Scottish indie-rockers John Wean have been busy making a name for themselves over the past twelve months. Their catchy hooks, pounding drum beats and melodic guitars are as pleasing to the ears as they are fresh and exciting – we can only see them getting bigger and better.
How would you describe your sound for people who don’t know you?
We’ve got a really pop-y sound, but it’s kind of offset by the guitars so that it’s got an indie edge to it!
What’s next for you?
We’re releasing our second single New York Doesn’t Love You (mixed by the legend that is Tom Lord-Alge) in March and will be touring the UK in support of it throughout February and March. We’re also heading off to New York at the end of the month to shoot the video!
Who were your main musical influences growing up?
I think as a band we are quite varied in our influences. Simon likes his rap and hip-hop (as well as a lot of punk), whereas Jude is a Beatles maniac. I listened to a lot of emo and pop-punk stuff growing up, and Stu is a mish mash of everything – he just likes music!
Which song do you wish you had written?
I know that personally the song I’d love to have written would be Charmer by Kings of Leon. The bass line is just so menacing and I think it epitomises the shift in sound that happened on their third album (which is my favourite)… Plus, I’m just looking for an excuse to scream in a song – very Beatles-esque!
Have you got any advice for new bands or artists starting off at the moment?
I’d say that writing good songs is only ten percent of it, especially in your first year or so. You have to work on creating an active fan-base and working a lot on your live sound.
What are your hopes for 2012?
Ideally we’d like to get the album finished and license it out to a bigger label who can give us the resources to put it out on a large scale – that’s always been the plan. If we can play as many festivals as possible over the summer and maybe fit in a few tour support slots then that would set us up ideally for the long run.
What comes first for you – the lyrics or the music?
Recently our songwriting process has changed to where we bring in an idea (which might just be a riff or a beat) and we work around that so that the music sits right first then write lyrics on top… So at the moment it’s the music.
What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to you on tour?
I think the craziest thing was meeting Lindsay Lohan in LA. We went out last September to play some gigs and it just so happened that when we were there she had just got out of prison and we were at the Beverly Hills Hotel and she came racing up the drive in her Audi TT chased by tonnes of paparazzi! She was really apologetic, saying sorry for causing a commotion. It was just surreal, we’re just four lads from Glasgow in this crazy city and it was crazy to be seeing it first hand rather than in a magazine or whatever.