John Blaylock is a fresh contender in a very modern iteration of a long, strong line of northern songwriters, from Noel Gallagher to Tim Burgess via Mick Head, Badly Drawn Boy and Paul Heaton. Previewed today by the new single ‘Where Did All My Friends Go?’, his debut album ‘Sounds of the Dreadnought’ is set to be released on May 8th. It’s a debut but one that follows John’s myriad adventures in music, from almost breaking big with his first band to writing a song as part of Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebrations and collaborating with artists in Los Angeles, Sweden and Japan. Listen HERE. Watch the official video HERE.
John excels as a storytelling songwriter, and that’s something he proves with the autobiographical ‘Where Did All My Friends Go?’. Set to a punchy indie/hip-hop beat, John looks at the friendships that in his youth would be forever – but they have all drifted apart from reasons ranging from parenthood to drug addiction to moving abroad. It’s a universal truth that so many men experience as the years pass. Yet as the song observes, it’s not necessarily the end. Whether separated by time, distance or circumstance those friendships can click effortlessly back into place.
John says, “Every single one of those characters and incidents are genuine. It’s about the real friends I grew up with, and is a true reflection of what they’re doing in their lives now. It’s a song that always gets a great reaction at gigs. A lot of people came up to after the shows saying how that song got to them, how they could totally relate to it. I worked very hard on the lyrics – as I do with all my songs.”
‘Where Did All My Friends Go?’ was written by John, and was produced by the two-time Grammy winner Guy Massey (Ed Sheeran, Manic Street Preachers, Jack Savoretti) and Helen Boulding (Ward Thomas). It was recorded during sessions at Konk, a studio that was founded by The Kinks, and features drums by Freddy Sheed (Lewis Capaldi).
The single features on ‘Sounds of the Dreadnought’, a record that consists of ten songs of melody and poetry, moonshine and roses, love, lust and reflection. It’s an album distilled from his Manchester upbringing and from his international travels with five of the songs written in his home city and five crafted in far-flung destinations. The album is available to pre-order HERE.
John’s first indie band made substantial headway, including Radio 1 airplay and the Nelson Mandela song (at the request of Desmond Tutu!) before becoming undone by the kind of industry machinations that have sunk so many other bands. Undeterred by the experience, he ended up writing in LA with Pam Sheyne (Miley Cyrus, Christina Aguilera), Roxanne Seeman (The Jacksons, Phil Collins, Bette Midler) and Marcella Detroit (Shakespears Sister) before working with girl bands in Sweden and new talent in Japan, and building a studio in Ecuador.
It was while in Ecuador that Blaylock was struck by a realisation: these were his songs. Rather than give them to other people and continue to be a writer-for-hire, he should record them himself. And so he headed back to the UK to work with Helen Boulding and Guy Massey as he started his solo career. He also runs The Daytime Singers, a community project which consists of nine weekly groups across the Manchester area, and allows people to use music as a way to build new friendships. It’s symbolic of John Blaylock. A musician to his soul, he believes in the wonder of songs – as a tool for his own expression, as a vehicle to bring people together, as a momentary sparkle of magic that can enrich people’s lives.
