Jonny Greenwood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jonny Greenwood | |
|---|---|
| Image:Jonny Greenwood.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Born | November 5 1971 Oxford, England |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock Electronic music Contemporary classical music |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1992-present |
| Label(s) | Parlophone Capitol Records |
| Associated acts | Radiohead |
| Website | Official website |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Fender Telecaster Plus Fender Starcaster | |
Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born November 5, 1971 in Oxford), is a musician and a member of Radiohead. Greenwood is a multi-instrumentalist and also serves as the band's lead guitarist. He is the younger brother of fellow Radiohead member Colin Greenwood. In addition to guitar he plays viola, organ, piano, xylophone, glockenspiel, ondes martenot, banjo and harmonica. He was ranked number 59 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time[1].
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Radiohead
Greenwood had recently started university when Radiohead predecessor On A Friday signed a recording contract with EMI in 1991. He left university shortly after. While Greenwood is the only member of Radiohead to have been classically trained on any instrument (he took viola lessons as a child), he is also the only band member without an advanced degree.
Greenwood's influence on Radiohead's recording and writing can be heard in many songs, as he usually takes the traditional lead-guitarist role. For a while, Greenwood wore an arm brace due to a repetitive strain injury attributed to his "aggressive" way of playing the instrument. He often still wears the brace. He has said of it that "It's like taping up your fingers before a boxing match."[1]
Greenwood is often credited as the second major influence on songwriting in Radiohead, next to Thom Yorke. He wrote the music for the closing tracks of OK Computer and Hail to the Thief, the slow, jazzy rock song "The Tourist" and "A Wolf at the Door", respectively. He also wrote the intro, chorus and outro sections of the song "Subterranean Homesick Alien" from the OK Computer album. According to Yorke the track "Just" from The Bends was "a competition by me and Jonny to get as many chords as possible into a song". An example of Greenwood's versatility is his use of the Ondes Martenot, which is featured on songs such as "The National Anthem" and "How to Disappear Completely" from the album Kid A, and "Pyramid Song" and "Dollars and Cents" from the album Amnesiac. The song "Where I End and You Begin" from Hail to the Thief, which also features the instrument, was dedicated to the memory of Jeanne Loriod, a pioneer of the Ondes.
Greenwood and Yorke also collaborated on a new composition credited to Radiohead, the song "Arpeggi" for voice, Ondes and orchestra, which they performed with the London Sinfonietta and Arab Orchestra of Nazareth at the Ether Festival in March 2005.[2] The song would later be adapted for the full band to play in 2006, rearranging it for guitar. A studio version (closer to the full band version than the orchestral version) appeared on the album In Rainbows as "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi".
[edit] Solo work and current projects
In 2003, Greenwood released his first solo album, Bodysong (2003), the soundtrack for the movie of the same title by filmmaker Simon Pummell. Bodysong also features contributions from his brother Colin on bass.
Jonny Greenwood was hired by the BBC as its composer in residence in May 2004, a job which gave him the opportunity to compose several pieces for symphony orchestra, piano and/or Ondes Martenot: smear, Piano for Children and Popcorn Superhet Receiver. smear premiered in 2004, and on 23 April 2005 Greenwood premiered his new work commissioned by BBC Radio 3, with music performed live by the BBC Concert Orchestra in London[3]. The printed music for smear and Popcorn Superhet Receiver are available from Faber Music Ltd in London. smear has also been recorded by the London Sinfonietta conducted by Martyn Brabbins and is Greenwood's recorded debut in the genre.
Greenwood won the Radio 3 Listeners' Award at the 2006 BBC British Composer Awards [4] for his piece, "Popcorn Superhet Receiver". The piece was inspired by radio static and the extended, dissonant chords of Polish composer Penderecki's "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima", it can be streamed from a link on this page [5] Upon winning the award Greenwood received £10,000 from the PRS Foundation towards a commission for a new orchestral work. [6]
A fan of dub reggae[7], Greenwood released a compilation in collaboration with Trojan Records, entitled Jonny Greenwood Is The Controller in March 2007. This is the latest in Trojan’s Artist Choice Jukebox series, to which DJ Spooky and Don Letts have already contributed[8]. Trojan Records provided Greenwood with its extensive catalog of songs, of which he chose 17 [9]. The title is a play on the first track on the collection, entitled Dread Are The Controller, by Linval Thompson. The album contains tracks by artists such as Derrick Harriott, Gregory Isaacs, The Heptones and many more.
Greenwood's name has most recently surfaced in the credits following a trailer for There Will Be Blood, from director Paul Thomas Anderson. He is credited to the film's musical score, which contains excerpts from Popcorn Superhet Receiver.
[edit] Musical tastes
Greenwood is greatly influenced by jazz; his favourites include Lee Morgan and Miles Davis. He is a major fan of the Mo'Wax label (onetime home of Blackalicious, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow and Dr. Octagon). Along with other Radiohead band members he loves Krautrock band Can and Polish composer Penderecki. Although Greenwood says he dislikes later Pink Floyd, one of his favourite albums is Meddle (1971).[2] Greenwood's all time favourite piece of music is Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony, a gigantic piece for orchestra and Ondes Martenot, which he discovered as a teenager.[10]According to one of his entries on Radiohead's blog Dead Air Space, Greenwood has recently become a dub reggae aficionado, listening as of late 2005 to little else. In February 2007, Trojan Records released "Jonny Greenwood is the Controller" - he was given access to the archives of the legendary Trojan Records and hand picked tracks by the likes of Linval Thompson, John Holt, Lee Perry and The Heptones ranging from classic Ska and Rocksteady cuts to some vintage Dub and Roots. This compilation was recently nominated by Mojo Magazine as the compilation of the year. He confessed in a blog entry that he had never heard The Stooges' Fun House, although he was aware of its legendary reputation.
[edit] Personal life
Greenwood is married to Sharona Greenwood and has a son named Tamir who was born in 2002 and to whom Hail to the Thief was dedicated. He also has a daughter named Omri, born in 2005.
As well as his iconic arm brace, Greenwood has a hairstyle that sets him apart from other band members. His hair is black, straight, and worn long, cut at an angle and often overhanging his face. In live concerts he is also recognized for a frequently worn T-shirt with a pictogram of a person and sound waves emanating from their head - perhaps a "radio head."
However, while Greenwood is sometimes seen as the most flamboyant and stylish member of the band, he also professes shyness. He is apparently somewhat uncomfortable with the sound of his voice, and did fewer interviews than other band members until recently. A longstanding joke among fans calls for Greenwood to sing, something he claims he will never do. He was however, spotted singing backup during several performances in the 2006 tour, including the songs "Black Star" and "The Bends", sharing a microphone with bandmate and guitarist Ed O'Brien.
Greenwood is red-green colourblind.[3][4]
[edit] Equipment used
This is a list of musical equipment used by Jonny Greenwood:
[edit] Electric
- Fender Telecaster Plus, with a custom cut-off switch and special rewirings made by Greenwood and Plank (Radiohead's Guitar Technician). This guitar is equipped with Lace Sensor pickups.
- Fender Telecaster Standard converted into a Plus which also has a custom cut-off switch and Lace Sensor pickups
- Fender Starcaster, with Fender Wide Range pickups, can be heard predominantly on Kid A and Amnesiac.
- A Gretsch G6119-1962HT Tennessee Rose HT.
- Gibson Les Paul HD.6X-Pro Digital
- Gibson ES-335 (used on the acoustic Tour 2003)
- Gibson Les Paul Goldtop (used for 'The Headmaster Ritual' on the Thumbs Down Webcast)
He has used various other Telecasters over the years too, and currently uses Dean Markley Signature Series 10-46 strings.
[edit] Acoustic
- Martin D-35
- Taylor Big Baby (played by both Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke in pictures from Dead Air Space)
[edit] Amplifiers
- Vox AC30, used for clean tones. (all his effects go through this except his ShredMaster)
- Fender Eighty Five, solid state amp, used for distorted tones. (Only the ShredMaster, Super Overdrive, Reverb/Delay, Headrush and possibly Whammy go into this)
In the earlier years he used a Fender Twin Reverb for clean tones and a Fender Deluxe 85 for distorted tones.
[edit] Effects Pedals
- Pro Co RAT Turbo RAT Distortion (this was used around The Bends Era.)
- Marshall ShredMaster (which is unmodified, contrary to popular belief)
- Digitech WH-1 Whammy
- Demeter "The Tremulator", older version of the Demeter TRM-1 Tremulator (which was originally thought to be a homemade tremolo pedal)
- DOD 440 Envelope Filter
- Electro-Harmonix Small Stone
- Electro-Harmonix Poly Chorus
- BOSS SD-1 Super Overdrive
- BOSS RV3 Digital Reverb/Delay
- BOSS FV-300H Volume Pedal, used as a gain controller. (placed before his ShredMaster)
- BOSS TU-12H Chromatic Tuner
- BOSS LS2 Line Selector (used to switch channels) (two are placed on pedalboards, one placed off)
- Roland Space Echo RE-201 (Turned on by using a Vox Egg Footswitch)
- Mutronics Mutator (not used live, as he uses his DOD 440)
- Akai Headrush E1, now an E2 is used(used as a loop recorder)
- Voodoo Labs Pedal Power units powering effects pedals.
- BOSS RE-20 Space Echo
Keyboard Effects
- BOSS RV-3 Digital Reverb/Delay
- Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Phase Shifter
- BOSS FV300L/H
- BOSS LS-2 Line Selector
- Akai Headrush E1, may now be a E2
[edit] Keyboards
- Analogue Systems RS8000 Integrator
- Analogue Systems RS8500X
- Analogue Systems French Connection
- Ondes Martenot
- Sequential Circuits Prophet 5
- Korg Prophecy
- Hammond XB2 Digital Organ
- Moog Rogue
- Mellotron M400
- Rhodes Suitcase Piano Mark I 73
- Fatar Keys CMS-161
- Upright Piano
- Celeste
- Micro Korg
[edit] Other
- Radio (he uses a portable radio during the songs "Climbing Up the Walls" and "The National Anthem")
- Laptop Computer running Max/MSP (Used in the guitar solo at the end of "Go to Sleep" (Engaged with Boss Line Selector)
- Korg Kaoss Pad (for sampling Yorke's voice in the song "Everything in Its Right Place")
- Harmonica (for the song "I Am A Wicked Child" and on the Pavement songs "Platform Blues" and "Billie" from their final album Terror Twilight)
- Glockenspiel (for "No Surprises", "Sit Down. Stand Up" and "All I Need")
- Maraca
- Toms (he uses a pair of identical toms with two drum sticks for each hand. These are featured in "There There", where most members of the band play percussion)
- He has recently been spotted with a Banjo. The band played a sound check on their recent tour where Greenwood played the banjo on Radiohead song "I Am A Wicked Child."
[edit] Collaborations
- Velvet Goldmine
- Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood got together with Bernard Butler (Suede), Andy Mackay, and Paul Kimble to form the band, The Venus in Furs, named after the Velvet Underground song. They recorded five songs (Roxy Music, Brian Eno and Steve Harley covers) for the Todd Haynes film Velvet Goldmine, which was produced by Michael Stipe. The tracks are:
- "2HB" (vocals : Thom Yorke)
- "Ladytron" (vocals : Thom Yorke)
- "Baby's on Fire"
- "Bitter-Sweet" (vocals : Thom Yorke)
- "Tumbling Down"
- Pavement
- Greenwood played harmonica on Pavement's final LP, Terror Twilight (1999). He played on the songs "Platform Blues" and "Billie". The album was produced by long-time Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich.
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Greenwood played lead guitar in The Weird Sisters along with fellow Radiohead member Phil Selway, former Pulp members Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey, electronica artist Jason Buckle and Add N to (X) member Steve Claydon. They performed three tracks, composed by Cocker:
- "Do The Hippogriff"
- "This Is The Night"
- "Magic Works"
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Radiohead.com: Official band website
- trojan.sanctuaryrecords.com: Link to Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller page
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