JOHNNY GET THE GUN
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 25th June 2010.
Essex, UK, band Johnny Get The Gun - Wayne on vocals, Jack on guitar (and triangle), Joe on bass (and banjo), and Jamie on drums (and violin) - have a debut EP "Let's Go To Work" out now.
We chat with all four members to find out more...
Hi Guys, thanks for taking a moment to answer these questions. Hope you are well?
Jack: Yea we're great thanks, we're all looking forward to the next few months.
I understand the “Johnny Get The Gun” foundations were laid after Jack and Wayne met at school. How quickly did the rest of the band fall onto place, and how long before you actually became ‘a band’, rather than a bunch of friends jamming together?
Jack: I think it started when me and Wayne left our first band and we started writing for Mcfly's management in 2005, as we started to write songs with a purpose, but it took us about a year to find our drummer (Jamie), and once we found our bassist in early 2007 it really kicked off with gigs all over Essex, but at this point we had a different bassist to what we have now.
Did you start off playing a lot of cover tunes, or did you start creating your own songs quite early on?
Jack: Well because me and Wayne had been writing songs for Mcfly's management for a about a year and half before the band come together, we already had good enough songs to play, we've never really played covers.
How quickly did the name “Johnny Get The Gun” appear, and where does the name come from?
Jamie: This is a funny one. We were trying to think of a band name, and failing miserably, and I had my iPod on through the PA system, I had a noisecore band called Scarlet playing, and we heard a lyric saying 'Johnny get your gun' and we all looked at each other and said that's a cool name.
Did you know what sort of music you were going to play right from the start, or has it developed considerably over time?
Wayne: We've never written with a particular style in mind, we all have our influences but we just write what comes out. That's how we've always done it. We've just naturally developed and our sound changes each time, we just write what we want.
How would you describe the sound to someone who hadn’t heard you before?
Jack: This is a question we all struggle to answer cause we're really can't relate ourselves to another band's sound. We always say we're a rock/pop band and people seem to get it from that, but if i had to describe it, i'd say punk pop guitars, metal drums, soul like vocals and sixes bass.
Who are your personal influences, and how do they relate to the music the band plays?
Jack: For me it's The Beatles, Blur, All Time Low, Mcfly, Paramore & The Blackout
Joe: Beatles, You Me At Six, All Time Low & Blink 182
Jamie: Beatles, Dream Theater, Kids In Glass Houses, Metallica
Wayne: Beatles, Kaiser Chiefs, Keane, Gary Moore & White Lies
Jack: As you you can see we have our similarities but our differences and i think each of these elements create our sound, i think you can hear it in our music.
You’ve got your EP/mini-album on the way out in August. When did you start work on it, and how quickly did it all come together?
Jack: It's a collection of work that we've done over the last year and a bit, two of the tracks me and Wayne wrote when we were 15/16, but we put these tracks together as we thought some of the best tracks we've done over the past year and bit.
Jamie: It's out on the 23rd August on iTunes as well.
Was the writing and recording process pleasure, pain, or a bit of both?
Wayne: Pleasure i would say, it's relaxed, we've never got under each others skin, we enjoy the experience of writing a good song.
Do you prefer the whole studio/creative experience, or the live stage?
Jamie: I love the studio cause you can really hear your songs come together properly, I love playing live as well it's hard to say if i prefer one or the other.
Jack: I love the studio too. I think in the studio is when you know what songs could be made into something special, but I love playing on stage. You need a good balance between the two.
Where do you find your writing influences? Where do you look for inspiration?
Jack: For me The Beatles today they still amaze me, just how they wrote their songs inspires me in so many ways.
Wayne: Sometimes when people don't take you seriously, I feel like writing a good song to almost show them up, or that sort of thing.
Is there a single story behind the songs, or are they all standalone tracks?
Joe: They're standalone tracks, they're written by the rule of just a good song.
How would a typical Johnny Get The Gun song be created? How does the writing process work in the band?
Jack: I start with a stand melody and chords and I'll show it to Wayne. Me and him will write the song together. Once this is done we'll go to band practice, show it to Jamie and Joe, and it will be arranged and sorted. However sometimes it happens in different ways, like Joe would have a cool bass line and we'll take something from that, so it can change, but that's normally how it happens.
Do you do anything special in the studio to get your sound? Do you like to experiment or are you quite a traditional band?
Jack: We record demos at Jamie's, and see if we can add the tracks in production sense. We go mad if we want to, but I'd say we were a traditional band.
Do you have any favourite moments on the new self-titled release?
Joe: She doesn't love you She doesn't love you, She loves me, i like that bit...
Jack: The Da Da Da Da's bit in 'You will Be Mine', i love that bit, one of the magic song writing moments.
I see from your MySpace site you are recording again in September. Is this to be the full length debut album? If so can you tell us a bit about it?
Jack: It's a 5 track EP, we've got some awesome songs and are really looking forward to recording them, we've already started pre-production so it's all looking good. It sounds different to our last CD - more energetic, better musically and it's just a lot better. We play a few of the tracks live and it seems to go down well, so people like it.
You also have a few live dates listed. What is one of your live shows like?
Joe: In your face, we like to make a bang. We try to get everyone who's watching involved to have a good time.
Jack: We always try our best to put a great show on, but I guess you have to come along to watch us, to see if we live up to what we say.
Any question you love being asked that I’ve missed? If so, what’s the answer?
Wayne: You're our first ever interview, so i don't what else to say...
Joe: Been good though
What are you up to once you’ve finished answering these questions?
Jack: We're all going to watch England V Slovenia, by the time you read this everyone would know the score. Com'on ENGLAND!!
Anything else you would like to mention?
Jack: Thank you for taking the time to interview us...Oh, and tell people to add us on MySpace! I run out page so they can talk to me directly...and I'm giving a free download to people who talk to us on MySpace, so waste no time and do it! Check us out on http://www.myspace.com/johnnygetthegun
Joe: Add us on facebook (here) if you want to talk to me!
Jamie: ...and watch our YouTube Videos, they're fun!
Thanks again to the guys for their time. Keep an eye out for their existing and soon-to-be-recorded EPs. That's an order! :)
http://www.myspace.com/johnnygetthegun
