Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit Interview

by Kev Heath

Only Johnny Flynn could write songs so quintessentially English that Wayne Rooney and William Shakespeare could find a common ground!

In a time where singer/songwriter’s are frequent but yet deceitful and sapless, it has become increasing difficult to filter your way through the James Blunts’ just to find one artist of any worth. It wouldn’t even be surprising if Madonna reinvented herself as a folk-singer, but once all the smoke clears and the masses move on to the next money-maker, you will find Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit waiting for you just to prove the best artists are out there if you have the time to look for them.

Johnny and his band will take to the stage with Laura Marling in the month of March, with new single ‘Leftovers’ out on the 10th; the debut album will follow later in the year but before the mayhem begins Johnny took time out to answer a few of our questions.
 
 
The term Alt-Country/Alt-Folk gets banded around a lot these days; do you think they are accurate descriptions of your sound?
 
No, not really. Particularly the 'alt' bit. And probably the 'folk' and 'country' bits too. They're just unhelpful labels that give people preconceptions about the way it's going to sound rather than just letting them discover the music as it happens. It's just the way the human brain works though, isn't it - comparing and bracketing rather than enjoying the subtle (or not so subtle) differences between things.
  
How did Wayne Rooney work his way into your back catalogue?
 
I wrote some words over a picture of him in the newspaper because it was all I had to write on and then I couldn't sing the song without seeing this big picture of Wayne Rooney staring up at me. And somehow the words seemed like they could have been sung by him...
 
How has the recording of the album gone, any album titles yet?
 
The album will be called 'A Larum' which is the old English for alarm but more specifically the bell used for the town "larum". I like the imagery of bells and what they imply, plus the sense of history you get from the old spelling. We had an amazing time recording. It was quite an intense few weeks spent in a barn in the countryside outside Seattle.
 
You're a talented fellow, how do you juggle being an actor as well as
Musician?
 
One at a time.... I’m not really doing much acting at the moment, just because there's no time at all. But I'd like to do some more once the album comes out.
 
What was touring with Iron and Wine and then Jack Penate like? Both are two very contrasting artists.
 
We had fun on both tours. It was nice to learn, in fact, that we'd fit in on both. Jack's an old friend so it was good hanging out with him and Sam Beam and his band were a model of musicianship and professionalism.
 
How is life on a major label now?
 
It's ok...it's nice to get paid for what you do and love. I saw it as a necessary step if we were going to carry on spending the amount of time we were putting into the music. It's exciting also to imagine your music reaching more people. But generally it doesn't affect the way I do
things or the reasons why I make music. I'm still just pleasing myself, really.
 
'The Box' hears you sing "leave me nothing I don't need at all" are you quite a minimalist as a person?
 
I'm not really sure what the yardstick is for being 'minimalist'. I don't buy too many things. But I've still got a lot of junk. That song is really a muse on what it would be like if we did live in a more immediate way. Henry David Thoreau inspired it; he lived as a hermit in upstate New York in the 19th century.

You are encouraging fans to draw the artwork for your album and
submit them at gigs, how did this idea come around?
 
With what I'm trying to establish generally with the band and in other areas of what I do I want to create a dialogue and community between artists and people creating all over the place. I liked the idea of some (but not all) of the artwork coming from people who had come to gigs
because it just feels like that's been a huge part of what we're doing and to have that represented in drawings from all sides being in the album seemed right.
  
Do you feel part of what the media have been referring to as the ‘Nu-folk’ scene in London, one that seems to be growing impressively, i.e Noah and the Whale, Laura Marling, Lightspeed Champion, Jeremy Warmsley?
 
I'm not sure really. It's that labelling again... we're all doing pretty different things. I'm friends with a lot of them and so it's fun to get together and compare experiences. I used to play in bands with people like Jeremy and Emmy the Great so in a sense I come from the same
geographical place, but having one term or name to sum it up feels really wrong. Especially nu-folk. The word 'Nu' actually makes me feel ill.
  
What has been your career highlight so far?
 
Our last tour, which was our first headline tour, was pretty amazing. We played to full houses in England and Scotland and then played in Ireland for a week. It was amazing to be somewhere like Newcastle and see people singing along.
  
You're a man of many skills, acting, writing, not to mention the many instruments you play, what new skills are you looking to gain in 2008?
 
I'd like to be better at dressing according to the weather. I'm always too hot or too cold.
  
You have been on tour for a while now; do you have any tour stories?
 
I got punched in Leeds - it was in a sort of club we went to after the gig. I saw this guy go for Matt (drums) and so I went to stop him and he ended up just punching me in the head a few times. It was strangely quite exciting. Then afterwards we found the guy and asked him why he'd attacked Matt and me. After chatting for a bit he broke down, called himself a bastard and gave us a tenner. Now that's a tour story!
  
What kind of success would you like Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit to have in the future?
 
The kind that doesn't stop us living our lives the way we want to. I'm not really thinking too much about the future at all really.
 
Do you have a favourite Shakespearian quote?
 
"why sir, her name's a word, and to dally with that word might make my
sister wanton. But indeed, words are very rascals since bonds disgraced
them."
 
What music is residing in your collection at the moment?

Ali Farka Toure, some Bach organ fugues, Chuck Berry and Magnetic
Fields. Mostly.

To listen to Johnny Flynn and the Wit and catch their tour dates go here