unsurprisingly - more musicians on this planet than ever before. And with the Western world surviving mostly through it's service industry, the 'lucky' ones amongst us are able to spend more time scribbling lyrics and chord-patterns in notepads and rather less time ploughing the fields or herding cattle. Having said that, if things continue as they are, we shall all end up playing music to each other, 24 hours a day!
WMG: Any particular favorite from all the songs you have written?
Well, I've written a song recently about the impossibility, as a musician, of ever really being able to mix with people in a crowd. I like it quite a bit for the way it combines real-life emotional experience with Greek tragedy. It's rather jokey/Dylan-esque title is: 'The Hazards of being an eternal rock star'. However, one of the favourites from my back-catalogue must be 'You Make me Melt', because of its sentimental lyrics and 'bursting-open' musical accompaniment.
WMG: Any gigs going on?
At the moment all my gigs are virtual - on various websites. But I'd like some real ones too! I'm lined up to play London again soon.
WMG: Tell us more about your latest album, Portfolio Career?
It is one day's live studio recording of nine (purely vocal and flamenco guitar) songs, five of which were freshly-penned and the other four appeared on previous albums, including one from 1988. For me, it marks a passage in time and a record of events. The title 'Portfolio Career', symbolises a life of various employments and undertakings and is perfect for this particular collection of tracks.
WMG: How did you create the right sound for the album?
The engineer/producer was Rikki Borkum, who is a jazz double-bass player and 'concert hall sound designer' - thus an expert in the field of acoustics. We did the recording at his apartment, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, in Brighton. At the time, I was gigging quite a bit as an acoustic guitar-toting singer/songwriter, so the set-up was easy really. Rikki had to get the correct sound, which was clean, with very little reverb or effects, and I had to perform the songs over and over, until the best takes had been recorded.
WMG: How are you dealing with the growing popularity you're getting so far?
I guess at some point an agent or manager will be the thing, but at the moment it's fairly straightforward, although I spend a lot of time keeping up with things on the Internet and such like. I'd rather be doing some more recording and a bit more live work - possibly abroad. Popularity is unavoidable if something is good, so we'll see what the future holds!
WMG: Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
Probably still trying to feed my songwriting addiction!
WMG: Thanks so much for the time. Any last messages to your fans?
Thanks Abby, and I hope that my songs and music touch people in the same special ways that other people's songs and music touch me!
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