EIGHTIES pop star
Howard Jones has pushed the technological boundaries throughout his
career. His latest project which he will debut at the Indigo2 aims to
go even further
IF the pop music scene
of the 80s was dominated by one instrument it was the synthesizer.
And right at the forefront of it was singer songwriter and multimedia
maverick Howard Jones.
It was in 1983 that he
first burst onto the contemporary music scene with his catchy and
thought provoking lyrics and infectious tunes.
His seminal song New
Song which challenged listeners to "throw off their mental
chains" was followed by a series of albums and a host of hits
including Things Can Only Get Better, Hide And Seek, What Is Love?
and Like To Get To Know You Well.
Technology has always
been an important element of his career and 30 years on from New Song
he is continuing to write, record, tour and experiment.
He is about to embark
on his most ambitious project to date - Engage - which will be
officially launched at a special one-off show at the Indigo2 on
February 20, and he says he is both nervous and excited about how it
is received.
"I'm going to be
60 in a few weeks and a couple of years ago I thought I really must
push myself to do something really special to celebrate the fact I'm
still going," he tells me.
"I've been lucky
enough throughout my career to do lots of things but I wanted to do
an ambitious project that combined all the things I love with all the
things I have learned in the last 30 years.
"Engage was born
out of that and it's going to be really exciting though it's a bit
complicated to explain," he adds laughing.
It's certainly
ambitious, combining apps for smart phones, audience participation,
live music and visuals in a multi media CD and DVD.
The package will
embrace electronica, contemporary classical music, cinematic and pop
music influences which are fused with ballet and modern dance, all
the elements of the arts that Howard says he has loved and been
influenced by during his career.
"For me it's all
about the live experience but I didn't want to do just another studio
album or a DVD of a concert," he says.
"I wanted it to be
different so it's a mix of films we made during one of my recent gigs
as well as music both new and old.
"I also wanted to
imagine what it would be like to be at a gig and see it from the
audience's point of view - to make it a fully imersive experience. I
want the audience to be involved in the show and have a role to
play."
One of the ways in
which he hopes this will be achieved is for everyone to given an app,
which has been specially developed by a life long fan, to be
downloaded on to their smart phones when they arrive at the gig.
The app will enable
them to get images and clips from the concert onto their phones.
"The use of the
apps will be exciting because it will be interesting to see what
people do with it," says Howard. "It's ground breaking
stuff and I'm super excited about it."
As well as ground
breaking in its use of technology, the gig is also going to be fun.
"In the foyer we
have make up artists for anyone who wants florescent make up so their
faces light up. We've also florescent gloves to give away and people
can get their clothing customised - I'm always thinking of different
things," he says.
The gig itself will be
in two parts. The first will be a live performance with the audience
participating with their apps, florescent gloves and make up. It will
be performed behind a kabuki curtain onto which there will be state
of the art projections of films and images he has put together and
will feature classical elements as well as sub base, dance and pop
music.
The second half will be
a retrospective live set with Howard performing his greatest hits.
"I love the
Indigo2 - it's one of my favourite venues," he says. "It's
got a really good sound system, one of the best in fact, and the
space is just right.
"It is the perfect
place for what I hope will be an incredibly imersive and interactive
experience."
But is there not a
danger that with all this participation, the audience might miss the
music?
He laughs and says:
"Yes I suppose there is though I hope they don't.
"However, if you
go to any gig these days people are invariably taking photos or
videos. A lot of the time when I'm on stage I see people holding up
their phones recording it or taking pictures and so they aren't
really there in one sense because they are looking at it through a
camera.
"What's exciting
is that I don't think anyone has done this before and it will be
interesting to see what happens on the night and the crowd's
reaction."
That Howard is still
pushing the boundaries with technology in his music should come as no
surprise given he's been doing it throughout his career.
In the early days he
was an exponent of the Roland Juno 60, the Jupiter 8 and the Moog
Prodigy and he pioneered the classic Roland 808 drum machine and
worked closely with Roland on the development of Jupiter 80.
When he first started
out he was triggering sequencers live on stage whilst playing and
singing, something that had not been done before.
"I suppose my
thing was always to use technology in a way that really engaged
people and was breaking new ground with sound," he says.
"At the root of it
though is music. I don't want to get so distracted by the technology
that the messages of it being about communicating news and ideas and
what it's like to be human are lost.
"I was born in an
age where technology was developing so fast and it has been great to
be involved in a way that I can use it to bring people together
through music.
"When I started,
artists could sometimes seem remote but these days we need to form a
connection with our fans and a bond because there are so many other
things competing for their attention.
"I hope what I'm
doing with Engage, to keep that strong connection and break new
technological boundaries, will excite and interest them as much as it
has for me."
Howard Jones plays the Indigo2 on Friday, February 20. Visit
www.axs.com/uk/events/254834?skin=indigo for tickets.
