Jont releases his third album ‘Supernatural”, through Unlit Records on the 5th of May.Every young singer-songwriter claims a uniqueness, something that differentiates them from the tide of lone travellers armed solely with an acoustic and a headful of memories, and yet no other singer-songwriter can lay claim to music as an artform quite so vividly as London’s Jont. Inspired by the visual literature of the American beat poets as a teen, an intrigued young Jont sought to meet the major living poets of that generation in person, and set off to America, interviewing 23 of them and even having dinner with Allen Ginsberg in his New York apartment. “Do you like sex?” Allen said after dinner, but Jont escaped just in time. Returning to the UK and inspired by his conversations with the poets, Jont began writing his own fables and sketched his first lovelorn songcraft. Influenced by the Beats and also the vibe of the ‘70s Laurel Canyon songwriter community, Jont devised a a way to get his music out there but also to build a community of like-minded artists, and a space for them to play. Unlit was born. Starting as a regular night in a venue, Jont’s brainchild has evolved in recent years to be a completely unique and inspiring venture.Jont says: “Unlit is a beautiful way to break the rules. It’s a mixture of a party and a gig that is open and free to anyone, held in the houses of fans and like-minded souls. “The bill is made up of artists, either established or new, who play two or three songs, and their vulnerablilty and intimacy with the audience allows people to stop thinking and look at music in a different way”.
Plugging into the network of fans he attracted with his appearance on the soundtrack to The Wedding Crashers, in 2006 Jont took Unlit across America through the houses of MySpacers he’d never met and captured the magical aura of these nights in an online TV series called, “The State We’re In” which he posted on Youtube as he went.
On his return, the BBC asked him to curate a special Unlit for The BBC’s Electric Proms and this year he has just completed the first ever Unlit tour of UK MySpace users’ houses, the new online TV series of which – aptly named “The House We’re In” - will be launched on Youtube on March 31st.
The magical little episodes, shot by film maker Dave Depares (Long Way Down, Hairy Bikers Cookbook) capture the raw combination of joyous, uplifting songcraft with the audience of outsider artists, party kids and the merely curious, that is Unlit. Jont interviews his audience and speaks to the motivation behind his fellow artists. This is the Skins generation with a twist, fronted by music’s very own Louis Theroux.
“It’s kind of like an Alternative “Later with Jools…””, says Jont, “except with me going round playing in people’s houses, shining a light on different musicians and people who love music. Some of them are future stars, but some aren’t even interested in that…”
Through Unlit, over the last five years Jont has unearthed some of the UK’s most exciting new talent. Regular acts at Unlit who are now enjoying mainstream acclaim or cult status include Tom Baxter, Sam Sparro, Newton Faulkner, Joanaspolicewoman, Lou Rhodes, The Duke Spirit and Adem. With its evolution from nomadic hybrid of house party and gig to its status now as a unique, cutting edge online TV series the potential for Unlit and whoever it is next to discover seems endless.
At the very heart of this new movement is Jont’s music. ‘Supernatural’ is a devilish, beguiling waltz through intimate and emotional territory, with a sonic architecture completely different to the current releases of his contemporaries. “I did the takes live and solo with no click, and then we just put everything else on, in reverse to how you’d normally do it, so I guess it sounds a bit different to the other records out there”, says Jont. “Fortunately, Simon Gogerly (U2, Gwen Stefani) was on hand to mix and I’d just met Bent Van Looy (of the band Das-Pop) at an Unlit in Paris so he provided the beautiful keyboard arrangements.” The towering title track – “Supernatural” - glows with an almost superhuman honesty and openness, while tracks with the warmth and substance of ‘Sweetheart’ and ‘Suzette’ sit easily alongside the quirksome VU inspired ‘Candlelit’, and the anthem for all depressed movie theatre ushers, “House Of Dreaming”.
Supernatural is a dusty trail through classic songwriting with touches of folk and soul. Jont is a British treasure; an artist that empathises with the purity of art, and welcomes anyone to join him on this journey of musical discovery. Supernatural is his opus. What’s yours? For more information pJont