JON JOYANO INTERVIEW

Birsha:so i guess a good first question for you is based on how much you’ve moved in your life do you think that affects your style in musicJoni: I feel I explored the majority of the music I’ve been into at a younger age when I didn’t do too much traveling I guess. Mainly across alt rock, hardcore, punk, indie even jazz n funk lol. When I started to do a lot of traveling I found myself hanging out with more rappers and music producers so I for sure got Influenced from them with the rap stuff. Especially living in France and Germany I would have never listened to music in other languages before thatBirsha: which place do you think had the most influence on your taste, and your production and your newer stuffJoni: Definitely growing up in the U.K. in a pretty grew town surrounded by everyone’s parents playing the smiths, pulp, the cure, joy division ect.. that was embedded in my brain from a young age and I never really realized until I moved out the U.K. and everywhere I went people told me my music reminded them of this and how British my sound is. My production now is back how I would have used to record. As a kid I don’t overcomplex anything now, simply record all the instruments straight into my laptop not doing alot of redos as I like imperfections. The mixing is that british 80’s over saturated harsh lofi sound mixing with abit of modern day bass enhancing and over compressing shit lolBirsha: that’s super interesting, do you think making it simplistic makes a better piece for you, i know a lot of artists try to over complicate a track, and create a wall of noise, which can be amazing, but yeaJoni: Less overthinking when making music I feel I keep it more and straight from me. I played music for a long time across many different styles so I have my auto pilot mode on a guitar, bass or drum kit. My muscle memory just plays something aha. I’ve been in bands in the past where we’ve all tried to put time into writing and perfecting things but overall you lose a part of the songs feel and personalityBirsha: How many different instruments do you play?Joni: I play drums, bass, guitar, piano and I sing too, I've attempted many other instruments but never committed to owning others ahaBirsha: that’s fair, do you think having a understanding for multiple instruments makes you want to be simpler for your tracks, i’ve found that people with more skills like to have the simplest routeJoni: Less is more, always I feel. The stuff I write sounds super complex but it’s just about having a good relationship between different instruments. Say I have two guitars going and you play the riff separate it’s just a simple riff which sounds like nothing alone however you put them together and it makes somethingBirsha: what’s a good example of a song where less is moreJoni: Any joy division song, look how these guys didn’t even play instruments massively when they started out. This leads to such creative mixtures of sounds and ideas with no music theory behind it.Birsha: love joy division man, where do you think you’ll be drawing inspo from 15 years from now?Joni: 15 years from now, dam probably the same place as 15 years ago aha the exact same stuff I grew up on like fugazi, all the British post punk I spoke of, artists like moby for being creative and for speaking out about good causes behind his platform following and his connection to the punk culture. Of course I’ll probably be spinning some new bands music and find a piece of Inspiration from just like I am now too with bands like high vis, homefront, Viagra boys, Fontaines D.C. and I could keep going on..Birsha: love viagra boys, what’s a artist you think everyone should tap into (besides yourself ofc)Joni: Apart from the bands I listed above some talent I’ve found while traveling would be
-distraction4ever for your post punk (Montreal)
- wavybaby for punk, rap (berlin)
- django de cayenne for trap, jersey (France)Birsha: that’s awesome, so you in canada now right, specifically québec if i remember correctJoni: Hell yeaBirsha: how has that been so far, i’ve been meaning to make it up thereJoni: Oh yea bro it’s sick, very musically and culturally rich here. Been here nearly a year and met a lot of super nice people who have helped me find my feet here in the music industry which is nice. I’ve never been somewhere with such a big creative industry, everyone you meet makes music, skates, does video games, 3D, other art it’s crazy to see. The french here is hella weird tho, I ain’t used to that aha I learnt french in France and it’s not the same thing 🤣Birsha: french canadian is a whole different ball park typically aha, what’s been something that you miss from home, i know i’ve been asking about a lot of location based stuff as well, but what’s something that musically your looking forward tooJoni: One thing I miss from home would probably be certain food and the way people are abit more open and chatty. People seem quite closed here, I’m not a chatty person but I’m so used to being around crazy people from the U.K. who want to party 24/7. Something I’m musically looking forward to dam aha honestly I don’t follow any music or look for these things now my head Is just working on my own music all the time. I’m looking forward to playing shows again myself as it’s been a while and now I have a whole new live band with @shireheadBirsha: dude i keep seeing shirehead, how is that going along, i fucking love all the snippets i’m getting, also what foods should i check out from the UK everyone jokes about beans and toastJoni: Hell yea man, it’s going full speed now. We have a full band and are keeping busy. Full set is nearly there and we have been making all our own music printing and planning a bunch of shows ready! Lol beans on toast ain’t my thing really. Chip cobs lol which is proper chippy chips in a far cob (bread) and cheese straws there are banding and typical English breakfastBirsha: i can’t wait to see shirehead, do you have any snippets to share, also, if i go to the UK for chips n cob, where should i get it fromJoni: I just dropped a new song like last Friday I believe called ‘black ties.’ You should go check it out. And damn yea I do, go to Ripley, a small town in the middle of the U.K. and go to A chip shop called ‘crest of the wave’ I think it’s still called that. I used to buy a cone of chips after school from there for 99p lolBirsha: dude that sounds fucking amazing, chips means french fries to us rightJoni: Naaah bro French fries are french fries chips are chipsBirsha: got to make sure, there’s some misunderstandings from across the pond, this has to be the most unorthodox interview i’ve done so far bro, which is kinda on par with how we met? kinda crazy how i met you off omegle, do you have any built relationships you keep up with from there other than meJoni: Dam Omegle 🤣I forgot I met you there for a sec lol. I probably been on there like 3 or 4 times so you lucky we met on there ahaBirsha: haha bro that’s actually hella lucky, do you have any advice for new artists looking for ways to connect with their audience through different means, ie, omegle, interviews, and the likeJoni: Honestly man, just find your scene or create your own scene and people will follow if it’s something good. Go to shows and be proactive around, your streams and following will grow more organically this way.Birsha: yea dude, i feel like that’s a really good way to do it, only because then you have a physical interaction with the people supporting your art, have you ever performed live and just had the crowd bumping?Joni: Exactly man, I've been in bands since I was like 12. I've probably played 300/400+ shows in my life! I’ve played with turnover, tv girl, Tim kinsella and many more! I booked shows for three throws in the U.K. and traveled around Europe with slow crush back in 2015 I believe! You have a to be out and show your face in this music sceneBirsha: dude tv girl is insane, when did you do a show with themJoni: Back In 2017 on one of their first U.K. tours I believe! With crywank elvis depressely and my old band autumn diet plansBirsha: holy shit dude that’s a whole different fucking level, how did that feel, or was this before they got bigJoni: This was around the time they were starting to get good traction but they weren't as big as they are now aha! It was a cool ass show at a DIY space in Leeds the U.K. we had that show going off and then next door we had expire from the USA playing 🤣Birsha: i’ve always wanted to see expire they also go hard as fuck, dude it’s so cool you got to play with them. In your experience, what's the hardest part about touring?Joni: Probably just long drives, no proper time to sit down and relax. The shit food you have to buy on the road too aha. Sleeping arrangements can sometimes been hard too ahaBirsha: that’s fair, what do you think the inverse is and the best part of itJoni: Being on a stage performing, the adrenaline rush. The cool people you meet along the way, and really down to the fact music is an amazing way to travel the world and see new thingsBirsha: Does the music you perform change the outlook on the way you tour?Joni: For sure, I played in a lot of different genres and each scene has its own engine how it works aha. For example more emo, grunge, punk scenes are more family feeling compared to playing rap and along that lines of stuff. Promoters will genuinely give you good hospitality if you’re part of the alt scene there's a lot less egos going about and people seem to care more. Rap scene is another world, big egos and people only doing things for themselves not for the sceneBirsha: see ok, i know some people will view me differently for this, but i hate talking to rappers, it’s all about themselves, while most alt musicians make music to heal their souls and it has a purpose and it has a meaning behind it, even if it’s just yelling and screaming on a micJoni: Exactly it’s not saying everyone’s like that but majority of it is, people don’t want to see weak in the rap sceneBirsha: exactly, Ri is a good example of someone who understand how to be and how to create from a stand point above ego, what’s something that you struggle with in a personal level as a artistJoni: I been traveling around for the last 5 really so it’s made it super hard to have a solid family I can hang with as I’m more of a face to face person rather than internet. But it’s helped me a lot constantly meeting new people as it really brings my confidence up over timeBirsha: do you have consistent people who you always have by your side, and how does it feel to be able to make those new friendships along the wayJoni: I have homies back from home I still speak to but not that often. I tend to be someone who easily drifts away from friendship groups. I have my homies I’ve met online and known via online for years but like I say I’m more of a face to face person so I’m always making new friends when I’m somewhereBirsha: that’s totally fair, i have one last question to end this interview for us, do you have any questions for me?Joni: Hell yea, what’s your inspirations and something which you find riddled in your head from a kid which makes you youBirsha: i am very big into gothic designs and architecture and love how old buildings would take hundreds if not a thousand years to make, on top of that i think something that i deal with a lot that is riddled in my head from being a kid is probably just wanting to have a sense of wonder, wonder about the world, wonder about art, about creation, and wonder can get dark sometimes but it’s easy to keep it light if you know what your doingJoni: Nice!! You need to get ya ass to Europe if you love old gothic stuff man! You’d love the buildings