So it's been a while !

Since our last chat I have been up to my eyes with rehearsing, recording and going to gigs.

For the past three weeks now I have been slogging away with Mark Lilley in preparation for the next stages of his rehearsals. This is when the rest of the band get involved and hopefully creating a sound that will be like angels whispers. The band will include leader of the pack Mark Lilley, bass player extraordinaire Jonathon Cundey, the voice of a generation Amy Notman and ivory tinkler me.
Our first gig is in Belper details below:

The recording of my solo album is going quite well too. I have finished a song called ‘Don’t let it drop’ (which is about the death of someone close to me), and I have almost finished a rockabilly-ish song called ‘Rip the town up’ (which like most my songs has a focus on a girl that I fancy). I have also decided to record a duet called ‘Getting Scared’ but I need a female to sing the girl parts, all interested parties send an email to mark@silverfactorysuperstars.com. To complement this I am also going to include a cover version of the Silver Factory Superstars song ‘Planetary solitude’ but the twist is I won’t be singing it, someone of the opposite sex will ( again email to mark@silverfactorysuperstars.com).
I have also started to write a country type song with a friend of mine called Sally Boylan which at the moment is called The Ballad of Billy Jones. It will be a while before I start recording this one though because time is short at the moment.


This week saw me attend two great gigs the first was the Canadian songstress Feist and the second was by indie stalwarts Kula Shaker. Both gigs left me wishing I had a band to tour my new songs with.



See you next time.

Might as well rain until September

RANT
I hate it when people say one thing, do another, then don’t admit to it. Twice this week this has happened and both times the other person involved has just looked at me blankly as if to say I’m at fault.
On top of that the Nottingham Trent-Barton bus company needs to sort out their cash saver card system and their staff too. In particular one who gentleman works at the shop in the broadmarsh centre. He needs to learn about customer relations and how to control his temper.


GIGS
On a better note, in October and November I am playing keyboards for two of Mark Lilley’s gigs. See his web page for details here.
This at the moment this is taking up most of my time, as Mark is an evil task master. Any spare time I do have is taken up with the project below.

SOLO
After much deliberation and frequent requests I have embarked on writing and recording my first solo album.
The album will be a non synth affair with an emphasis on real instruments and a band feel. At the moment I have finished 3 songs ‘She’s out of her head’, ‘Lost’ and ‘Spinning’
You can get a taster of what’s to come at www.myspace.com/mjohnsonuk .
There are 3 songs there at the moment 2 are from the album plus a demo of ‘Around this space’.

INTERVIEW
In May I played a gig in Oxford for Gappy tooth, Here is an interview I did for their Denture publication.

1.how do you feel the electro scene has evolved since you formed the band in 1994.
It seems that with the ever growing network of Myspace, a new underground Synth revolution has started. All of my gigs this year have been acquired through this site. It is a total contrast to ten years ago when you would have to employ a booking agent to seek out and find the right venues to play.
There is still a lot of animosity associated with synth bands from promoters and venues. A large percentage will not put you on unless you have a traditional line up, I thought after 25yrs of synth based music being around this would have changed but alas no. They seem to think its too risky to put rock/indie bands on the same line up as us but on the other hand are quite happy to put the likes of Goldfrapp on with a local indie band supporting.
Musically though there are a lot of great new synth bands out there that ware mixing old values with new technology. Check them out, there are a lot on my Myspace.

2. do you prefer working solo, or is it more interesting when the other guys get involved?
Working on my own are the first initial steps in anything I do, be it writing, recording or playing live (I am a bit of a control freak). I like to write on my own and then get others in to suggest things and point out ways that I could improve my songs. As far as live performances go I love having people to share the experience with, it makes the event more enjoyable. Take Gappytooth for instance, on stage will be a friend of mine called Mark Lilley who will be playing keyboards and off stage will be our video director Stephen Loynds (Pullfocus Media) who have both been involved with me for over ten years now and without them the whole live experience wouldn’t be as enjoyable.

3. any tips of other acts to look out for?
Yeah we have recently worked with some cool bands, here are a few:
Captain Dangerous
Schmoof
Starbase 109
Autons

4. what’s made you keep going all these years?
It has to be a passion for music. For as long as I can remember, everything in my life has been associated with music. My mum claims that I could sing before I could talk but I find that hard to believe. Writing/recording songs has always been a great way for me to channel all my emotions and keep myself sane. It is also the process of nurturing an idea into a song and then recording/performing it to an audience. Or it may just be the need to be loved, who knows?

5. Stegasaurus fights T Rex (the dinosaur, not the band). Who would win?
I’d have to say the Stega. If I remember correctly, it has two brains so it would easily out smart the brutish Rex.
How nerdy was that?

6. Who’s afraid of Virginia Wade?
We are, have you seen her eyebrows!!!!