Raising The Tone

From musician, writer and performer to producer, mix engineer and record label owner, Ethan Johns has honed his craft as a guitarist on both sides of the control room glass

- Rod Brakes

 Ethan Johns’ productions are synonymous with a host of world-class studio albums from a profusion of artists such as Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, Laura Marling, Paulo Nutini, Ryan Adams and Kings Of Leon. His characteristically organic hyper realism in recorded sound is a sonic signature that pays testament to a pure, lifelong love of music, not only as an award-winning producer, but also as a notable multi-instrumentalist and creative artist. With a string of solo releases and innumerable collaborations under his belt, he joins us here to share some sound advice with you…

How did you discover music?

“Brian Jones gave my dad [record producer Glyn Johns] a dulcimer. I was about three years old and I remember sitting in a big green armchair strumming on this dulcimer for hours. There was something inexplicable about the way I could play a specific series of notes that would make me feel happy, or a specific series of notes that would make me feel sad. It was like magic to me! I was obsessed and from then on all I’ve ever done is play music.”

What was the first guitar that you owned?

“It was a red Fender Bronco – I’ve still got it! I got it for Christmas in 1974. [laughs] I used to sneak it in bed and play in the dark. That was a tip from my dad. He said, ‘What you should do is play in the dark because your fingers will remember where to go better if you can’t see.’

“I never took lessons, but there were a couple of guys around that were mentors: Bernie Leadon – he was with Eagles, but he didn’t want to do Hotel California and went surfing instead – and the other guy was Andy Fairweather Low. He always had time for me and would always help me tune or restring or give the guitar a polish.”

How did you venture into the recording environment of music?