Jonny Roberts – This Is War!

Following on from the first part of my This Is War! mini-series where I spoke with lead singer and song-writer Paul Carden, I was then lucky enough to get the chance to chat with absolute guitar playing legend Jonny Roberts to get his thoughts on his time with Hurricane #1, being in an instrumental soundtrack duo and of course, what This Is War! means to him.

Your manager, Robbo, is quoted as saying that you are the most immaculate guitar player he has ever seen! What are your thoughts on such a massive statement?

‘’Wow, is he talking about what I’m wearing? (Laughs). I’m blown away by that and I don’t know what to say! I’m gonna put that in my pocket and just run with it! I just do what I do, and I try to make everything as flawless as possible and try to be professional.’’

Is music something you have to work at or does it come naturally to you?

‘’I’ve been through stages where I’ve really worked on it. I first picked up the guitar when I was ten, and I wanted to be able to play because of the music I was listening to and the people I was watching play but I didn’t have the patience back then – I was too obsessed with skateboarding! By the time I was around 13 or 14 I became obsessed with guitar – something in my head just clicked. Over the years I had picked it up and put it down a few times. I’d had some lessons but they sort of put me off to be honest – they were teaching me how to play ‘When the saints go marching in’ and that sort of thing and I wanted to be playing ‘Smoke on the Water. But I still loved it and stuck with it and I would just lock myself away in my room and study the theory of it – chords things like that. I got so far with the theory and then I just let the practical playing side of it take over. It gave me a base understanding of scales and stuff that really helped. By then I had a guitar teacher called Nick Lacey who was a really good player and teacher. I only had around 10 lessons with him but he really set me on my way. He’d ask me what I liked and then I’d turn up and he had gone away and learned those tunes so that he could teach them to me. It blew me away, it was amazing, and then he would teach me and say ‘this is how to play what you wanna play’.

My first major influence was probably Queen, and then for some reason I rolled onto Iron Maiden and became obsessed with them. I was just hypnotised by guitar playing more than anything really,

especially the likes of Adrian Smith and Dave Murray, they were just unbelievable players and melodic as well, just amazing. So I latched onto them for a while and the nineties turned and I was like, let’s go! Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana obviously, and then all the other bands that came along at that time like Alice In Chains was pretty much me then, I skipped the Guns N Roses phase and went straight into all that. Then after that of course was the Britpop phase with bands who were just amazing live and it was a great time to be around music. I was playing in bands at that time who were on the scene in Liverpool and we had bands coming out of the city like there was no tomorrow like – bands that came off the back of the grunge scene like Cecil – they were great.’’

I remember going to see Rage Against The Machine during their ‘Killing In The Name Of’ tour and the support act were Tool and I was just like wow who are they? And I told me all my mates you have to get on board with this band – it was just phenomenal.’’

When you joined Hurricane #1 were you daunted at having to play Andy Bell’s guitar parts? They were very big shoes to fill!

‘’I can still remember where I was and the day I spoke to Robbo and he was like, ‘Are you gonna be ok with this two minute guitar solo?’ I was like yeah, man, you know what I mean (laughs) but it was daunting to be honest because you know, and he’s a legend isn’t he? He was in Oasis ya know! They were big boots to fill but I just really got my head down. I had a good few months to prepare and learn the back catalogue so I just immersed myself in it. On the end of ‘Step Into My World’ there’s a two minute guitar solo and I don’t know if you know this as it’s hard to pick out, but on the actual recording there are actually two guitar solos running alongside each other. I was panning from left to right to try and work out how Andy was doing it and yes it’s actually two solos! It sounds like one but yeah it’s actually two!

How did you find it going into an established band as the ‘new guy’?

‘’Well technically I wasn’t really – that band was Alex (Lowe) and Chris (Campbell) and Chris then brought me in and at same time they also brought in the bass player – Stuart Fletcher from The Seahorses. So me and Stu were both the new guys. Plus they were all just really nice to me and really good guys. I stayed at Alex’s a few times, he put us up before the tour. Stuey Fletcher was musically just on the same page as me; we had listened to the same stuff when we were kids and also through the nineties he had been picking up on the same bands as me like Living Colour and stuff, we just got on really well. I had a few nights out with him and Chris Helme and our roadie James which were brilliant!

Do you have any stories which you are willing to tell me about those nights out?!

‘’Well I went to see Chris (Helme) play live in Liverpool just before Covid hit actually and I has met him before through Stu. He asked what I was up to after the gig and I was like nothing really, so we ended up at The Zutons after party for Olympia! I did ask Chris if he wanted to be in a The Grumbleweeds Tribute Act but he said no (laughs).’’

How did you handle the success of Hurricane 1 and what, if anything, did it teach you?

‘’To be honest I never felt any pressure while I was in the band, it was a very chilled out thing, very straight forward. I just learnt the tunes and basically got on with it. There was no pressure or anything. Yes there was a lot of success but people often forget and move on quickly to the next thing so the band is one of those cool, under the radar, outfits.’’

You were previously in an instrumental soundtrack band, what can you tell me about that experience?

‘’It was before Hurricane actually and I was putting a project together with Andy Williams. I was in my first ever band with him, and we go way, way back. When we started This Is War! he was my first choice for a bass player as he is just absolutely phenomenal but yeah, it was a project that the two of us were involved in. It was very influenced by the 1980s horror films; I love John Carpenter and all of that. We had a Roland Juno keyboard which was used in the ‘80s to make all the horror soundtrack noises, it’s such a legendary keyboard. We basically wrote and recorded a few pieces and it was really good but we were just so busy with life that we never followed it through, and then Hurricane came along.’’

Is it a project you would ever revisit or was it a thing of its time?

‘’I think I would, it was like ‘80s horror meets psychedelia but guitar-based and very moody. We wrote a track called ‘Clandestine Loneliness’ which I thought was really good. It’s weird and it builds and builds, and then just falls off into the abyss, but the abyss is a groove, it’s weird but it’s boss!’’

You are friends with, as well as being a part of indie rock n roll royalty, for example you were in a band with Simon Finlay. Have you ever been star-struck and if so, by whom?

‘’Simon is so cool, we grew up around the same group of musical friends. Simon was in a band with his brother called Whatever in the very early ‘90s and we used to gig together all the time. I remember Simon stage-diving at one of our gigs and everyone moved out the way and he hurt his head on the floor! He’d probably shoot me for telling you that! (Laughs). But anyway, we got into a band together but only for a few gigs as he wasn’t really feeling it musically and then he joined Echo and the Bunnymen not long after that. He’s writing soundtracks for films now. He is a really talented writer and musician and a good lad.

As for being star-struck, it’s not that exactly, but working with Si Jones (The Verve) was amazing. We were sat with him at the desk while he was producing the album and you look around and you see The Verve paraphernalia and also he is such a lovely guy. I got on really well with him, and it was strange because we found out we are both from the same place – Childwall– and even went to the same school! So I proper hit it off with Si and we were talking about which teachers we had and all that. It was just bizarre – he was like I’m coming over to Childwall and we’re going for a pint in The Abbey. Si remembers always walking past The Abbey with his mum and really wanting to go in but he was only 14 at the time so couldn’t! So I wasn’t exactly star-struck but he is such a legend and such a nice guy.’’

This Is War! started with just yourself and the band manager, Robbo. As the founding member what was it that attracted you to the project?

‘’I’d worked with Robbo on the Hurricane stuff and one thing about him is his work effort – the man is a machine! Plus he is such a nice guy and he’s well respected and anything he touches will probably

turn to gold so I thought let’s just have a go. He’s such a nice guy and I just like working with him. He’s part of the family is Robbo. I didn’t even have to think about it.’’

How would you define the This Is War! Sound?

‘’You know it’s been the fastest turnaround and the productivity in this band is just amazing. Paul has a really good work ethic and a vision of how things should be. To keep things current is so important – you can’t lax with the music and it’s definitely keeping me on my toes. I do have something written down for this sort of question (laughs), right are you ready? Well thought out energy with a touch of unpredictability!’’

https://open.spotify.com/track/1mFvdr7QONASjtwcneYDKu?si=b67d943bc7ce4ca6

So finally, what can we expect from This Is War! In 2022?

‘’Hopefully get the next single out under a label and then get out there and just absolutely smash it! Show people what we can do. It’s one thing hearing us on a record but live, it’s just something else. The thing about this band is that the rhythm section is flawless, just amazing, totally glued in the rhythm.’’

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