erasing clouds
 

100 Musicians Answer the Same 10 Questions

Part Fifty-Nine: Glen Johnson of Piano Magic

instigated by dave heaton

For about a decade now, Glen Johnson and friends have been releasing arresting, intimate, haunted, artful pop music, coming from a variety of directions...some more electronic, more ambient, more open-ended than others. Piano Magic has released so many memorable recordings for a lengthy list of labels, including (but certainly not limited to), 4AD, Green UFOs, Rocket Girl, Acuarela, i/Che, and Darla. The most recent album, Disaffected, was released on Darla last year. Johnson also has a solo project called Textile Ranch (website). For more information on Piano Magic, check out their website and MySpace.

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What aspect of making music excites you the most right now?

Hearing the final mix. Our producer has been mixing our new album all this week and we're only allowed in the studio for the playback of each song, as he finishes it. Every few hours, he calls us up and says, "Ok, come over" and it's like unwrapping a fresh Xmas present every time. Even though, essentially, *we* wrapped it.

What aspect of making music gets you the most discouraged?

When, in the studio, we just can't play the songs we've been playing perfectly fine for months or even years. Faced with the antiseptic atmosphere of the recording booth, it's sometimes hard to get in the right mood, settle down, get comfortable.

What are you up to right now, music-wise? (Current or upcoming recordings, tours, extravaganzas, experiments, top-secret projects, etc).

We're almost at the end of recording our new album which should, touch wood, be out early next year. We're working with Guy Fixsen of the group Laika in the producer chair, and we're pretty sure he's brought out the best in us. We're going to be a little quiet on the live front for a while, due to the recording - except for a charity show with Clinic, Magnetophone and Sonic Boom next month. We're really looking forward to that - mainly because we're such fans of those bands.

As a sideline, Cedric, our keyboardist, and I have been working on an electropop album under the name Future Conditional. We're about to start looking for a label for that.

What's the most unusual place you've ever played a show or made a recording? How did the qualities of that place affect the show/recording?

We once played in a cathedral on a mountain top in Perugia, Italy. It was so good, we almost cried. It was so dark in there, we couldn't see the audience at all but when we came offstage, not one of them left without shaking our hand.

In what ways does the place where you live (or places where you have lived), affect the music you create, or your taste in music?

I'm a terrible nostalgist for everywhere I've ever lived, everyone I've ever met, everything I've ever done and these things are my main source of lyrical inspiration, beyond a doubt. I've lived in London for over 10 years and well, it's an unavoidable muse too. I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love it but it hates me. Or vice versa, depending on the day. My taste in music has no geographical boundaries though. I'm as likely to listen to Russian reggae as Libyan techno.

When was the last time you wrote a song? What can you tell us about it?

I finished the lyrics to a new song, "Saints Preserve Us," only minutes before we recorded it, a few days ago. It's kind of a plea to someone to get their life together. The lyrics are pretty universal, as opposed to poetry but sometimes, you have to cut straight to the chase. Otherwise, Sonic Youth, circa EVOL.

As you create more music, do you find yourself getting more or less interested in seeking out and listening to new music made by other people...and why do you think that is?

I'm not interested in these hot-new-thing bands at all. In fact, anything that's lauded as such, I'll instantly deny attention. Too many bands just emulate what's hot at that moment and when it all boils down, they last just 2 or 3 years. I'm really interested in things that touch the heart or are played and produced really interestingly, are really well-written but I listen to very little within the rock genre. This house filters more than its fair share of new electronica and "new ambient classical."

Lately what musical periods or styles do you find yourself most drawn to as a listener? (Old or new music? Music like yours or different from yours?)

Let's say late 60's/early 70's, 1980 - 1987, contemporary. I was too late for punk, didn't cotton onto the goldmine of the 60's until the late 80's. Was real bored between The Smiths splitting up and....now! With a few exceptions.

Name a band or musician, past or present, who you flat-out LOVE and think more people should be listening to. What's one of your all-time favorite recordings by this band/musician?

Bjork, flat out but plenty of people already listen to her. With Bjork, I think it's best to just listen to EVERYTHING because there's barely a sub-par moment. She's one of the most consistent artists alive.

What's the saddest song you've ever heard?

"Without You" by Harry Nilsson.

To check out the rest of the Q&As, click here.


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