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Jonny Greenwood

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Template:Guitarist infobox

Jonathan "Jonny" Richard Guy Greenwood (born November 5, 1971 in Oxford, England) is a musician and a member of Radiohead. Greenwood is a multi-instrumentalist and also serves as the band's lead guitarist. In addition to guitar he plays viola, organ, piano, xylophone, glockenspiel, ondes martenot, banjo and harmonica. He is the younger brother of fellow Radiohead member Colin Greenwood.

Career

Radiohead

Greenwood was just starting university when 'On A Friday' (Radiohead's initial choice of name) signed a recording contract with EMI in 1991; he abandoned his degree in favour of Radiohead shortly after starting his course. A point of note is that while Greenwood is the only member of the band to have been classically trained on any instrument - having taken lessons in viola as a child - he is also the only member of the band not to have completed higher education.

Greenwood's influence on Radiohead's recording and writing can be felt in many songs, taking the traditional lead-guitar role in most pieces, becoming known through the course of Radiohead's career as a contributor to Radiohead's sound. This is despite the fact that, due to his aggressive live performances, he was for a while forced to wear an arm brace due to a repetitive strain injury, which he still often wears, noting, "It's like taping up your fingers before a boxing match."[1]

Due to his versatility and talent, Jonny is also often credited as the second major influence on songwriting in Radiohead, along with singer and lyricist Thom Yorke. His original contributions to the band include the slow, jazzy rock song "The Tourist" and "A Wolf at the Door" (whose music he wrote); they are the closing tracks of OK Computer and Hail to the Thief, respectively. Yorke has noted that the track "Just" from The Bends was "a competition by me and Jonny to get as many chords as possible into a song." An example of Greenwood's versatility is his use of the Ondes Martenot, which is featured on songs such as "The National Anthem" and "How to Disappear Completely" from the album Kid A. The Radiohead song "Where I End and You Begin" from Hail to the Thief was dedicated to the memory of Jeanne Loroid, a pioneer of the Ondes.

Solo work and current projects

In recent years Greenwood has continued his progression as an artist in Radiohead, and in 2003 he released his first solo album, Bodysong (2003), the soundtrack for the movie of the same title by filmmaker Simon Pummell. Bodysong also features contributions from his brother Colin on bass.

Jonny Greenwood was hired by the BBC as its composer in residence in May 2004, a job which gave him the opportunity to compose several pieces for classical orchestra, piano and/or Ondes Martenot: Smear, Piano for Children and Popcorn Superhet Receiver. Smear premiered in 2004, and on 23 April 2005 Greenwood premiered his new work commissioned by BBC Radio 3, with music performed live by the BBC Concert Orchestra in London[2].

Yorke and Greenwood also collaborated on a new composition credited to Radiohead, the song Arpeggi for voice, Ondes and orchestra, which they performed with the London Sinfonietta and Arab Orchestra of Nazareth at the Ether Festival in March 2005.[3] The song would later be adapted for the full band to play in 2006, transposing it to guitar.

Greenwood and the band are currently working on another album and recently performed many new songs during a summer 2006 tour. However, no release date has been set. According to interviews with Thom, the tour was Jonny's idea, as he feels the pressure of a firm deadline helps creativity.

Greenwood won the Radio 3 Listeners' Award at the 2006 BBC British Composer Awards [4], for his piece, "Popcorn Superhet Receiver". The piece was inspired by radio static and the extended, dissonant chords of Polish composer Penderecki's "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima", it can be streamed from a link on this page [5] Upon winning the award Greenwood received £10,000 from the PRS Foundation towards a commission for a new orchestral work. [6]

A fan of obscure dub reggae[7], Greenwood recently announced he will be releasing a compilation in collaboration with Trojan Records, entitled Jonny Greenwood Is The Controller. This is the latest in Trojan’s Artist Choice Jukebox series, to which DJ Spooky and Don Letts have already contributed[8]. Trojan Records provided Greenwood with its extensive catalog of songs, of which he chose 17 [9]. The title is a play on the first track on the collection, entitled Dread Are The Controller, by Linval Thompson. The album contains tracks by artists such as Derrick Harriott, Gregory Isaacs, The Heptones and many more.

Music tastes

Jonny is greatly influenced by jazz; his favorites include Lee Morgan and Miles Davis. He is a major fan of the Mo'Wax label (onetime home of Blackalicious, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow and Dr. Octagon). Along with other Radiohead band members he loves Krautrock band Can and Polish composer Penderecki. Although Jonny says he dislikes later Pink Floyd, one of his favourite albums is Meddle (1971). Jonny's all time favourite piece of music is Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony, a gigantic piece for orchestra and Ondes Martenot, which he discovered as a teenager.[10]According to one of his entries on Radiohead's blog Dead Air Space, Greenwood has recently become a dub reggae aficionado, listening as of late 2005 to little else. He confessed in the same blog entry that he had never heard The Stooges' Fun House, although he was aware of its legendary reputation.

Personal

Greenwood is married to Sharona Greenwood and has a son named Tamir who was born in 2002 and to whom Hail to the Thief was dedicated and a daughter named Omri, born in 2005.

As well as his iconic arm brace, Greenwood has a hairstyle to set him apart from other band members. His hair is black, straight, and worn long, cut at an angle and often overhanging his face. In live concerts he is also recognized for a frequently worn T-shirt with a pictogram of a person and sound waves emanating from their head - perhaps a "radio head." He is also recognized for his cheekbones.

However, while Jonny is sometimes seen as the most flamboyant and stylish member of the band, he also professes shyness. He is apparently somewhat uncomfortable with the sound of his voice, and did fewer interviews than other band members until recently. A longstanding joke among fans calls for Jonny to sing, something he claims he will never do. However, he was spotted singing backup during several performances in the 2006 tour, including the songs "Black Star" and "The Bends", sharing a microphone with bandmate and guitarist Ed O'Brien.

Trivia

  • Jonny's sampled and looped laughter was heard in the 1995 Radiohead B-side "India Rubber."
  • Jonny can be seen in the 2005 film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire along with fellow Radiohead member Phil Selway and Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, as members of an unnamed band allegedly called the Weird Sisters. They recorded several songs which are heard in the film and available on its soundtrack (see Collaborations). Although the band's scene is very brief and the group's name is never identified in the film, the name was used in J.K. Rowling's original novel and in the film's original promotional materials. The movie and its distributor were subject to a lawsuit in 2005 by a real musical group called Wyrd Sisters, seeking to have it banned from theaters. Radiohead itself was even named as a party in the lawsuit, which was quickly dismissed.
  • Jonny is completely colorblind.[citation needed]
  • Jonny Greenwood, in a joint entry with bandmate Ed O'Brien, was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" by Rolling Stone Magazine.[11]
  • In 2005, the up-and-coming band Bloc Party's lead guitarist, Russell Lissack was the subject of comparison to Jonny in British music magazines. This was due largely in part to the similar preference of the two to record and perform on Telecasters, as well as for their nearly identical triangular fringe hairstyles. Similarities have also been observed in the way both guitarists move about the stage while performing. Bloc Party also cites Radiohead's music as an influence.
  • Jonny is very fond of the biscuit Jaffa Cakes. The biscuit is a staple of Radiohead's rider.
  • Jonny has been seen using a cello bow on his electric guitar during live performances of 'Pyramid Song', perhaps influenced by Jónsi Birgisson of the Icelandic band Sigur Rós.

Equipment used

This is a list of musical equipment used by Jonny Greenwood.

Electric

He has used various other Telecasters over the years too, and currently uses Dean Markley Signature Series 10-46 strings.

Acoustic

Amplifiers

  • Vox AC30, used for clean tones. (all his effects go through this except his ShredMaster)
  • Fender Eighty Five, solid state amp, used for distorted tones. (Only the ShredMaster, Super Overdrive, Reverb/Delay, Headrush and possibly Whammy go into this)

In the earlier years he used a Fender Twin Reverb for clean tones and a Fender Deluxe 85 for distorted tones.

Effects Pedals

  • Marshall ShredMaster (which is unmodified, contrary to popular belief)
  • Digitech WH-1 Whammy
  • Demeter TRM-1 Tremulator (which was originally thought to be a homemade tremolo pedal)
  • DOD 440 Envelope Filter
  • Electro-Harmonix Small Stone (one also used on keyboard)
  • Electro-Harmonix Poly Chorus
  • BOSS SD-1 Super Overdrive
  • BOSS RV3 Digital Reverb/Delay (also on his keyboard pedal board)
  • BOSS FV-300H Volume Pedal, used as a gain controller. (placed before his ShredMaster)
  • BOSS TU-12H Chromatic Tuner
  • BOSS LS2 Line Selector (used to switch channels)
  • Roland Space Echo RE-201 (Turned on by using a Vox Egg Footswitch)
  • Mutronics Mutator (not used live, as he uses his DOD 440)
  • Akai Headrush (used as a loop recorder, also one used on his keyboards)

Keyboards

Other

  • Radio (he uses a portable radio during the songs "Climbing Up the Walls" and "The National Anthem")
  • Korg Kaoss Pad (for sampling Thom's voice in the song "Everything in Its Right Place")
  • Harmonica (for the song "I Am A Wicked Child" and on the Pavement songs "Platform Blues" and "Billie" from their final album Terror Twilight)
  • Glockenspiel (especially for "No Surprises and "Sit Down. Stand Up" but also used in new song "All I Need")
  • Maraca
  • Toms (he uses a pair of identical toms with two drum sticks for each hand. These are featured in "There There", where most members of the band play percussion)
  • He has recently been spotted with a Banjo. The band played a sound check on their recent tour where Greenwood played the banjo on Radiohead song "I Am A Wicked Child."

Collaborations

Velvet Goldmine
Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood got together with Bernard Butler (Suede), Andy Mackay, and Paul Kimble to form the band, The Venus in Furs, named after the Velvet Underground song. They recorded five songs (Roxy Music, Brian Eno and Steve Harley covers) for the Todd Haynes film Velvet Goldmine, which was produced by Michael Stipe. The tracks are:
  • "2HB"
  • "Ladytron"
  • "Baby's on Fire"
  • "Bitter-Sweet"
  • "Tumbling Down"
Pavement
Greenwood played harmonica on Pavement's final LP, Terror Twilight (1999). He played on the songs "Platform Blues" and "Billie". The album was produced by long-time Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Greenwood played lead guitar in The Weird Sisters along with fellow Radiohead member Phil Selway, former Pulp members Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey, electronica artist Jason Buckle and Add N to (X) member Steve Claydon. They performed three tracks, composed by Cocker:
  • "Do The Hippogriff"
  • "This Is The Night"
  • "Magic Works"
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