The Broken Speaker caught up with Jon Janes late in August before a show in Halifax to discuss his latest global endeavors, discuss his latest album “I Made This For You” and other things. He will be performing at Halifax Pop Explosion on Saturday October 23 along with IT KILLS, Boats, and Ghettosocks as partof the Herohill Showcase. He is on at 9:00pm at the Company House for $10. If you enjoy folk music, singer songwriters, and earnest musicians be sure to check this show out.
What was the inspiration behind the name The Mountains & The Trees?
The idea behind The Mountains & The Trees is that even though it is just me I often have lots of people who join me on stage and on the recordings. I don’t ever want to turn down a show if I really want to do it. So I decided instead of going under the name Jon Janes i wanted to go under a stage name/band name and The Mountains & The Trees sounded kind of fitting, especially considering where I grew up. Now I never have to say “this is Jon Janes featuring so and so and so and so. This is The Mountains & The Trees.” It could be anywhere from one to eight people.
What did you learn from the recording process of your latest album I Made This For You?
It was my first time being in a professional studio working with a lot of other people. Time is money. Always. Thats a big part of it. I learned that not everything has to be perfect even if it is done in the studio. Sometimes leaving in the little mistakes are some of the best parts of the recordings.
What was that moment where you gained more attention in the Canadian music scene.
It was definitely TIFF. It was the CBC radio 3 broadcast concert at TIFF. And Radio 3’s constant support. I mean even just a week before [TIFF] Grant Lawrence put me on his podcast and said “its my favourite new Canadian singer songwriter. I still get people approaching me in the UK talking about that.
Are there any themes or ideas you tried to convey through the album?
I definitely talk about traveling a lot in my music. The idea of traveling and moving around. Its kind of what I hope is relatable music. I’m not singing about all too specific instances although some of the songs are derived from specific instances. I treat it almost like a storytelling songwriting. I grew up on Dylan and Steve Earle. I’m writing more about each song as a story in itself.
How have you used social networking platforms (twitter, facebook, myspace) to connect with your fans?
It’s how I connect with a lot of people. A lot of those people I’ve gone on to know in real life. “IRL” (followed by laughter) On this past Canadian tour I stayed with. for almost the entire tour, Radio 3 listeners who knew me through my blog posts on the website let alone my music. Sometimes, especially when you come from an isolated area like Newfoundland where its really hard to get off the island and tour, you use what you have to. I don’t think it necessarily hurts artists who don’t use it all the time. For me it’s my way of connecting with people, especially when I do a lot of touring by myself.
What was it like touring the UK?
It was really really nice. It was definitely a bit mind boggling at first, especially considering I hadn’t been over there in years and never went over there in this capacity or traveled this much. I had to learn how to drive less than 24 hours after touching down on the other side of the rode and that sort of stuff. Once I got it down it was like driving around Canada. I drank a lot of Starbucks because they have a Starbucks everywhere over there. Mcdonalds was a great source of wifi. I would often stand outside of Mcdonalds and get on my ipod touch to get wifi.
The big difference is they would often tell me “I’m really sorry you have a long day of driving today.” I was like “what do you mean” and they would say “Liverpool is 4 hours away” I replied “Really, only 4 hours away. Sweet!”
Any good tour stories?
We went up to Inverness in Scotland and played a show as part of Go North Festival and I ended up hanging out with another Canadian band Woodhands which was really nice. I met a lot of Canadian bands abroad. I met more abroad than I would in Newfoundland.
(editors note: After the show later that day he told me a fantastic story about playing at a hippy commune in Germany. If you see him at Pop Explosion be sure to ask him about it)
What were your tricks for surviving a cross Canada tour?
Lots of music in the car. Having a great long distance plan to keep in touch with people. I did do it mostly by myself. The other band had their own van. Knowing when to sort of push for a little extra time off. I got to Vancouver a day before a show out there and I took a couple extra days off out there because I knew I wanted to meet a lot of people. Having priorities and knowing when to take that extra little time off, when to relax, when to take it slow. Obviously staying with people across canada saved the tour for me. If I had to stay in a hotel every night that would have been the end of The Mountains & The Trees.
What albums helped you get across canada? Which artist/albums have you been listening to recently?
Nice, Nice, Very Nice (by Dan Mangan), a lot of Hayden albums, Basia Bulat, and Great Lake Swimmers. I would trade albums with bands we had played with on the road. It was funny at some points people would come up to me after shows and say they like my music and they were like Ii’m a musician here is my CD, have a listen, tell me what you think.” Am I really that guy now? I totally remember doing this to musicians. Have I really hit that point? Zachary Lucky has been a big favourite of mine as of late.
First album you bought with your own money?
My grandmother drove me to the store because I was forbidden from buying this album. I went in and I bought Nirvana’s Nevermind with my own money. I hid it under my mattress and would only listen to it when they left the house. Which is way better [than my first album], because I think the first album they may have bought me might have been the Free Willy soundtrack.
What was the first instrument that you played?
Drums. I was a drummer for 14 years. I started learning how to play guitar. I won a photography contest when I was in university because i did a photography degree and then I won $1500. I used a portion of it to buy my first banjo. It went from that, and now I have a ukulele, piano, accordion, glockenspiel, melodica, and you saw me attempting to play violin.
People should check out The Mountains & The Trees because….
….its a reciprocal relationship. the more people that come out to shows and that support the music, the more music that gets to be made in the end and released. its sort of like if you come out and support me then i’ll have the resources to go out and make more music to give back to you. i often do things like giving out songs around the holidays for free or every once in a while give out a download code whoever uses it first. its a reciprocal thing. i would never want to force someone to come out and see me if you don’t want to. but for those who do, i am quite thankful.
Check out The Mountains & The Trees on myspace
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