Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to John Treanor. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi John, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I wish that I had started writing songs earlier in life. I was always drawn to music and immersed myself in it from an early age. My parents had me take piano lessons, but I always wished I could play guitar. When I got into punk rock at 15, I did write a couple of songs with a friend, and attended many shows, but became derailed with substance abuse. I lost about 10 years to that, or maybe more. I started writing songs when I cleaned up at 27 and continued to write for many years, but it was only in the last 10 years that I found my footing and started to write songs that I was really proud of.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I played in many bands over my lifetime and wrote a lot of songs, but it was only with the start of Tombstones In Their Eyes that I began to write songs that I actually thought were good. TITE has been around for about 10 years now and the songs keep coming. I’m really proud of the songs that we have put out and finally feel comfortable calling myself an artist. My main love is writing and recording, so the live shows are not where I want them to be yet. That will come, if I decide to make that a priority. At the moment, we are working on a double album, which is necessary because we have about 40 songs in the works and have culled it down to about 20 for the next record.

I do this for the love of music. There is no money in it, as the amount of income from music is dwarfed by the expenses of recording, artwork, promotion, etc. I am fortunate to have a decent job as an IT Consultant, which helps finance the music, but have still built up a lot of debt.

It is an honor to have fans around the world and to hear how the songs have had an impact on them. I’m eternally grateful to have found a way to express my emotions in this way, and receiving feedback from listeners is the best thing about doing music for me.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

One of the things that I really missed out on in my musical journey was multi-track recording. I don’t know why I never picked up a 4 track recorder when I was younger. I remember when a friend loaned me one and it was like a creative explosion. It’s crazy – I bought so much gear but never bought a simple recording device. Actually, I did buy one of the Roland digital recorders in the early 2000’s and that helped a lot, but really it wasn’t until I discovered and invested in multi-track recording on a computer that things took a big jump forward. Originally, I started with Garageband before moving over to Logic Pro, but the ability to easily insert drum tracks or loops completely changed the game for me. I started creating demos at a feverish pace and would then have the songs ready for recording in a real studio. I’ve been doing that for 10 years now and I still write a lot of songs using that process. And I can now record guitars at home that actually go onto the final recordings, reducing some of the costs and allowing me to experiment in private.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

The costs associated with being a band are high, and the returns are low. There are many simple things that listeners can do to support bands. Buying merch or physical product is great. Attending live shows is helpful. For those that can’t do those things, following and liking bands on social media and streaming services helps a lot. Sharing and commenting also help. Spread the word!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tombstonesintheireyes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombstonesintheireyes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TombstonesInTheirEyes
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tombsinthreyes
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TombstonesInTheirEyes

Image Credits
photos 1, 5 and 6 – Karin Johansson photos 2, 3, 4 and 7 – Deb Frazin photo 8 – Rachel Roessler