Viva Lewes Issue #144 September 2018

ON THIS MONTH: MUSIC
Ethan Johns
Trans-Atlantic anamnesist
So, I ask Ethan Johns, would you rather be
remembered as a record producer, or a singersongwriter?
Ethan might never be as famous a producer as
his father Glyn, but his services have certainly
been in demand over the years: he’s worked with
the likes of Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, Kaiser
Chiefs, Kings of Leon and Laura Marling.
But he started out as a musician, and, with his
long-term backing band The Black Eyed Dogs,
he’s just released his fourth album, Anamnesis.
He certainly doesn’t like mixing the two roles.
“I’ve come to understand that the more I stop
being a producer, the better, in terms of my own
records,” he says. “I liken it to selfie culture.
People spend quite a lot of time taking a picture
of themselves that they think is good. And will
often end up choosing a result that looks least
like they actually look. And I think you can apply
that to record production… I just don’t think you
can judge your own work.”
He has learnt a lot from other musicians
producing his records, not least the American
alt-country singer Ryan Adams, who tricked him
into playing all the songs of his second album,
The Reckoning, ‘as a test’ before revealing that that
was actually the final recording of Ethan’s voice
and guitar: he wanted to get the sound as natural
as possible. This mirrors Ethan’s own approach
in the studio: “I’m not a Luddite… but I think
technology can be a very beguiling thing, if you
stick what is [naturally] beautiful or powerful
through technological filters you’re going to
dilute it tremendously.”
Ethan calls Anamnesis (“which is Greek for the
loss of forgetfulness, don’t you love that”) ‘a
spiritual journey’ which has taught him a lot
about himself. “One of the real benefits of being
an artist is being able to take your subconscious
and… put it in front of yourself to look at.”
His father “always had a house in California”,
so Wimbledon-born Ethan’s upbringing and
adulthood have been extremely trans-Atlantic,
which comes across in the music (the strongest
influences are country and folk) and his singing
accent: Americans think he sounds British, he
admits, and Brits think he sounds American. “It’s
not premeditated in any way. I make the music
that comes out of me.”
Ethan has been performing Anamnesis in record
stores across the country throughout August,
and is playing a (September 7th) gig in Westgate
Chapel – promoted by Union Music Store –
ahead of a ‘proper’ UK tour in the autumn. The
in-store tour is to help support the industry: “If I
were a farmer I would bring my stock to the market;
I’m a musician, so I’m taking my record to
the record shops.” Nevertheless, as he says, he’s
no Luddite, and understands that people like listening
to music on their phones, too. “If you are
a streamer, in inverted commas, go to ethanjohns.
com and listen to it as often as you want without
it costing you a penny.” Alex Leith
Westgate Chapel, September 7th, 7.30pm, £12
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