We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Johnny Dowd. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Johnny below.
Alright, Johnny thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?
I started my musical career when I was 40 so, yes, sooner. would have been better. If I had started sooner ,I wouldn’t have had the wealth of experience I had when I was 40, but I probably missed out on a lot of fun. When I was young, it was all sex,drugs and rocknroll. When I decided on music as a career, that all went away, and there was nothing left but hard work. When I started I was washing dishes for a living, and that wasn’t cool. I decided to become a musician after seeing the movie The Last Waltz. I thought, “I must have as much talent as those people”. So 25 years and 1000 or so songs later, here I am, humbled yet still eager.
Johnny, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I would say the most unique thing about me musically is I’ve never put myself in a box. I’ve attempted almost every genre of music, from noise to soul to funk. Of course it always comes out sounding like me. Often reviewers of my albums comment that they are probably the only person who could appreciate what it is that I do. I have recorded many records, many, many records,but the thing in music that I enjoy most is performing. For me, that’s where I feel most at home. I’m an entertainer.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
After touring and recording extensively for a period of maybe 20 years, I came to the end of my rope in a small town in Switzerland. Midway through my set I became so discouraged at what I perceived as a lack of success that I almost left the stage. My band members were horrified. I realized at that point that my priorities had gotten totally screwed up, and there and then I decided to forgo the pursuit of fame and fortune and just focus on having fun. So that’s what I did and that’s what I do.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
One rewarding thing is writing a new song. It’s always interesting to just swim in that sea of possibilities. You can literally say anything you want, without qualification or fear of hurting someone’s feelings. But a song doesn’t become real to me until I perform it before an audience, great or small. Particularly pleasing is when a fan from back in the day brings their kids to a show and they all have a ball.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.johnnydowd.com/
- Instagram: johnny.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnnyDowdOfficial/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvuSVoHU8p3v96in5CYFY3A
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnny-dowd?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Image Credits
Andy Muscroft
Marco Bakker
Willem Twee
Jif Dowd
Gary Williams