The inside word with Greg Johnson
18 December 2009
Greg Johnson is a bit of a favourite of My New Favourite. The first ever show the company put on, in October last year, was with Greg and we thought he was a top man for taking the (semi) punt of coming to Franklin.
Greg is gearing-up for a New Year's Eve show in Auckland. He shared some thoughts with us earlier this month.
What have you been up to since we last saw you in Pukekohe?
I've been building my wee studio in Los Angeles mostly and doing a lot of songwriting and co-writing here as well. Also been watching the wife's career as a stunt woman really explode (pun intended)! I've been back in NZ a couple of times getting the Greatest Hits album etc. out and doing a tour with Boh Runga.
What prompted you to do that Acoustic Church Tour - aside from, obviously, Boh being both hot and your buddy? And how did the churches handle the idea of people outside their congregation using their space... especially for something like (almost) rock n roll?
Boh and I had been writing a song or two and the idea of the church tour came up. Her sister Bic had pioneered that one a while back. Anyway it was a lot of fun, the rooms were beautiful and it was a great success musically and as a concept. Boh is great, and we had a lot of laughs on and off stage.
I'm sure I pushed the boundaries of good taste once or twice for the church crowd but all in good spirit. Auckland in particular was huge, set in the massive Holy Trinity Cathedral. Nicest back-stage area I've had access to for a while and a good quality "Blood Of Christ" to boot.
Also I hadn't been to the deep south for a while and I had some quite irate fans down there givin me bollocks for taking so long to get back in town, it's nice to be missed! Love the south and the best pies in NZ are below the 42 degree.
I notice on your greatest hits album you've got a "wedding" version of Swagger... what encouraged you to re-arrange it?
I've had a bunch of people tell me over the years that they played "Swagger" at their wedding. I always thought it's a highly inappropriate song for a wedding actually, if your marriage is that story you're in trouble!! So I thought I'd re-do it with a wedding style jazz quartet so that at least people can dance to it while they're damning their own vows.
When can people catch you next in New Zealand?
I'll be back for the New Years show at the old Windsor Castle in Parnell where I first played as a sixteen year old scrubber! It's been bought by our pals at Juice TV and turned into a nice venue and restaurant so we thought an intimate NYE could be fun. I'm not sure what 2010 will bring as far as shows in New Zealand. I'm starting a new album so studio fever could drive me out onto the road again but we'll have to wait and see!
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You can grab tickets for Greg's show at the Windsor Castle on Dec 31 by clicking here.
