John P Barton is a cool independant artist from the USA , mp3hardplay and anti-pod have had a chat with John and talked about many interesting things...........

Elia- Hello John, nice to meet you............

John- Hello Elia, nice to meet you as well. You've got a great idea going with mp3hardPlay..

Elia- thanks, John we do try our best !,....tell me in a few words, how would you describe yourself (music wise)?

John- Developing, exploring, and trying not to sound trite or clichéd in the process. (Did that sound trite or clichéd?)

Elia- that's ok !, Can you tell us 5 things required for a happy healthy & enjoyable artistic life according to John P Barton?

John- Time with my girlfriend, Time with my music. Time with my cats. time away from my music & last but not least time alone !


Elia- If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be ?

John- Paul McCartney would be great, but I'd probably be too intimidated by him to actually contribute anything. I'd probably have better luck working with another unknown like myself.

Elia- What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

John- Obviously I'm into some older stuff: The Beatles, Cheap Trick, Queen, etc. I like Nora Jones quite a bit, some of the newer rock stuff really caught my ear: The Killers, The Vines, The Hives, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, are all a lot of fun to listen to, & seem to have brought something back into to rock music that has been missing for quite a while.

Elia- Do you prefer performing live or recording?

John- They are two entirely separate experiences for me. Recording is actually a part of my writing process, & because of that I'm usually working alone, with the coffee pot going and a cigarette burning as I try to find the right words, or the right way to sing them.
Performing is more about trying to draw the audience into your head, but mostly about just having a good time, enjoying the experience, & trying to put a smile on their faces.

Elia- Let's talk about your home studio.......

John- Everything gets recorded into a computer that I built. I use a great multi-track program called "n-Tracks" fasoft, along with a drum sequencer. Electric guitars are done via a POD 2.0, the bass guitar goes through a SansAmp Bass DI. I've got a few mics and pre-amps, I really like the Studio Projects C-1 and B-3 microphones, but you really can't go wrong with just a Shure SM-58. I've also got a small collection of guitars - in the corner, in the closet, behind the door, under the bed. You get the picture.

Elia- sure, i know what you mean !, what about the Internet..... how important is the Internet for an independent artist like John P Barton?

John- Without the Internet, I wouldn't be talking to you right now. The Internet has opened a lot of doors for me; I've made friends and traded CDs and ideas with people from all around the world.

Elia- How does it feel to have a debut album released?

John- “ Does Not Play Well With Others” took about 18 months to complete; it was quite a sense of accomplishment when everything was finally done. I've also learned that sometimes it's much easier to record an album than it is to convince someone to listen to it for the first time. Some people seem to have an aversion to listening to independent artists, almost like they've already convinced themselves that it can't be any good. On the other hand, I have gotten many, many positive responses from people that took the time to actually listen to my music. It feels great!

Elia- What is the biggest challenge you have faced along your musical way?

John- Finding people that shared the same sense of commitment and values that I do. That's why I finally decided to do a solo CD instead of putting together another band.

Elia- You have a nice neat website, do you visit it regularly .. Who takes care of johnpbarton.com ?

John- I made it. go there whenever I need to make changes and updates.

Elia- How did you make “ Does Not Play Well With Others” ... it's your own recording, did you master it all yourself?

John- I did the entire recording, mixing, and mastering in my home studio.

Elia- You did the artwork and press the disc as well?

John- To remain consistant with the theme of the album, I felt that it was necessary for me to do everything, including the artwork and cover design. OasisCD.com pressed the CD.

Elia- Is there anything you would like to say about yourself that few people may know about yourself?

John- Sometimes I wonder if the entire universe, including all of us, has been created only a fraction of a second ago, and that all of our memories are fake ones that were implanted into our heads to make us think that we had been around for a long time, but in reality we were only a few seconds old, and then I wonder if that were true, would we know the difference? Would it matter ? Most people are probably better off not knowing that about me.

Elia- Do you have a portable mp3 player ?

John- I bought my girlfriend a 40G iPod for Christmas, and she loves it. Unfortunately, she's loaded a bunch of her favorite Broadway-show-tunes on the thing and likes to torture me when we're in the car. I get even with her by playing my Rob Zombie CD.

Elia- What's next?

John- I'm about halfway finished writing my next release. However, this time I'm going to get several friends of mine to make various appearances on the recordings. Maybe I should call it "Plays well with others"!
I'm also playing bass with some friends of mine a
couple of times a month. It's good to play a bunch of
fun cover songs just to let loose every now and then.

Elia- Ok John, thanks for talking to us & don't forget to update us with your latest news and projects !

John- Stop by my website johnpbarton.com , add your name to the mailing list, and I'll keep you updated.

Elia- Ok i will...

John- I hope that your readers enjoy the tracks I've offered for download, and would appreciate if they could leave a short one or two line review at my Cdbaby.com site....

Thanks for your time, Elia, and best of luck with Mp3hardPlay!

I don't know if you planned for us to comment in the presentation/interview thread, But: I must give Kudo's to John Barton for some excellent tracks he has blessed us with. I truly enjoyed listening to them and will be picking up a CD Wonderful job John, keep it up! and many thanx to hardplay & antipod for bringing us this Artist's board. Ya done gOOd