Interview: ONCE's John Gardner On His Band Common Jack & New Album

Brooklyn based indie folk-rock outfit Common Jack was formed by singer-songwriter & multi-instrumentalist John Gardner during a two and a half year world tour with the actor-musician Broadway show, Once. Based on the indie film of the same name, starring Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova of The Frames / Swell Season, Gardner spent those years playing Hansard & Irglova's music for sold out houses in America, Canada, and Japan while gigging with his own material during his free time.

While many of the early recordings consisted of Gardner playing every instrument in a more traditional folk set up, Common Jack has come to include a rotation of other musicians on fiddle, electric guitar, drums, and synths/organs.

Collaborating with some of these musicians, Gardner recorded Common Jack's debut LP - Bowl, Holland - in Washington DC's historic Cue Recording Studios with platinum producer Jim Ebert (Dave Grohl, Madonna, Toni Braxton). Bowl, Holland was praised for the "richness of the sound...from minimalist to quite symphonic." & for Gardner's songwriting and singing, "his voices takes us in quite a poetic world, in a very original musical dimension, he makes us fly." (Mike Penard, ISA Radio)

Upon finishing the album, Gardner immediately began working on what would become Common Jack's second LP. Working at Degraw Sound with co-producer & engineer Harper James (of EIGHTY-NINETY), a twelve track album was crafted and is set to be released in the fall of 2016.

Common Jack is entirely made up of Broadway, TV, & Film actors.

Members:
Joe Carroll (Once, Cinderella, Romeo & Juliet)
Erica Swindell (Once)
Ryan Link (Hair, Rent, Wonderland, Once Nat'l Tour)
Alex Link (American Idiot Nat'l Tour, Once Nat'l Tour)

BWW: For those of you that don't know, you starred in the first national tour of Once. Did being in that show help influence you with your music in Common Jack?

JG: I played Eamon and also served as the music captain during the entire first national tour. It was an incredible two and a half years. The experiences with that company and with doing that show every night definitely influenced Common Jack. You know, I was fortunate enough to be playing with the most talented group of musicians I've ever met every night in cities across the world. And I wasn't the only songwriter. There were a something like six or seven records that came out of the company of that tour. So we spent a lot of time bouncing ideas off of each other, teaching each other, and pushing ourselves to become better musicians and songwriters. Without that company, I don't know where I'd be.

BWW: How did you find your other band members?

JG: I got really lucky in who my friends were. Either I knew them before the Once tour or met them during the tour. The reason I created the Common Jack moniker was to have a vehicle for collaborating with other artists. And now, in part thanks to Once for introducing me to so many other musicians, Common Jack has a rotating core of musicians who round out the band.

BWW: Who were your influences growing up?

JG: Actually Glen Hansard (who wrote the music for Once with Marketa Irglova) was one of my biggest influences. When I started playing guitar, Falling Slowly was one of the first songs I learned. The way Glen structures a lot of his songs is something that really began to affect me, especially while we were on the road with Once and it was completely surreal when we started the tour to be playing their music every night. A dream come true!

Bob Dylan was also - and still is to this day - a huge influence of mine. To write lyrics that are immediately arresting but yield something new upon every single listen is a goal of mine in my music and that was something Dylan mastered at a young age. It's something to strive for, definitely. Funny enough, that's something I learned from Stephen Sondheim at an early age as well. If you tell the truth and don't try to get too cute with it, your words will connect with people.

BWW: On your debut LP Bowl, Holland, you got to work with platinum producer Jim Ebert. What was that like?

JG: It was inspiring. Jim is someone who has been around the business for decades. He's worked with the likes of Dave Grohl, Madonna, and Toni Braxton, and he was a great mentor throughout the entire process. I hadn't spent much time in a proper recording studio - I'd only done home recordings up to that point - and he was very helpful. He was always there with an interesting choice when we'd hit a roadblock and I have a lot to thank him for. I walked into that studio in DC completely naïve and learned a whole lot.

BWW: On your upcoming album due 9/9, you're working with producer Harper James. What was that like and why the switch?

JG: I've known Harper for a while and have always wanted to work with him. Working with Jim was something we wanted to do but we didn't have the luxury of being on tour in Washington DC playing the Kennedy Center anymore. So when we decided to stay in New York to make the new record, the choice to seek out Harper was an easy one. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I could've made for the new music; Harper is one of those rare breeds of people who can adapt to almost any kind of situation. He is incredibly experienced and has an insane knowledge of music. He really encouraged us to approach each song as its own case; something that works for one tune won't necessarily work for the next, and I think that notion really shines through on these songs.

BWW: What can fans expect to hear on your new album?

JG: The heart of our music is the same as it was on our first LP but I think we've successfully focused the sound. To me, this record is the one I wanted to make with the first one, but it's the record I didn't have the courage to make back in 2015. We took some more risks sonically but they paid off.

A lot of these songs were written during some pretty turbulent times for me personally and for a lot of us in this country, so I think the material reflects that. Things seem to get worse for everyone when we collectively look at what makes us all different rather than looking at what makes us all similar. This record grapples with my own struggles with that on different scales; in relationships, in the news, in general living.

BWW: What's next for you and Common Jack?

JG: After our release show, we've got a slew of shows coming up around the city that are still in the works. One or two of them are pretty huge, so we're getting excited for that. We're also in the infant stages of planning a tour for next year, so keep a look out!

Common Jack's newest album Strange New State comes out everywhere on 9/9 and make sure to go check them out at Pianos in NYC on 9/9 as well. Get tickets below and listen to their newest single on Spotify!

Ticket Link: http://bit.ly/2bmFTbn

Spotify Single: http://spoti.fi/2bmAEJf

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Photo by Nicole Mago