The name Jont might not be familiar to you, but the themes of restlessness and the search for beauty that are present in his songs surely will be.
After travelling across America at the age of 17, Jont sat down for dinner with legendary Beat poet Allen Ginsberg and discussed poetics. Galvanised by this experience, Jont flung himself fully into the bohemian ideal becoming a travelling writer. Eventually turning his hand to songwriting, Jont writes achingly beautiful melodies over which float thought-provoking lyrics.
Organising his UNLIT events across the country, Jont travels to the homes of people he has met on Myspace and hosts a party to remember. Clashmusic.com asked the man a few questions, trying to find what drives this unique artist.
The thing they never stress to you when you’re a kid is that we all develop differently
You’re clearly a very motivated individual, how does that translate into your creative output?
Not sure it does really….I think all artists, when they are being creative, are very motivated…motivated to be true, to be conscientious or entertaining, to make it work. So, yep when I am being creative that is what I’m like. And I guess also, I am lucky that I organise Unlit and have also set up my own label and am organising the release of my record…cos that feels like creative stuff too…but of a different hue.
Does the (seemingly) constant travelling fuel your muse or become a barrier to writing new material?
Well, “wandering” more than travelling would be more accurate. The Unlit tours happen occasionally, but I have mostly been based in London for the last couple of years. And I guess it has suited me to be staying at various friends’ places, back at my parents, occasionally in a room I rent…but not sure if it’s too conducive or not to writing new stuff. I tend to write intensely …for a couple of months….and I’m never sure when that time will turn up again….in between the odd song pops out, and the odd poem.
Your trip across America to meet the Beat poets (and have dinner with Ginsberg), what did you take away from those meetings? Did they depart any life lessons?
Absolutely. When I’d finished school I was convinced that I was thick and would never be really intelligent enough to be really good at anything. And then there I was sitting six months later, age 17, holding my own in a conversation about poetics with Allen Ginsberg. It was very good for my confidence. The thing they never stress to you when you’re a kid is that we all develop differently, at different speeds.…
You’ve written about the struggle to perform after a day’s promotion and organisation on your blog. Would you ever strip it all back and focus solely on your ‘career’ or is the Unlit stuff part of that whole package?
I think I will always be interested in the whole thing…the nature of performance, and creating events as well as songs, that embody the same thing as my songs…however, I’m looking forward to my solo tour in June…and I love playing longer than the 3 songs or so I normally play at UNLIT and yes, I think there will be a time soon when I concentrate more on solo shows than I have recently…But Unlit is always gonna be there in some shape or form…because it is about creating a gift for strangers, it is about trust and openness and creating an environment where we can appreciate beauty in an intense and communal way….so I’m not gonna just stop doing that!!
Where has been the most surprisingly creative town you’ve visited with Unlit/The House We’re In?
Oooh….difficult….I love putting on Unlit and I’ll often say after each one “Wow, that was one of the best Unlits I’ve ever done…” cos I like to live in world of superlatives….it’s how I see things. We are always evolving, so there’s no reason for things not to constantly get better! So, for example the last Unlit we did was in Bristol….and will be featured as Episode 9 of the current series of THE HOUSE WE’RE IN on my website…and the music there was amazing! We did two in the night, one at the local folk club and then we went on to someones house and played to a packed basement room of about 40 people….in each place there were about four really good local performers or bands. A great scene they’ve got there. And then there was Kansas City…Brighton….Louisville…L.A…..you know, the list goes on…
When I’ve “made it” they can all come and play at mine….
Any memorable events from the MySpace organised tour across America? For the right or wrong reasons.
When I was 14 I went to a summer camp in Northern California that changed my life. It was an idyllic, heavenly place where all we had to do was hang out in the apple trees with girls, go fishing, make tie-dye tshirts, learn to juggle and line-dance and sing Proud Mary while drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows on top. We were driving down from Portland to L.A. so we dropped in for a couple of days and it was still the most beautiful place I’d ever been. Weird. Someone told me that our ideas of beauty are created when we are around that age….anyway, I found it really moving going back there. A bald-headed eagle flew out over Dave and I as we sat by the river. And then I found this massive blackberry bush that I’d remembered going to on a walk one day….It was a really beautiful feeling to finally make it back to this place that I’d held in my memory for so long.
You seem very dedicated to the musician’s itinerant lifestyle, every have any quiet moments of doubt and wish you were a bank manager?
No this is who I am and I am very happy with it. Some days it isn’t easy, but it’s always worth it.
‘Supernatural’ is your third album, do you credit the YouTube exposure etc as a catalyst for its increased profile?
Well, that and the fact that it’s the first album I’ve actually released properly in any way. “28” was only released with limited distribution and no marketing in Italy! And One Long Song, the mini-album was a limited edition too. So, in a way this is my first proper album.
Given your very generous musical attitude, do you enjoy collaborating? Anyone you’d really like to play with?
Interestingly I’m not that keen on the co-writing side of collaboration! Well, not when it comes to sitting down and writing a song with another songwriter….I love sitting in with my friends’ bands (Artanker Convoy for example, great Brooklyn band on Social Registry) and singing or making up tunes over people’s beats in the studio and seeing whether anything comes of it. I wrote and sang a song on that Breaks Co-Op album (“Last Night”) and love playing with different musicians….but when it comes to writing my tunes, essentially I like doing it myself…
Will you continue to play people’s homes when you’ve ‘made it’?
When I’ve “made it” they can all come and play at mine….x
