Above, in Barnyard Records HQ, John Southworth and Jean Martin talk music, politics and creepy dolls.
Visiting Toronto from his home in Montreal, the gifted pop songwriter John Southworth is resting comfortably in the Farm, a living space/small studio run by Jean Martin, a producer, extraordinary drummer and owner of the Barnyard Records label. Southworth, who plays Guelph, Ont., on Nov. 23 and a hometown show on Nov. 26, is savouring a delicious coffee and contemplating his latest release, Failed Jingles for Bank of America and Other U.S. Corporations.
“There was no inspiration behind it,” he says. “Every song or jingle was commissioned by a major U.S. corporation. They came to me; it’s a true fact.”
It is not clear if this is indeed a true fact but, in listening to the collection, it is obvious that some of these darkly reassuring songs could easily show up in a television advert for KFC or Visa or what have you.
CRDListen to "Chevy Runs Deep (Pontiac Cherokee Rebellion)" by John Southworth.
“The guy at Chevy will call a company in, let’s say, a city in California and say, ‘We want it to sound like this,’ and that company will then solicit various writers across the world to develop multiple different versions of a pitch,” Southworth says, explaining the process and his role in it. “I am just one of those. There are 20 or so commissioned jingles on the record and all of them were rejected. That’s where it becomes interesting.”
With his “Chevy Runs Deep” tune in my head, there is more imaginary wind blowing through my hair on the open road than there are words from Southworth going into my ears. It’s a distractingly catchy song, and one of many. Why were these jingles rejected and where does the person who rejected them work now? They clearly don’t know what they’re doing.
“It’s a very competitive world and they don’t really take the time to tell you why they don’t like something or why it’s not right,” Southworth says ruefully. “Sometimes you hear that it’s too fast, too clever, there’s too many chords. They’re a finicky bunch. I don’t know how to please them and I really tried.”
As I try to reassure Southworth that he is certainly not at fault for the tastes of others, he turns the tables on me. “It didn’t offend you in any way?” he says of the record, momentarily surprised. “I don’t consider it a record. I think it’s an offensive record. I consider it an anti-record and I’m offended by it and don’t necessarily enjoy it.”
Clearly Southworth has been stung by the rejection of some of the world’s largest corporations. Does it stand to reason that he’s also written some successful jingles?
“I’m not gonna answer that question because I have ongoing lawsuits that might land me in some dangerous waters.”
Suddenly I’m Michael Moore, demanding to speak to Roger Smith at GM in Roger & Me. Southworth is stonewalling me at every turn, evading my questions and possibly even misdirecting me.
“It’s not a John Southworth record,” he says, unloading yet another whopper, as if doing research for a Burger King campaign. “In fact, do you know the company John Deere? I was gonna call it ‘Failed Jingles for Bank of America and Other U.S. Corporations by John Deer.’ I was gonna change my name and take off the ‘e’ but then decided it was not such a big deal."
“I would never have put it out if it was 10 years ago because now you can just put out records all the time,” he adds. “So it’s just something to keep me entertained for the last quarter of 2012 and hopefully someone else.”
See John Southworth and the South Seas live in Guelph with Bry Webb at Dublin Street United Church on Nov. 23 and in Montreal with Thomas at Casa del Popolo on Nov. 26.
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