Jonny Love Newsletter Interview

 

Thanks to Jonny Love for answering these questions:

What can we expect to see from you over the next year?

Touring, touring, touring! Just getting out and about playing as much as I can. It’d be great to do a lot of stuff out of Auckland and play the new album ‘Courage’ to people.

What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?

Get out playing live and in front of people. It’s a cliche, but a cliche for a reason, that you never know who’s in the room listening. Playing live is so important these days with the way the industry is changing, so the more comfortable you are doing it the better.

How do you come up with your lyrics?

I’m always thinking of songs throughout the day. I have an extensive list on my phone of song titles and ideas!! But basically there tends to be a lot of rubbish that comes out at first which then gets refined down to lyrics I’m happy with. On the new album I’ve relaxed a tiny bit however and not tried to be too abstract which I’ve had a tendancy to do before.

Who would you most like to support live?

I’d love to open for acts like Radiohead/Coldplay/Muse/Stereophonics from overseas or bands such as The Feelers/OpShop/The Veils from NZ.

What can you never leave home without?

Picks in my pocket just in case there happens to be a guitar to be played somewhere and my iPhone…

What is your favourite NZ venue?

The St James is still my favourite venue I’ve been too. Such a shame that it’s still not up and running at the moment.

What is the best part of being a musician?

I always remember a quote on my business studies wall at school that read ‘If you choose a job you love you never have to work a day in your life’ which is definitely how I feel.

What is in your CD collection at home?

Where do I start? Anything from: Radiohead; Coldplay; Sigur Ros; Stereophonics; Mutemath; The Boxer Rebellion; Arcade Fire; Bloc Party; David Gray; KOL etc etc!

What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?

I was doing a show in Balclutha when during a song a “more mature woman” shall we call her beckoned for me to bend down from stage as he she wanted to say something to me. She leant close to my ear and whispered, “Don’t you know women only get better with age” and preceded to bite my ear! Needless to say I sang from the other side of the stage after that. I guess that’s not so much embarrassing as funny though…

What is your favourite place in NZ to be?

You can’t beat places such as Wanaka either in summer or winter, always love being there.

What inspired you to become a musician?

I’ve always loved music from an early age. I didn’t think I’d ever have the chance to have a career doing it so now that I am I’m loving it and making sure I don’t waste it.

What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?

I’ve had a couple of really cool gigs, one was opening mainstage at Rhythm and Vines and another was opening for Newton Faulkner who’s just a virtuoso.

How do you keep in contact with your fans?

Mainly on my facebook fan page. It’s incredible in this day and age how connected we all are, and how accessible people have become.