Jonny - Bread, candy floss and old English ladies

Take two peripheries of the British Empire: Scotland and Wales.

We spoke about this new project, over the phone, with Norman Blake, right before the Jonny show in Nottingham. What came out of it was a long chat, engaging and light-hearted, that shows just how remarkably available and genuinely enthusiastic the Scottish musician still is, undimmed by the passing of time.

To start off, can you tell us where and when you two met, and when the idea of making an album together came about?

Euros and I met in 1997, when my band, Teenage Fanclub, and his, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, toured together. They asked us to be part of their tour and we said yes enthusiastically, since we'd always been fans of their music. That was the start of a real friendship, and so at one point Euros asked me to play guitar and sing on one of their records, "How I Long To Feel That Summer in My Heart", a great album in my opinion.

Not long after that, I even did a short tour with Gorky's, playing guitar with them.

Since then we've always kept in touch one way or another: Euros would come and visit me at my place in Glasgow whenever he was in the area and, sometimes, we'd make music together, just for fun and to pass the time.

It was only later that we had the idea of recording a seven-inch, still purely for fun, pressing a small run, maybe two hundred copies, and splitting them: a hundred each, and we'd each sell them at our own gigs.

Except in the end we got a bit carried away and kept working together. Eventually we had enough songs for a proper album.

And so, almost without realising it, here we are tonight in Nottingham promoting an album!

So this project has been in your heads for more than ten years.

Well, I wouldn't say that. Our friendship goes back more than ten years, but the idea of doing something together dates back, maybe, to around 2006 or so, when we first started thinking about the single. Actually, we only really started working on it properly last year.

And where does the idea come from to call your "band" Jonny, without the H? Nothing to do with the nickname often used for condoms?

No, absolutely not! (laughs) Well, the name comes from a photograph. I don't know if you've seen the album cover: there are five guys lifting up their T-shirts, and on each of their chests there's a letter painted, spelling out the word JONNY. The first one on the left is an artist from Glasgow. Actually, all five of them are artists from the Glasgow scene, but the first from the left, Joseph Mann, has a really interesting website full of graphic design work, animation and short videos. Browsing around his site, I came across this really strange photo. At the time we were actually looking for a name for the band, so we thought we could kill two birds with one stone: band name and album cover! Of course, we asked permission from everyone pictured in the photo and got their approval.

Can you describe the process you followed for writing and recording the songs that make up your album?

Sure! Some of the tracks are original compositions that Euros had written a few years back, which we then recorded together. As for the rest, we used a very relaxed "method": basically just the two of us sitting around a kitchen table with a nice glass of wine, an acoustic guitar and a little Casio keyboard. We let ideas flow, talked about all sorts of subjects, even bouncing off non-musical topics. For instance, sometimes it was enough just to look around: we saw some bread and said to each other, "why don't we write a song about bread?" And that's how a song called "Bread" ended up on the album.

In any case, we worked a lot together. As soon as one of us had a musical idea, or came up with a line or two, we'd both dive in and try things out together to help that seed grow.

Is that a very different method from the one you usually use to write songs for Teenage Fanclub?

In a way, I'd say it's more relaxed and simple. Working as a pair helps a lot. Ideas come faster from two minds: if one of us is stuck and can't come up with anything, the other one is there ready to help, and the "work" feels lighter. Both Euros and I, after all, are used to working alone: he's been writing and recording his albums by himself for a while now, and I write my songs alone too and then play them and work on them with the rest of the band, but writing together, four-handed, was a new experience for both of us, and it was a lot of fun. It's probably not that different from what we do with our own bands, but working as Jonny felt pretty enjoyable and liberating for us. We were also able to allow ourselves freedoms we'd maybe never taken before. For example, there are some pretty humorous songs on the Jonny album, and that kind of song rarely finds a place on a Teenage Fanclub record, just as you're unlikely to hear it especially on Euros's solo albums, which tend to be quite heartfelt and autobiographical. But we both also enjoy a bit of good, healthy fun in music, and with Jonny we allowed ourselves to be more eclectic, and even a little more selfish, feeling free to write whatever kind of song we wanted. There was a great deal of freedom of expression and the chance to follow all kinds of different ideas.

And what idea did you follow to arrive at writing "Cave Dance", which seems to me the most peculiar track on the whole album?

It's an idea that came about after a gig. We were there with Euros, chatting about all sorts of things that came to mind, and we were talking about cinema, about films we wanted to go and see, and about imaginary films. We were wondering what would make a good title for a film that doesn't exist, and for some reason it occurred to me that "Cave Dance" could be a great film. So we started talking about a possible soundtrack, and we thought it would be fun to record a ten-minute-long track of "cave music". What exactly this music might sound like was harder to picture, but I was sure it had to contain some rock'n'roll. We conceived it as a long jam, then we also added a bit of electronics. We had a lot of fun playing it, and that's how, out of this slightly crazy idea, the track was born.

Can I ask you, since you told me you're a fan of their music, what your favourite Gorky's Zygotic Mynci song is?

Well, that's a pretty tough question, since there are so many I like. There's a song called "Lady Fair" (from "The Blue Trees", 2000, ed.) which I think is just a delightful song, but also the classic "Patio Song" (from "Barafundle", 1997, ed.). Honestly, there are so many I love. Euros is a friend and I think he writes beautiful songs, and I'm really a big fan of his music.

And your favourite Teenage Fanclub song?

Answering that is even harder, because I'm personally involved. Maybe I could tell you one song I especially love written by Raymond (McGinley) and one written by Gerard (Love), because picking between my own is impossible for me. Oddly enough, my favourite Raymond song is a b-side called "Thaw Me" (from the "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" single, 2001, ed.), a track I always enjoy going back to. As for Gerard, I'll go for something more classic: "Sparky's Dream" (from "Grand Prix", 1995, ed.) is a song I love a great deal, and it's always fun to play live. Recording that whole album was a joy, and that song — like all the others on "Grand Prix" — is still very much loved by fans. Either way, I have to say it's always thrilling to be in a band with people who write such beautiful songs.

You're forty-five now, and Euros is thirty-six. Do you think it still makes sense, once you've reached a certain maturity, to be part of a pop band? Do you think there are still reasons, today, to make pop music?

I think so, absolutely. To begin with, the urge to write a good pop song never leaves you. And besides, as they say, it's only the body that ages, the mind stays the same. I've always found it amusing that, in the art world, people generally assume an artist matures and gains awareness and personality as they age, while in the pop music world it seems to work exactly the other way round. It's strange... Actually, it's true for pop musicians too — they also mature over time. I think of Alex Chilton. He was a great guitarist, always a great performer, a truly talented guy. But if you listen to what he did as a kid and what he did later, after the Box Tops, with Big Star, you realise how much more mature he'd become. And I think it's the same for everyone. So basically, make music as long as you feel like it, as long as you need to and want to — and who cares about the rest!

That leads me to ask whether your approach to music, both in terms of writing and playing live, has changed since your beginnings with Teenage Fanclub.

Well, I think the main drive that pushes me to make music has always been the same: I like music, I like listening to it, playing it, writing it. I didn't start out as a musician to become famous. I never thought joining a band could bring me success. It was something completely natural. I just followed my instincts. And that's what I still do now. To be honest, I think it's more or less the same, all things considered. I have fun. I still enjoy touring, meeting people, talking about music.

So you still enjoy playing live. What should someone expect when they come to see a Jonny performance?

Live it's just the two of us, me and Euros, so we play with a couple of acoustic guitars, two small Casio keyboards and a drum machine. We do the whole tour by car, with a really minimal set-up. That way everything is more enjoyable and fun. Soundcheck doesn't even take that long. And after the show we can relax and chat with people over a coffee.

We play a few songs from the album, of course, and a couple of covers. And yes, we'll also do a couple of songs from our respective bands, but just a couple — one from Teenage Fanclub and one from Gorky's, but no more than that!

What music do you listen to in the car, travelling from one tour stop to the next?

We listen to a bit of everything, including the radio — BBC Radio 4, naturally. And also a lot of a compilation of songs by producer Joe Meek, "Freakbeat" (Castle Records, 2006, ed.), and garage rock, "Pebbles" in particular, plus a lot of folk too. Euros and I have similar tastes, which is great for road trips!

So do you listen to similar things when you're on your own too?

Yes, more or less. I listen to other stuff too, of course: I really love Bert Jansch, I listen to the Shangri-La's, New York Dolls, The Stooges, but also Sly and The Family Stone, or, moving on to more recent stuff, I love Stereolab, and I'm also very fond of Joanna Newsom. I know a lot of people struggle to appreciate her voice. Let's say you either love it or hate it. I'm in the first camp, but I completely understand those who feel differently.

Do you believe pop music can still have a strong influence on people's lives, the way it did in the 60s or 70s?

I'm convinced of it! A good song can still create emotions and stir people's feelings. And it doesn't even matter whether it's a song written today or fifty or even a hundred years ago. A good song will always stir something in people. I believe pop music continues to matter. That music as a whole matters to people. Could you imagine a world without music? It would be a truly horrible place!

(27/03/2011)

Ride the wave of great music

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