SOCIAL MEDIA

TM - Hi, This is Amelia and Elizabeth from Twinmusix and we are here with John from The Animals, Thank you for having this interview with us today we appreciate it.

JN - Thank You for having me.

TM - Are you excited to come back to Australia, is there anything you are looking forward to doing while you are here?

JN - It is always a pleasure to tour Australia. I am looking forward to some nice weather I hope.


TM - It is nice weather here, but it is humid.

JN - I can take that, it is really cold here but it hasn't snowed yet we are right in the middle of winter.

TM - What can fans expect from your Australian tour?

JN - You can expect a very good lineup. I reckon it's one of the best lineups since the original lineup. I am pleased with the way that it is and it is tight and fun we enjoy ourselves. We enjoy each other's company and we enjoy it each other on the road, we are very happy with the way things are at the moment.

TM - What can fans expect from your setlist?

JN - You will get a lot of songs that you recognize. The hits that we had obviously The House of the Rising Sun, everyone remembers that one, We Gotta Get Out of This Place, It's My Life, Don't Bring Me Down and Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood. Our songs have stood the test of time. Every generation knows some of our songs, and we a very lucky that our music has an appeal across the Ages.

TM - You brought out the Retrospective vinyl with your songs between 1964 and 1970 which is pretty cool, can you tell us more about this?

JN - It's a very good Retrospective, I think it is cool. The record company sent me about a dozen copies and I gave them out to some friends. The band and everyone seems to think it's pretty cool.

TM - Are you working on any new music?

JN - Yeah Danny is the lead singer and lead guitarist of the band who was with us last time in Australia and he is writing some new material. Hopefully, we will be doing some of those songs. We are going to be recording them let me get back from Australia, it is already booked for a week or two after we get home. We will have a new record out as well there will also be a recording available from one time we were over there it was recorded at the Governor in Adelaide so that will be available on the road on this tour.

TM - If you could have any band play one of your songs what band would it be, what song would it be and would it be in your style or their style?

JN - Bruce Springsteen should record "It's My Life", that would be pretty cool.

TM - what was the first band or artist you saw live as a kid and did it inspire you to play music?


JN - when I was young around 11 or 12 years old I was very attracted to jazz music and there were a few records around the house. I was the youngest of four kids so I listened to the records. My sisters liked show Tunes and my brother liked jazz so I used to pick up anything that was lying around and play it. The first proper concert that I went to see was when I was 15 and Louis Armstrong played at Newcastle City Hall and that was just magic for me because I am a big fan of his. These days people think of Louis Armstrong playing It's a Wonderful World but what a lot of people don't know is in the middle of the 1920s when Louis Armstrong Walked from New Orleans to Chicago and formed a band called The Hot Five he was the Jimmy Hendrix of his day. He changed the direction of music. The first instrument I played was a trumpet because Louis Armstrong played the Trumpet so I didn't get into rock and roll till a year or two later.

TM - It doesn't matter what type of music you like, I like a lot of different styles of music.

JN - Absolutely my daughter loves music and has a bigger record collection than me. She has all different types of genres so it must be in the blood I think.

TM - What is your favourite memory of watching someone else play live, can you tell us a story?

JN - When we went over to New York as the animals we were playing four shows a day in Times Square, it is a very strange way that they do business over. There would be a movie then a live show then another movie then another live show about four or five times a day, it was all over by about 10:00 at night and all the live music venues would open their doors. There was a place called Birdland, A very famous nightclub and John Coltrane quartet was playing. He was a very influential Tenor player with a great band, one of the best drummers in the world Elvis Jones. When we had finished I would head straight up to the Birdland every night I would go and watch John Coltrane quartet. That was one of the highlights of my life listening to him rather than playing music.

TM - Is there anything else you want to say to your fans?

JN - Come to our show and enjoy it because we enjoy what we do and we hope you enjoy it. We always seem to get a standing ovation, so we must be doing something right and we hope everyone enjoys it.

TM - Thank you so much for this interview today we appreciate it.

JN - Thank You.