Present yourself to the readers
Greetings! I am Will Johns. Singer, Song writer and Guitarist and I play my blues for you!
Who composes ?...How does it work in the band ?
Usually me. I will have the song finished but the band and I will develop the LIVE version together.
Who writes the texts ?..What are they talking about ?..How does inspiration come ?
I write the lyrics. It's all about feelings... Especially the feelings that there are no words for. I write about how I feel from experience and living a life in music. With Blues music there is always an opportunity to say one thing but mean another! Inspiration comes like lightning, sometimes you are just struck by an idea or a feeling and 5 minutes later the song is finished, sometimes it takes years to develop and finish the song but the inspiration comes from the creative source, and that's the highest power.
Are you day or night ? and why ?
Day I guess. I wake up early, even if I have been working till very late. Something in me wants to rise with the sun and experience it ALL! Or go Fishing!
What are your personal musical tastes and your influences ?
Now, I just listen to BB King, Ry Cooder and Johnny Guitar Watson.I just love it and between those guys there is so much work! I think that I am influenced by Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and Ry Cooder.
What's your opinion about the current music scene in UK ?
I see a lot of wannabee managers, promotors and general music Industry hangers on. It is a minefeld out there. Every Joe and his wife wants to be involved and yet they don’t have the first clue about artists or have the financial back up to do the Job.
There are some great players and personalities on the scene ,but it’s a hard old game, if you want to make a million pounds you need to spend two million!
Generally, what's the reaction of the public during your concerts ?
Our audiences tend to be very polite! In the UK anyway.
They listen very carefully, sometimes you can hear a pin drop!
Then we all tend to go a bit nuts at the end!
What's your best live memory ? And why ?
Has to be Koktebel Jazz Party 2015.
A lovely festival I was invited to headline right by the Black Sea, literaly on the beach! The sound, the sea, everything was magical! The audience went crazy at the end of the show, it was so much fun and we were all treated like royalty, which is always nice!
What would be the festival of your dreams ?(with you playing in it of course !!!)
Well that would have to be 'The Big Jam in the Sky'
With BB, Jimi and Bob and Prince and the 'Ice Man' Albert.
I have that one to look forward to... Just not yet please!
What are your future dates ?
August 3rd & 5th I will be at Cambridge Rock Festival
August 13th I will be at Herbakkers Festival, Belgium
September7th -24th I will be on Tour in Czech Republic
All dates here: http://www.willjohns.com/gigs/
In studio, what was the ambiance for the album SOMETHING OLD,SOMETHING NEW ?...etc.…
I wanted to make something that had a contempory rhythmical feel and that represented my history but with a taste of the future.
How does it work for the design of the CD ?and why this title?
The artwork uses the Evil Eye or Nazzar which is a good luck charm to ward off evil. We all know there is plenty of evil in this world so this hopes to guard us against the evil eye however you percieve it. Me personaly, I wish to bring luck and fortune to all good people.
The title 'Something Old, Something New..' suggests the Rhyme that sometimes goes with the Talisman as a gift to newly wed women as a fertility blessing:
"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe." It is often recited as the four "somethings", not including the sixpence. The rhyme appears to originate in England, an 1898 compilation of English folklore reciting that:
In this country an old couplet directs that the bride shall wear:— "Something old, something new, Something borrowed, something blue." "The something blue" takes, I am given to understand, usually the form of a garter, an article of dress which plays an important part
in some wedding rites, as, for instance, in the old custom of plucking off the garter of the bride. "The something old" and "something blue" are devices to baffle the Evil Eye. The usual effect on the bride of the Evil Eye is to render her barren, and this is obviated by wearing "something borrowed", which should properly be the undergarment of some woman who has been blessed with children: the clothes communicate fertility to the bride.[2]
With Management and booking, how do you work ? And with whom ?
I am actually totally independent at the moment!
info@willjohns.com
I work with Jane Judd on PR
in the UK: http://www.danamusicmanagement.com
For Europe we work with Bluesfarm Agency http://www.bluesfarmmusicagency.nl
and in Russia, Boris 'TheBlade' Litvintsev of Hot Draft http://www.hotdraftproductions.com
What are your projects ?
Besides my own band I play in FRESH CREAM with Malcom Bruce and Chris Page.
What do you expect from the future ?
Bigger and better things! I am looking forward to coming to Belgium this year and also to Czech Republic for 18 dates in September.
What's your motto ?
"It's not the wand, it's the wizard"
Website to remember
www.willjohns.com
What would you like to say to the readers ?
Thank You for Keeping Music Alive and Please buy my CDs!!
And to young peoples who begin in the music world ?
If you want it, do it, you can be anything you want in the world, don’t give up on your dreams, work for them!
