Jonathan Nicholas

Jonathan Nicholas, is a solo blues and acoustic artist, who was previously the frontman of blues band The Rumblestrutters. He has just recently released his original solo acoustic EP, Rolling Eyes & Sighs and he took the time to catch up and chat.

Your EP, Rolling Eyes & Sighs is now out. It has such an interesting title, what was your creative thinking behind the name of this EP?

"Haha there's a few reasons that fed into the title. This EP was written for me primarily, a way to exorcize some ghosts from the past so to speak and this just seemed to fit for me."

Now it features 6 original tracks and you've established a very dark and almost grunge-like sound, did you ever consider recording any covers or was this always intended as an original project?

"No this was always a wholly original project, its a massive left turn from what I'd been working in musically over the last 8 or so years with my band The Rumblestrutters and my solo blues work both of which had taken me around the country and had national airplay. This EP is me, nothing more nothing less, the songs are quite personal."

I understand your method for recording was especially unorthodox, could you talk the readers through what that entailed?

"Well these days its unorthodox but I recorded this EP in takes. The whole EP is just my vocals, 2 mics and a guitar which were then mixed and mastered on the same day by producer Supremo Tim Hamill at Sonic One Studios. This is my 4th recording experience (2 albums with The Rumblestrutters and One solo blues album) and the very first of them was recording onto tape which is a more challenging but more rewarding (in my opinion) to modern digital recording, so I kinda “grew up” musically just doing it like this. Some of my favourite artists recorded like this, Robert Johnson did all his recordings like this, and at the time I was listening to Neil Young's album 'Hitchhiker' which he purposely recorded in takes."

In terms of the gear you use, what is your typical setup for playing and recording?

"Usually me and a varying assortment of acoustic guitars, depending on the situation. Recording would involve me sitting in a studio with two mics, playing live I'd either have a vocal mic and my guitar clip on mics or I sometimes do totally acoustic gigs (which are my favourite gigs) so that would be just me and a guitar again."

When it comes to establishing yourself musically, particularly when you're playing originals, how significant is image to you?

"Not particularly to be honest. This might seem foolish in a world where those who cant sing can make a career in music on look alone, but for me it takes a back-seat to the music.  You obviously take into consideration stage apparel and album cover design but as David Crosby said 'Our job, really, is to serve the song," 

Was there ever a moment where you first picked up a guitar and thought "I want to see how far I can pursue this"?

"Probably, I started playing when I was 12 so that might have been my motivation but I cant remember. There was a turning point at about 21, I had been a lead guitarist for a songwriter signed to a tiny indie label based in London which didn't end well (or start or go well at all) and at that point I decided to dedicate myself to acoustic music and follow my own path and started to write my own stuff and learn the delta blues style and try and shoot for the stars by trying to learn Robert Johnson's guitar style as closely as I could. That turning in the road was probably it for me."

Who would you say has influenced your music taste the most?

"I grew up in a rather musical family, so have always been surrounded by it so that is probably a big influence. Robert Johnson is the reason I played Delta Blues music for most of my 20s and then joined an acoustic blues band. Neil Young, Laura Marling, Jeff Buckley and Bob Dylan are huge inspirations and the reasons I'm now focused on this style and kinda leaving the blues music behind, this feels more like 'me'."

What was it like the first time you played on stage? How did that feel and how does it compare to when you play now?

"The first time I played in front of an audience was at the opening of a building in waterfront, I was accompanying 3 singers and a drummer playing a cajon for a song for the opening ceremony that had about 400 people there."

If you could jam with any musician, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

"Neil Young, Robert Johnson or Jeff Buckley. Or all three if I could. They're my biggest influences."

Final word: Jonathan Nicholas takes the mic

"Thanks for reading! You can find my music available to buy on my bandcamp page (https://jonathannicholas.bandcamp.com) or my Facebook page 'Jonathan Nicholas Music'. I'm in the middle of writing the follow up to 'Rolling Eyes & Sighs' and looking forward to getting back to gigging."

It was great having a chat with Jonathan about his music and best of luck on his songwriting journey.

If you would like an opportunity to "take the mic", drop me an email at stewjones22@gmail.com