HOWARD JONES
Jon is a singer, songwriter and pianist from New York City, and the Editor of Keyboard keyboardmag.com
“I’m very excited about it actually. I’m getting a good reaction from everyone who’s managed to hear it,” synth legend Howard Jones tells about his new album Transform via phone from his home in the U.K. Featuring collaborations with electronic music pioneer BT, the album is both a celebration of Jones’ signature sound, and an update of it some four decades since it hit the worldwide airwaves.
Just days before leaving for a U.S. tour, Jones spoke to me about the gear and gravitas behind his new release.
I had a conversation years ago with Nick Rhodes about a record that Duran Duran had done. He said it was a revelation to go back to some of the sounds that had inspired him in the beginning. I felt that way about your new album. It doesn’t sound like you’re trying to recreate what you did in 1985, but it does seem like a celebration of the sound you are known for.
You’re right. It’s me, just a bit updated I suppose. This comes from a combination of things. Gary Barlow asked me to write a couple of songs for the Eddie the Eagle film, which was based in the ‘80s. He wanted it to be ‘80s-related, but brought up to date. I was like, “Yes. How will I make a record like that with my current thinking?” I wrote two tracks really quickly thinking about, as you said, the sounds that really inspired me and the instruments that inspired me in those early days.
At the same time, Cherry / remastered box sets. I was listening to all the demos and I was listening to things like the 12-inch mixes and the mixes that they left the brass off of [laughs]. So I was immersed in all of these things at the same time. Also, the fans have been asking me to do a sort of “full-on” electronic record for a long time now. I think that’s where this new record was born, really.
