JOHNNY BARKER of Barker: Videotapes and the Rock n Roll Dream
An interview by Sarah Kidd.
Johnny Barker is certainly what one would call gifted in the realm of the arts; he’s an actor (Shortland Street, Go Girls, The Locals) a director (Jono and Ben) and a multi-instrumentalist musician (Sleepy Kid, The Aristocrats), oh and according to more than a few local ladies, he’s not too hard on the eye either.
For his latest project Barker has decided to go solo spending the last few years learning how to record on his own; however while the new album is his future it also features many a nod to the past.
So why the title Sleepwalking then?
My first attempt at a solo record was under the name ’Sleepy Kid’ which you know was just a cutesy kind of name and so it’s a little bit of a throwback to that title. Sleepwalking is just that fun place, where are you awake or are you asleep, you’re not sure what you are doing but you’re still drifting along through the evening.
Kind of like that Twilight period at night where it seems like the veil between the worlds is a little bit thinner?
Oh yeah that’s a much nicer way of describing it then what I was trying to say (laughs).
Barker has a laugh that instantly makes you feel as if you are speaking with an old friend; honest and down to earth it becomes apparent rather quickly that no matter what his other projects in life; music will always be a part of him.
You are certainly no stranger when it comes to writing and creating music; how does Sleepwalking differ from other musical escapades you have been involved with?
Well the songwriting process is definitely one of the big differences this time around. I consciously chose to write the songs from the perspectives of characters and treat the songs like they were a short film script.
I took my cue from listening to a lot of Johnny Cash, there’s that wonderful example where he wrote about “I shot a man just to watch him die” and ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ where everybody thought he was really in jail for doing these things. He had this sort of mystique around him because of those story driven songs so I did the same thing; but instead of doing a country album it turned into this psychedelic folk rock album.
So the songwriting definitely on one side and in terms of recording, normally back in the day it would be somebody shows up with a song and the band jumps on and you would sort of work it out as a group and then you go into a studio and record it. This process was me learning to record for the first time by myself, so I got ProTools and started writing rhythms with the iPad and the MPC. I learnt how to play piano, very, very simple piano and started writing songs kinda backwards and recording them as I was writing them, so it’s a completely backwards process that worked out really really well.
So how many instruments do you actually play?
I can probably make a noise out of every instrument that you put in front of me (laughs) but playing it well only a few I think. Actually my favourite instrument to be fair is the drums and because it’s my favourite instrument to play – I play them pretty badly but I love playing them – because they’re my favourite instrument I got my friend Cole Goodley to play the drums on the record cause he is just an absolute machine and elevated the songs to great heights.
(laughing) So what instrument can you play well then?
I started on guitar, acoustic, moved to electric then I’ve played bass in a couple of bands. I’ve played drums in a couple of bands and I’m also playing some piano now. Then there’s like the IPad with some synths, the MPC, sampling and cutting things up yeah, little bit of everything. I would love to learn trumpet but I know what an undertaking that would be – trumpet and cello that would be my two that I would really love to get into.
When one is an actor, director and a musician, delivering a music video must seem like a walk in the park. Barker’s latest video is quite poignant and the main character is played beautifully by Barker himself.
The music video for ‘Censored Video’ – do you care to tell the story behind that one?
There’s two sides to that story; there’s the song which is about how like a video tape everybody puts forward a front, a pretend front through like social media or just how they speak to people or how they present themselves. And then behind that front is sort of a true them, you know a step back.
So if I was to use a video tape as a metaphor, it’s like being true to you is underneath and then there is this layer on top that’s been taped over it. But what if it hasn’t been taped over completely?
So then the video is an extension of that same idea where I decided to play the two characters; one is like a happy homeless man bouncing along having a good ole time and then the other character is the performance side of the video; like successful but kind of numb.
It probably doesn’t come across that obviously, but the idea of cutting between a pretend front and then a ‘who you are behind the scenes’ and then having them just sort of overlap ever so slightly at the end of the video was just a fun idea. I took a bit of influence from the movie ‘Moon’ directed by Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son) where Sam Rockwell plays two characters. I think it’s like the coolest film and it’s something I wanted to try.
Both music and film influences Barker in his work; he cites the usual suspects such as Tarantino, Spielberg, along with the actor Daniel Day Lewis. Music wise people such as Johnny Greenwood, Run the Jewels and Die Antwoord (“My wife and I do the raps all the time cause she’s a little blondie too so it’s just hilarious!”) feature as well but Barker admits that often he refers back to the music of when he was a teenager; Jeff Buckley, Smashing Pumpkins, early Weezer and Rage Against The Machine “everything 90’s you know!”
Barker spent time in France while recording the album, an experience he says that has definitely shaped the sound of Sleepwalking;
I started writing and tracking some of the songs here in New Zealand and then my girlfriend at the time and I went over and travelled all around Europe in this campervan. We held up in this little village near Montpellier for a few months and I had this wonderful little space looking out over this village. [I had] my computer and ProTools and a bass I picked up along the way and so I tracked half of the album there. It really had an influence; isolation and no distractions and this beautiful sort of romantic countryside and sunsets every night, it was just incredible. It was totally like the rock n roll dream; I don’t know how it happened! And then I came back and finished the record in beautiful sunny Avondale which is the other end of the spectrum (laughs).
You are set to play your upcoming album release show shortly – can you give anything away?
Have assembled a great little group, some members of The Map Room along with some members of Aristocrats! We are experimenting with sequencing some sort of backing track to make sure that we deliver a slick interpretation of the record. Also going to dip into a couple of past projects, you know a couple of Aristocrats tunes a couple of Sleepykid tunes and maybe even a couple of covers here and there and if I can a few guest performers as well!
But of course, as part of any good interview; the most important question is saved for last;
I have to ask, how do you cope in life being so ridiculously talented?
(laughs) Oh my lord! (laughs) Stop it – how do I cope with it? I don’t cope with it. I consider myself a very lucky and fortunate fellow that I get to dabble in all of these creative endeavours and industries and that I am surrounded by creative people who are all equally talented and have wonderful things to offer! And so if I can keep doing that til the end of my days I will be a happy man!
Johnny Barker is performing live next Thursday 29th June at the ‘Sleepwalking’ Album Release Show being held at Nectar in Kingsland, Auckland (with support from Laughton Kora). This is a free show, so make sure you get there early before venue capacity is met!