{"id":336,"date":"2010-09-15T05:44:43","date_gmt":"2010-09-15T10:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=336"},"modified":"2010-09-15T05:44:43","modified_gmt":"2010-09-15T10:44:43","slug":"the-howard-jones-interview-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2010\/09\/15\/the-howard-jones-interview-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"The Howard Jones Interview, part two"},"content":{"rendered":"

continued from part one<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Howard<\/p>\n

Bill Kopp: <\/strong>Can you tell me a little bit more about the method of recording this album?<\/font><\/p>\n

Howard Jones: <\/strong>I very much had a strict working method for this album. It started, literally, with the piano tracks. So it was me playing the piano, and then the second thing that went on was the vocal. And actually I though they were going to be \u201cguide\u201d vocals, but in the end I used those vocals.<\/p>\n

So it started with me at the piano, but I had in mind what was going to go in the guitar and bass parts, and the drums, and the strings. So I left \u201croom\u201d with the piano playing for the other instruments. There\u2019s only one guitar part on each track; there\u2019s no additional overdubbing. No double-tracking, no multiple parts. One drum part, one bass part. And then the strings create that extra color.<\/p>\n

It was the most disciplined I think I\u2019ve ever been\u2026apart from \u201cSoon You\u2019ll Go,\u201d which adds a ninety-piece Welsh choir! [laughs] I suppose the plan went a bit wrong there.<\/p>\n

What happened was, I had gotten to that point, and I was listening to the playback, and I could absolutely hear [in my mind] the choir singing. And I thought, \u201cI\u2019ve got to go with this, because it\u2019s begging for it.\u201d So I went down to Wales and recorded them, and it was brilliant.<\/p>\n

Bill Kopp:<\/strong> There are no absolutely synthesizers on this album at all; not that I can hear. <\/font><\/p>\n

Howard Jones:<\/strong> Right. I\u2019ve found over the years — to give each album a really strong identity — it\u2019s good to have a set of rules. Being that as keyboard players, we can create any sound in the universe, giving yourself a strict \u201cpalette of colors\u201d gives the album that identity. Then you know: when you put that album on, that\u2019s what you\u2019re going to get. You\u2019re not going to get a \u201cgreatest hits\u201d kind of vibe. One mood.<\/p>\n

Personally, when I\u2019m going through the 12,000 songs on my Ipod, I want a song for the mood I\u2019m in. Albums that deliver that are always my favorites.<\/p>\n

\"Howard<\/center><\/p>\n

Bill Kopp: <\/strong>So this approach\u2026it\u2019s not as if you\u2019ve closed the door on using synthesizers. It\u2019s just the sonic theme of this album?<\/font><\/p>\n

Howard Jones:<\/strong> Yes. Very much so. And as I\u2019ve said, the next album will probably be an electronic record. But it too will have a really strict identity; I\u2019m really into that. The album\u2019s got to hang together as a piece of work.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m working on all sorts of things at the same time. I\u2019m just about to do an acoustic show that has got an electronic drum kit in it, plus a guitar, and me playing piano. But at the same time we\u2019ve been doing festivals with a full band. And when we come to America in October, that\u2019s going to be a three-piece electronic setup. So I really like to have the different strands all running at the same time; it keeps it interesting for me.<\/p>\n

Bill Kopp:<\/strong> I see you do have a handful of US dates this fall, in Florida. The schedule indicates \u201cthree piece electric band.\u201d What is that, and how will that lineup approach these songs?<\/font><\/p>\n

Howard Jones: <\/strong>A couple of the songs are done acoustically \u2013 ones from this new album. It just depends on the venue. But mainly it will be the electronic show, and it will be banging electronics! [laughs]<\/p>\n

Bill Kopp: <\/strong>So the sets won\u2019t necessarily be built around Ordinary Heroes<\/em>, then?<\/font><\/p>\n

Howard Jones:<\/strong> No, not for this tour. I\u2019m doing a tour in the UK which is built around this new album, but the venues we\u2019re playing in the US will more suit this sort of electronic approach.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not really the right way to go about it, is it? [laughs]<\/p>\n

Bill Kopp: <\/strong>You\u2019ve been in the game long enough that you have a pretty good bead on what people want to see and hear when they come to see you.<\/font><\/p>\n

Is there a general feeling or idea that you\u2019d like listeners to come away with after listening to Ordinary Heroes<\/em>?<\/font><\/p>\n

Howard Jones: <\/strong>As we\u2019ve said, I\u2019m very aware that I\u2019m growing older along with my fans. So this album is a kind of empathy I\u2019m articulating. There are some songs that are designed to be like \u201ccheerleading songs.\u201d Sometimes it\u2019s great to put on a track that cheers you up, that gives you a bit of encouragement. And for me, that\u2019s important.<\/p>\n

Sharing our common humanity \u2013 because we all go through these things \u2013 brings us closer together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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