the jonny fun interview - january 2002

  question: hi jonny. thanks for agreeing to do this interview. i'm sure that fans of the band will be pleased to see you are still around.

  jonny: hey, we never went away, other bands just got bigger.

  q: people often comment on your "big" hairstyle. how did it come about?

  j: no real reason. it was tough being a poor student so the haircut was one expenditure that i thought i could live without. boy, how wrong was i? it kinda gets in my eyes and means that i can't always see where the microphone is. sometimes i wear a hat, which helps me see, but my hair just looks bigger when i take it off. i know vogue thought it was fashion related but as you know, i have absolutely no fashion sense. can you ask me a question about my favourite dancefloor move?

  q: go on then - what is your favourite dancefloor move?

  j: funny you should ask me this... my favourite type of dancing is the waltz, but line dancing is cool in my book. i like to wave my left hand high above my head with my right one on my hip. i quickly alternate my hands - almost like those scottish dancers. well, i'm sure you have a pretty picture in your head now. you can bet your bippy that the ladies love it.

  q: jonny, which do your prefer playing - keyboards or guitar?

  j: i prefer to strap on a geetar these days. it just makes more rock'n'roll sense. 'keys' were just so 1985 (though harold faltermyer is still surely one of the muso types around). i suppose you don't break as many strings on a keyboard though... no, geetar is certainly tops. (though a guitar with a pan pipes setting would be cool).

  q: how would you describe the hesitations music?

  j: the best way to describe it is 'flowing'.

  q: is it true that kylie wants to record a version of 'where did you come from?' not in the same style obviously but in a more slowed fashion - a bit like her new slow big band 'better the devil you know'. any idea?

  j: hmmm, i don't know, but it's a nice idea. her vocal apparatus would do wonders with such a ditty, i'm sure. in general, the music of the hesitations has a universality meaning that we are wide open to being "covered" and we kinda like this. the possibilities are endless...i'd like to hear tom jones do "shine".

  q: my researcher told me the pleasance gig was sometime in 99 but i'm sure you know more than me. tell me about the pleasance gig. what was the set list? did the fans go for it? [i'm sure i can link this into the electrocutions gag - ed!]

  j: take me back baby...jonny started out with sam cooke's "wonderful world" and we did "where did you come from", "let it go" and "shine" and something else...no, not the eddie cochran song.. the pleasance wasn't our best performance. we were going through some musical changes - quite literally, i changed the key of some songs - and we were battling with our identity. we were billed as jonny fun and the hesitations. confusion and discontent arose in the crowd as it became clear that there was in fact only one hesitation (not counting jonny fun). our experience is that edinburgh audiences take their plurals quite seriously. the band has expanded since then so our return gig at the pleasance will be more pleasant.

  j: of all the chords you know, and i'm sure that you know at least 19, what's your favourite (i'll give you two as i'm sure it's hard to pick just one!)

  j: on geetar, it's gotta be am7. on joanna, i like b7 - a big 4 finger stretcher.

  q: the line-up of the band has changed quite a bit over time hasn't it? who are the current hesitations?

  j: yeah, it has changed - you've done your research. we had a few charlatans but we soon got shot of them. current hesitations? erm, not entirely sure, better ask our manager. either way, they're all really great blokes, some of them are even like cousins to me. we often meet at weddings, and the odd barmitzvah - that's where we found lionel, he's ace on the banjo.

  q: is it true that, back in 1998, yourself and mambo recorded a version of ricky nelson's "it's up to you"?

  j: no way, i think that was an urban myth. people said it was a shocker too, but ricky (rip) is a hero of ours.

  q: do you have any plans to record any more rock n' roll numbers?

  j: i think 'waitin' in school' by ricky's a top tune. the bit where he shouts 'well, go now' makes me smile like nobody's business.

  q: mambo was spotted playing live at king tuts in glasgow with a different band. can i just confirm - he is still in the hesitations isn't he?

  j: word has it that i've been doing the rounds of sheffield too. mambs has a permanent pass for the train that is the hesitations. i hope it rides with us all the way.

  q: there are rumours that the pleasance gig in edinburgh [featuring jonny and mambo] didn't live up to expectations. what do you say to that?

  j: can i just quote some 'fun' lyrics to you? 'expecting all just brings you down, but you're a teaspoon without a crown.' admittedly i shouldn't have mentioned the teaspoon but hey if you expect a perfect show every time you go see the hesitations, well i gotta put it to you that now and again you're gonna be disappointed. read the disclaimer about getting money back on the album...

  q: are there any plans for any new live appearances by the band?

  j: smash hit q tunes have the dates of forthcoming gigs. we should be having a one featuring all the hesitations, probably in sheffield. mambs and the one they call john are booked in. i was thinking april sometime.

  q: do you have any plans to record a cd album as jonny fun and the hesitations?

  j: that's always been the dream behind the project. live stadium gigs are all well and good but you can't beat slipping your disc into a machine and grooving (with hands aloft). also, as we are the band we get some dud copies... you can flip these over and they make cool coasters. check out the '273 things to do with your hesitations cd apart from play it' section of the website. (i like number 187 best)

  q: so, seeing as you didn't answer that one... rumour has it, and word on the street (i can't disclose my sources) is that the hesitations are due to record a bunch of songs soon.

  j: you'd have to speak to our manager about that one. there have been some complications, mainly involving chris rea.

  q: the fan base of the band is predominantly young and female. however, i have heard that you also attract admiration from the 50+ age group as well as some sectors of the gay scene. can you explain such universal appeal?

  j: the young female crowd do have taste, that's why they gave westlife the boot in favour of us. the more mature listeners just know their stuff, we dig ricky nelson and the everly brothers. i guess they just know how we like a jive after some hard thumpin' rock. what can i say about the gay scene? several of our gigs have been in gay venues which got us noticed, that and the spandex. good job i had my guitar in the right place, otherwise my appeal may not have seemed as large.

  q: there is a very famous photograph of you sitting in the pub enjoying an ale. the table in front of you is packed with pints of beer - did you drink them all and where was the photo taken?

  j: that's the auld hoose in edinburgh, a pub from my halcyon past! alas i can't say i drank them all, i was out with a rather special friend having a quiet night. no need to get completely elephants all the time eh? i'd like to warn the children of the dangers of alcohol abuse. my motto is "it's fun to have a pint, but it's no fun when you wake up the next day not sure where you've been and wondering why you have no shoes but an nice calculator instead". catchy don't you think?

  q: what's all this talk and love and lime? i know you keep muttering it but is it normal or does he have a special medicatal condition?

  j: love and lime has become a kinda catchphrase for the band. often without realising, we find ourselves exclaiming it during gigs. the ladies seem to like it. i don't know where it came from. ask john - he might know...

  q: who's your biggest influence in a.) rock music, b.) country music and finally c.) skiffle?

  j: my influences are many and varied, perhaps too many... as a band, we aren't influenced only by music...we like sunsets, fields of corn blowing in a breeze, april showers, pizzas, ginger beer... that kinda thing.

  q: how do you prepare for a gig?

  j: i eat pizza, drink ginger beer and try to see a sunset.

  q: how do you feel after a gig?

  j: nice and kinda tingly.

  q: jonny, thanks for speaking to us. it has been a pleasure. any last words for the fans...?

  j: hey, the pleasure's been mine, i could have paid for this pleasure (but i'd get 10% nus right?- hoho, joke). just remember that every time i sing, i sing for you guys. you lot are great and have put me and the other hesitations where we are in today's rock scene. it touches me greatly when i hear that the arbroath fan club are even putting a tribute band together to go on 'stars in their eyes'. let me tell you, it's put *tears* in my eyes and i reckon a few others will be quite emotional by the end of that set. love and lime ladies and gents, love and lime! p.s. special note to emma, i gave you a plectrum as a gift after the gig in west hartlepool. could you please return it as i lost my other one (send it freepost 'hesitationland', wassailingtown)? cheers, jonny.