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John Grant chats to 6 Music DJ and psychotherapist Nemone

Musician John Grant talks in-depth about the songs that have sound-tracked the ups and downs of his life, and how he expresses his emotions through his own music and lyrics

Nemone combines her roles of DJ and integrative psychotherapist to talk in-depth with American singer-songwriter John Grant about the songs that have sound-tracked the ups and downs of his extraordinary life. John also explores how he expresses his emotions through his own music and lyrics.

After recording six studio albums with his band The Czars, John embarked on a solo career. His albums 'Queen of Denmark' (2010), 'Pale Green Ghosts' (2013), 'Grey Tickles, Black Pressure' (2015) and 'Love Is Magic' (2018) have all received widespread critical acclaim. He has also collaborated with numerous artists from SinΓ©ad O'Connor to Goldfrapp, and Elbow to Kylie Minogue.

John's fifth solo album 'Boy From Michigan', to be released in June, was recorded against a backdrop of the global pandemic and American Presidential election in 2020. It is his most biographical work to date. Moving from Michigan, aged twelve, his family settled in Denver, Colorado, shifting from the rust belt to the bible belt. At odds with his emerging sexuality, at high school John was, on occasion, bullied both physically and emotionally by his fellow pupils. He sings openly, often with caustic candour, about the landmark experiences that have pained and shaped his complex life to date; it took him until his mid-twenties to feel comfortable with his sexuality, having been raised in an environment where it was "clear that those people were going to hell".

John's work playfully experiments with mood, texture and sound. Described as the misfit’s misfit: too weird to be mainstream, too mainstream to be weird; too sad to be happy, too sharp not to crack a mordant joke about it, his song-writing combines impressionistic childhood experiences against their amplified adult consequences.

1 hour

Last on

Mon 2 Oct 2023 00:00

Music Played

  • John Grant

    Pale Green Ghosts

    • Bella Union.
  • John Grant

    No More Tangles

    • Grey Tickles, Black Pressure.
    • Bella Union.
    • 12.
  • Nina Hagen

    Smack Jack

  • Journey

    Somethin' To Hide

    • The Essential Journey CD2.
    • Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd.
    • 3.
  • Kate Smith

    God Bless America

    • The Irving Berlin Songbook: A Centennial Celebration.
    • Navigator Records Ltd.
    • 14.
  • Johnny Cash

    Do Lord

    • Unearthed Volume 4: My Mother's Hymn Book.
    • Mercury Records Limited.
    • 4.
  • Jeannie C. Riley

    Harper Valley PTA

    • Country Moods (Various Artists).
    • Polygram Tv.
  • Tammy Wynette

    Lonely Christmas Call

    • Christmas Romance Volume 1.
    • Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd.
    • 3.
  • John Grant

    Boy From Michigan

    • Bella Union.
  • John Grant

    Boy From Michigan

    • Bella Union.
  • John Grant With Midlife

    Marz (Instrumental)

    • Marz (Instrumental).
    • 1.
  • John Grant

    I Want To Go To Marz

    • I Want To Go To Marz.
    • 1.
  • Frankie Goes to Hollywood

    Black Night White Light

    • Welcome To The Pleasuredome.
    • 12.
  • DEVO

    Love Without Anger

    • Duty Now For The Future / New Traditionalists.
    • Warner Music UK Limited.
    • 20.
  • Talking Heads

    Once In A Lifetime

    • EMI.
  • Kate Bush

    And Dream of Sheep

    • Hounds Of Love.
    • 6.
  • John Grant

    Mike & Julie

  • Talk Talk

    Happiness is Easy

    • The Colour Of Spring.
    • EMI Records Limited.
    • 1.
  • PJ Harvey

    Dress

    • Too Pure.
  • Chris & Cosey

    Hybric 'C'

Broadcasts

  • Sun 9 May 2021 13:00
  • Mon 2 Oct 2023 00:00

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