I thought I read somewhere that a few years back, you were busking in the London subways. Is this true and if so, why did you decide to do that (couldn't have been for the money, could it!) and did you learn anything from the experience?
John: Yes, I did have a spell of busking...and, though it seems surprising to you, yes, the money came in very handy...In the years after our deal with Go!Discs expired, when the bankruptcy kicked in, I ended up living in Rotherhithe (an area of South East London famous for its dark, Dickensian docklands, some of London's oldest and more mysterious churches and where the Sex Pistols first rehearsed) with my then girlfriend...I would head up to Kilmarnock, on the overnight Stagecoach bus from Kings Cross, whenever I could, to write and rehearse in Shabby Road...these were the last days of the Shabby Road empire and I was determined to be there with the guys as much as i could, despite living so far away...
I began busking to raise some much needed cash to help with food, travel and other living costs...a side effect was a raising of spirits...I busked mainly in the tube entrance corridor under Marble Arch Island on the North East corner of Hyde Park, a good spot to catch tourists heading to Speakers Corner, (this spot was familiar to me from from my years in London in the early eighties, it's where I gained my first guitar from 2 Iranian buskers). The corridor has a lovely natural reverb, so singing was a pleasure. I had no hat to fling on the floor so I used my jacket for donations...It was my first experience of the ancient, honourable busking lark and it took me an hour or two to get confident...I would play various tunes...some of our own ("Leave Me Alone" was a decent earner) but mostly covers ("Dance Me to the End of Love" - Lenny Cohen, "Strange Weather" - Tom Waits, "We Let the Stars Go" - Paddy Mcaloon, "By the Time I Get to Pheonix - Jimmy Webb). I made some good friends...Tommy played the violin and his girlfriend, Devon, played the harp...they were young music students trying to make ends meet...and, kindly, they showed me the ropes...(I ended up writing a song about Tommy and my busking days called "In Capitals").
Buskers work in shifts...if you find an empty spot, you play until some other player comes along and books an hour...you head off for a cuppa and head back in an hour to play some more...if it gets busy with players then you would move along to another spot...I would head down to Hyde Park Corner Tube and play to the Civil Servants from the nearby bureaucracy buildings (it's even possible that the very tax officials who had demanded our bankruptcy were throwing coins at me as I sang).
After the previous financially disastrous years of playing music, this whole experience was very refreshing...play a song...stop someone in their tracks...then they pay you for the pleasure...a very natural relationship.
What did I learn? Well...it seems to be in my bones, music...I learned some lovely songs...and that money comes and goes...as do relationships...strangers can be incredibly kind...I learned that some nationalities (who shall remain anonymous) do not donate to buskers...I learned a general faith in humanity...and that Ladbrokes (UK High Street Betting Shop) will swap a pocketful of pennies and silver for crisp, folding cash...no problem...whereas the high street banks demanded you open an account first...typical.
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Which song is your favorite to sing in concert?
John: At the moment, my favourite song to sing at shows, though it doesn't appear too often, is "In Capitals"... it was written a few years ago and when the night is right and the sound is soft and gentle, this song just floats in the air. I also love singing my harmony part in "Got Carried Away."
Who writes the lyrics/music; the listed credits go to the whole band.
John: The lyric writing duties are shared between Frank, Paul and myself... each song, lyrically, has it own originator.
I looked at some of your past gig's song list and didn't see "Bloodrush" (one of my favorites). Do you ever perform that song in concert?
John: Bloodrush...hmmm...we have played it at some shows over the past few years, but it is a rare visitor.
it seems that some of the newer songs the band is playing are "yours" - wild mountainside, hammer time, prisons, in capitals...is that just a coincidence, or do you write more than the rest of the band or just have more songs 'in the can'? thanks.
John: All the songs you mention have been around for a little while...some of them were in the running to be included on Weightlifting...I had a prolific period when I was staying upstairs in Lyndsey Street, Kilmarnock a few years ago...some of the songs you mention were written there and the beginnings of a few others...I seem to have prolific patches every now and again...
Just wondering how you decide which songs you sing vs. Frank singing? Obviously you have written a lot of songs and sing a handful of them on record or in concerts, but what goes into making that decision?
John: These decisions seem to make themselves...to me, certain songs sound as though their potential is unfulfilled with my voice...for example, "Usually" was a song that I sung for a while at shows...and to me, it seemed smaller than it should be...Frank took a shine to it and everything made sense...Other songs...like "Sleeping Policeman", "A Boy and a Girl" suit my baritone...it's all a very natural process.
what was your favourite gig outside of london and america in the last year and why? (the life cafe gig in manchester was great - yes ?)
John: The Life Cafe was brilliant...a great night...As was our show with the American Music Club in a fantastic place on the shore in Brighton...In the USA, probably our shows at the Troubador.
I assume you will follow up with another album after weightlifting - yes or no ? and can you make as great an album again ?
John: Yes and yes.
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