PFS ~ Johnny, I first heard your music on Beach Boys Gems radio. How did they find you?
Actually, I found them through online networking. Another Beach Boys influenced artist referred me to the station – and after several weeks of listening, I worked up the courage to ask for a couple of my songs to be added to the play list. I can’t believe my songs are being played on the same stations that play Brian Wilson’s music!
PFS ~ Several of the songs you make available on the web have a decidedly Beach Boys / Brian Wilson sound. How did that influence develop?
Ever since I was a boy, I have loved that sound and those images – innocence, summer, playfulness, humor, young love, and the penetrating sincerity of many of the Beach Boys’ records. In 2002 I began experimenting with multi-track recording. In order to get that sound, I had to go back and study the master (Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys). THAT was a humbling experience. You listen to their outta sight music and say to yourself, “they make it sound so easy” – then try it yourself and discover that they are using complex jazz and orchestral harmony arranging!
PFS ~ You have said "I want to make the listener feel loved" ... What does that tell us about your music?
Hopefully it tells you that I believe music is spiritual in nature and has the power to convey more than just melody, harmony, rhythm and poetry. I sincerely want the listener to receive emotional warmth and hopefully a kernel of eternal truth hidden in the message the music sends. And sometimes that kernel is not so hidden.
PFS ~ Many identify a spiritual aspect to the Beach Boys / Brian Wilson music. If you agree, how would you define or describe it?
Brian himself believes in God and ascribes credit to God for his enormous talent and for an inner direction that guides his music-making. Even if one were unable to interpret his lyrics, I believe the sounds, textures and heavenly harmonies of Brian’s music would speak to the soul of the listener. Songs like “Warmth of the Sun” and “Don’t Worry Baby” are intensely spiritual experiences for him that has ears to hear. I have cried many times at the sheer beauty of the sounds and sentiment of “Don’t Worry, Baby” – I mean, does it get any better than that? What message is more immediate, comforting and affectionate that that? There is a deep, inward, spiritual message of comfort and healing there for some of us.
PFS ~ Johnny, what BB/BW tunes best exemplify that sense of spirituality?
“You Still Believe in Me” from Pet Sounds is an incredibly transparent confession of frailty and expression of gratitude for faithful love. That very easily becomes a psalm for some of us. The lilting melodies, lush choral harmony and humble, personal lyrics border on a religious expression. But it is not, and that’s the beauty of it; you take what you need or want from it and it does not belong in a liturgical or church setting. This is what I try to do with my music as well – communicate Divine love through the medium of relatable, commercially appealing pop music.
“Till I Die” from “Surf’s Up” arouses an awareness our mortality, moves me deeply and summons a depth of appreciation for the human soul and the Creator who endowed it with such unfathomable depths. I mean, I have felt lost so many times, and “Till I Die” conveys that feeling of lostness in such overwhelming beauty that I can find hope even in that tremendously fearful emotion. The choral arranging and organ backing make it very naturally a hymn or psalm of sorts. Just amazing!
Very obviously “Our Prayer” from SMiLE wordlessly expresses the agony and ecstasy of human yearning for God and the telios (the completed purposes of creation).
PFS ~ How has your faith impacted your music?
It has purified the motives behind my artistic endeavors. While early in my music career I was seeking the trappings of fame and success, now I find myself seeking a more immediate connection with the listener. One of the Psalms of David describes “deep calling to deep” – I mean, wow, that says it all.
I have struggled with finding the right posture – should I even be doing “worldly” music? I have many straightforward Christian songs on my website – but I find a happiness and a delight in doing the pop-type music with embedded Christian messages. Maybe I am in sin! I’m not sure sometimes. Having studied theology on an advanced level, I have come to the conviction that God’s work in our lives is accompanied by a transcendent joy – deeper than thoughts or words or rational explanations. It’s a mystery, really, how God works out His divine, sovereign purposes through our everyday lives. I believe God is more pleased with us doing “secular” music with aplomb and excellence than sacred music with our teeth clenched. Like I said, I could be wrong about that.
The song “Don’t Worry, Baby” has deeply affected me in many ways. My signature tune, “Cry On My Shoulder” aspires to do the same thing: taking a simple, secular love song and embedding God’s message within a loving, emotionally charged aural canvas. I did include a lyric there that is not so subtle:
“There's a strength that sorrow brings
Blessed now are you.
God our Father holds all things
And he makes them new…”
Perhaps that’s too overtly evangelistic – I don’t know. I hope your readers will give it a listen and decide for themselves. I often hear Brian Wilson refer to healing in his music – I believe music is a powerful agent for healing wounded souls, even if the listener is unaware that healing is taking place in the listening experience.
I want to thank you for inviting me to Pray for Surf for this interview and especially for the endeavor to connect this wonderful music with God’s redemptive purposes in our world.
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Great interview.
ReplyDeleteI happen to know Johnny and he is one of the greatest lyricists I've ever heard. He can write a song with a concrete message and make the lyrics tie together in a beautiful orchestra of harmony.