Bulletproof JFK – an interview with John Kenwright
June 24th, 2009 | Published in Features, Interviews | 2 Comments
photo: Olivier Humeau
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John Kenwright is lead singer of popular Grenoble-based reggae band Junior JFK. James Dalrymple talks to him about his last album Bulletproof, his childhood deafness, his military upbringing in the UK and the Grenoble music scene.
Grenoble Life: You were deaf until the age of six. What is your memory of this period of your life and how does this inform your music?
JFK: I just remember the operations (not fun …) but I don’t have any feeling of being handicapped or different. I wasn’t under the impression of being in a world of my own … my outlook on being deaf is rather funny actually as I see the fact that I do music now as a big ‘bras d’honneur‘ [Up yours!] at nature. I wasn’t supposed to be a musician and now I am. You make your own destiny I believe. Added to the irony is that I’ve chosen to do reggae music. I’m white, I don’t smoke gear … true actually [laughs] … and I don’t have dreads [laughs].
The funny thing about this whole story is the irony … I grew up in a military background … not exactly listening to Bob Marley every day [laughs] … and because my dad was a soldier I grew up in Belfast in the 70s at the time of the terrorist attacks. Due to the bomb explosions the military surgeons of the time had become specialists in inner ear surgery. My dad got me in the hospital and they agreed to re-graft both my inner ears. Basically it’s thanks to terrorists that I do reggae music today [laughs].
GL: As you grew up in a military family you moved around a lot. Where did you go and how did these experiences shape your identity – musical or otherwise?
JFK: I went to boarding school as of the age of 6 until the age of 19. I was in military academy training to be an officer in Her Majesty’s army but decided to take a year or two off and think about my life before joining up. I started teaching and thought I’d rather travel the world and teach people English than play the soldier. I’ve got a lot of respect for the military but had spent eight years going on exercise, marching, firing guns and running about carrying heavy stuff for no apparent reason and wanted to see something else.
One thing it did teach me was the importance of friendship and also that your home is where you are, not where you were born. When you’re constantly travelling around you tend to make friends all the time and then move on and make new ones and try your best to keep in touch with the old ones. The military also taught me humility and discipline … set your sights high but work at it like crazy, otherwise you’ll never make it … always assume you competitors are better … take nothing for granted.
GL: Describe the style of your music.
JFK: There’s a heavy reggae influence but also Celtic too. I played for 10 years with a band called Mirrorfield and did loads of big venues like the stade de france and others. I listen to loads of music except heavy metal and techno. My first albums were The Police – Murder By Numbers, Bob Marley – legend and Otis Redding – the Best Of. I grew up on the Beatles, Lionel Richie and Motown so I can’t say I had a bad childhood. Big fan also of soul music …
GL: You started performing and recording as JFK over ten years ago. How has Grenoble and its music scene changed since then?
JFK: In a big way – loads of places have closed down – super hard to find gigs now as there are 10 times more bands and pubs are mainly interested in booking high school bands for nothing who’ll bring in 200 kids rather than quality, experienced acts or new styles that the audience will appreciate. At the time, 10 years ago there was Sinsemilia, Gnawa Diffusion, Positive Struggle and JFK … my former band Radio Zig Zag was also pretty big at the time. Since then the only ones to really survive have been Sinsemilia and JFK (a shame as the other bands were really good). Grenoble has a reputation for good reggae artists and that’s no lie. I’m super pleased to play with class A guys from around here. We all share some of our musicians as well. My guitarist, keyboard player, sax and trombonist are all in Sinsemilia now! Also, the electro scene has really exploded – thanks maybe to Rocktambule which organizes a great festival every year …
GL: Did you face any obstacles or resistance to your music at the beginning, or have audiences – Grenoble or otherwise – always been very open to JFK?
JFK: I’ve always had loads of support from the fans and the bands have mainly stuck together … being the only English-native-speaker reggae man in Grenoble has been special as people look at you differently when you’re from another country – and if you’re singing ‘authentic’ English. The start was a little rocky as the guys in the reggae scene wanted to know what a white boy from Liverpool was doing wanting to play reggae … I jammed a couple of times with them and they opened their arms up to me …
Reggae music has always had a bad boy image because of the ‘jazz’ cigarettes that many people who listen to it smoke in concerts … that’s the only resistance linked to the image that it gives. But if there’s one type of music that isn’t based on image, it’s reggae music. The dreads, the ganja, etc. aren’t important … it’s the message and the struggle that are …
GL: Living in France, is there a difference in the musical culture here to that in the UK?
JFK: Yes and no … basically there’s no cash in the indie labels here whereas in the UK they’ve got the shoulders to take small artists far … here in France it’s just the big labels that sign … funnily enough it’s easier to make a living in France as a professional musician than in the UK as the ‘intermittance‘ system is better paid and so are the gigs … most bands can get anything between 800-1600€ for a concert. In a festival in the UK if you’re not famous you play for free …
I think French people are more open to music than in the UK. If it’s not in English in the UK people don’t listen to it .. the French listen to all styles of music and language isn’t a barrier …
GL: You have played a lot of festivals around Europe – how have these experiences shaped your music?
JFK: If you really want to make it in the music world it’s like any other job – you have to graft, graft graft … doing live shows teaches what works and doesn’t … you get to the stage where you write music for albums and also for live shows … you compromise between what gets you going and getting the message across … I don’t mean you sell out or anything – you see what music really is when you look at it professionally – it’s a product and you need to either create a need for it or supply people with something they want. If in passing you can put across personal messages (whether political or not) then maybe that’s a plus … without being totally demagogic …
GL: Why did you originally come to live in Grenoble?
JFK: I got a job at the university as a lecteur and never looked back.
GL: What do you like most about living in Grenoble?
JFK: It’s small and well located … nice architecture and restaurants as well as beautiful views … shame about the pollution! (laughs)
GL: Where do you recommend new residents of Grenoble go first for a taste of the city’s music culture?
JFK: The problem in Grenoble is that you either have bars (i.e., 50-100 people) or huge concert venues like the Summum: 6000 people. Respected places are the following: Soupe à Choux (jazz etc..), Café des Arts (all styles but arty and for real music lovers … great acoustics and also meals served … small room so the group is always next to your table), L’Ar-ti-cho – nice pub on Cours Jean Jaurès that has 3-5 bands a week with entrance fee at @ 3 € – local bands but a nice night out …
Otherwise you have some big venues in Lyon and Geneva if you have a car .. Cabaret Frappé is always cool in July and August (Jardin de Ville)
GL: Tell us about your last CD, Bulletproof?
JFK: It’s a compilation of 10 years of reggae music in Grenoble with previously unreleased tracks. It’s a 14-track with roots as well as new roots/more up-tempo reggae too. People have compared us to Steel Pulse or Patrice … all new compositions except a reggae version of Let it Be.
GL: Where can we see you play next?
JFK: Had quite a few gigs recently and we’re in studio at the moment but if you have the time we’re in Annecy le Vieux on the 10th July and in Grenoble on the 5th September for the Happy Days Festival – they’re the only ones in the vicinity. Keep your eyes glued to my Myspace page for news (laughs). The new album ‘ALIVE and DIRECT’ will be out in September and we’re filming a clip on the weekend of the 27-28th June which should be on the ‘net by mid July (called ‘Ghetto Youth’).
photo: Olivier Humeau
June 30th, 2009 at 4:38 pm (#)
You can now listen to Junior JFK’s ‘Night and Day’ using a player at the top of the article!
March 14th, 2010 at 2:57 am (#)
Love your story and music. My namesake, I am semi pro musician from north west.
peace
JK