Gerard Johnson
Encyclopedia
Gerard Johnson is a British keyboard
player. He is best known for his work with Saint Etienne
and The Syn
.
, Monmouthshire
, Wales
, he was educated at Presentation College, Reading, Berkshire
. He was a member of the Progress Theatre
Student Group (1976–1981). Studied as a Tonmeister
at the University of Surrey
, Guildford
.
)(1987–91). During this time he recorded and mixed records by Enya
, Ian McCulloch
(of Echo & the Bunnymen
), The Sugarcubes
and the Pet Shop Boys
.
In 1991 he became a freelance engineer/producer, working with Timo Blunk (of Palais Schaumburg
, Freaky Realistic, TV Smith (of The Adverts
) and Denim
. Through Denim he met Bob Stanley
, Pete Wiggs
and Sarah Cracknell
of Saint Etienne
. Since Saint Etienne re-united in the mid 1990s, Johnson has worked with the band at various times as engineer, arranger, producer and live keyboard player.
In the 1990s, Johnson also worked with guitarist Peter Banks
, with Johnson appearing on Banks' albums and Banks guesting on Johnson's project with Mark Bown, Funky Monkey. In 2004, Johnson joined Banks in The Syn
, appearing on recordings later released on Original Syn. Johnson stayed with the band after Banks left and original bass player Chris Squire
of Yes
rejoined. He co-produced the band's 2005 album Syndestructible with Lemon Trees
guitarist Paul Stacey
. He has also toured with The Syn in a line-up including guitarist Shane Theriot and drummer Alan White
(of Yes), but left the band in 2006.
He then worked on two projects with Chris Squire: Chris Squire's Swiss Choir, an album of Christmas music on which he was producer and choral arranger, and as co-writer of songs for a planned Squire solo album. This project was not completed, but material from it went on to form part of the as yet unreleased "Squackett" album by Squire and former Genesis
guitarist, Steve Hackett
. One song from these sessions co-written/performed by Johnson was used on Yes's 2011 album Fly from Here
.
Johnson returned to Saint Etienne as orchestral arranger and conductor of their June 2007 live film soundtrack performance This is Tomorrow, part of the celebrations which marked the re-opening of London's Royal Festival Hall
after its closure for extensive refurbishment. He toured extensively with Saint Etienne during 2009.
He has recently formed The Electric Opera with long-term collaborator Mark Bown, and composed and musical directed numerous shows at the South London Theatre
.
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
player. He is best known for his work with Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
and The Syn
The Syn
The Syn are an English band that were active from 1965 to 1967, and then reunited as a progressive rock band in 2004. Chris Welch, in his book, Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes wrote, "The Syn were very similar to Yes in fact...
.
Early years
Born in 1963 in NewportNewport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
, Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, he was educated at Presentation College, Reading, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. He was a member of the Progress Theatre
Progress Theatre
Progress Theatre is a theatre company owning and managing its own theatre on The Mount, in Reading, Berkshire, England, close to Reading University. The theatre is the oldest one operating in Reading and the only venue in the town dedicated entirely to theatrical productions.The company was formed...
Student Group (1976–1981). Studied as a Tonmeister
Tonmeister
Tonmeister is most often found as a job description in the music and recording industries. It describes a person who is a sound master : a person who creates recordings or broadcasts of music who is both deeply musically trained and also who has a detailed...
at the University of Surrey
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...
, Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
.
Career
Johnson originally trained and worked as a recording engineer at London's Music Works studio (1985–87) and then as Chief Engineer at Orinoco Studios (now called Miloco StudiosMiloco Studios
Miloco Studios are a leading independent group of recording studios based in London, England. There are currently twelve commercial recording studios underneath the Miloco umbrella, plus a selection of private long-let programming rooms...
)(1987–91). During this time he recorded and mixed records by Enya
Enya
Enya is an Irish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter. Enya is an approximate transliteration of how Eithne is pronounced in the Donegal dialect of the Irish language, her native tongue.She began her musical career in 1980, when she briefly joined her family band Clannad before leaving to...
, Ian McCulloch
Ian McCulloch (singer)
Ian Stephen McCulloch is an English singer, born in Liverpool, and is best known as the frontman for the rock group Echo & the Bunnymen.-Career:...
(of Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
), The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes were an Icelandic alternative rock band formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. They received critical and popular acclaim internationally.-History:...
and the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
.
In 1991 he became a freelance engineer/producer, working with Timo Blunk (of Palais Schaumburg
Palais Schaumburg (band)
Palais Schaumburg was a new wave band from Hamburg, Germany. The style was classified as Neue Deutsche Welle, and strongly characterized by their avant garde music and dadaistic attitude....
, Freaky Realistic, TV Smith (of The Adverts
The Adverts
The Adverts were an English punk band who formed in 1976 and broke up in late 1979. They were one of the first punk bands to enjoy chart success in the UK, and their line-up included Gaye Advert, whom The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music called the "first female punk star".-Career:The band was...
) and Denim
Denim (band)
Denim is an American band based in Austin, Texas formed in 1970. 1980 saw some members of Denim join in a different project, "The Austin All-Stars". The All-Stars were a premiere party band in Austin, playing at the Steamboat on 6th street regularly...
. Through Denim he met Bob Stanley
Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne)
Bob Stanley is a UK musician, film producer and journalist.-Saint Etienne:Stanley is best known as a member of the pop/dance group Saint Etienne for which he co-writes songs and produces...
, Pete Wiggs
Pete Wiggs
Pete Wiggs is an English musician and DJ.-Saint Etienne:Pete Wiggs is a member of the pop/dance group Saint Etienne for which he co-writes songs, produces and plays keyboards on stage...
and Sarah Cracknell
Sarah Cracknell
Sarah Cracknell is an English pop singer who fronts the band Saint Etienne and is known for her light, smooth singing voice. She is the daughter of Stanley Kubrick's first assistant director Derek Cracknell.-Career:...
of Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
. Since Saint Etienne re-united in the mid 1990s, Johnson has worked with the band at various times as engineer, arranger, producer and live keyboard player.
In the 1990s, Johnson also worked with guitarist Peter Banks
Peter Banks
Peter Banks is an English guitarist. He was the original guitarist of the progressive rock band Yes.-Early career:When Banks was a young boy, his father bought him an acoustic guitar...
, with Johnson appearing on Banks' albums and Banks guesting on Johnson's project with Mark Bown, Funky Monkey. In 2004, Johnson joined Banks in The Syn
The Syn
The Syn are an English band that were active from 1965 to 1967, and then reunited as a progressive rock band in 2004. Chris Welch, in his book, Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes wrote, "The Syn were very similar to Yes in fact...
, appearing on recordings later released on Original Syn. Johnson stayed with the band after Banks left and original bass player Chris Squire
Chris Squire
Christopher Russell Edward "Chris" Squire , is an English musician, known as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock group Yes. He is the only member of the group to appear on every album.-Before Yes:...
of Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
rejoined. He co-produced the band's 2005 album Syndestructible with Lemon Trees
The Lemon Trees
The Lemon Trees were a 1990s UK pop band consisting of Guy Chambers, twin brothers Paul Stacey and Jeremy Stacey, Alex Lewis and Paul Holman. The band formed in 1993 and recorded two albums, but the second was not released...
guitarist Paul Stacey
Paul Stacey
Paul Stacey is a British guitarist and producer, best known for his work with Oasis and The Black Crowes.Paul Stacey's early work included the 1990s band, The Lemon Trees and Denzil....
. He has also toured with The Syn in a line-up including guitarist Shane Theriot and drummer Alan White
Alan White (Yes drummer)
Alan White is an English rock drummer known for his work with the progressive rock band Yes. White was also a member of the Plastic Ono Band, playing live in 1969 at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, which was recorded and released three months later as Live Peace in Toronto 1969...
(of Yes), but left the band in 2006.
He then worked on two projects with Chris Squire: Chris Squire's Swiss Choir, an album of Christmas music on which he was producer and choral arranger, and as co-writer of songs for a planned Squire solo album. This project was not completed, but material from it went on to form part of the as yet unreleased "Squackett" album by Squire and former Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
guitarist, Steve Hackett
Steve Hackett
Stephen Richard Hackett is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970 and left in 1977 to pursue a solo career...
. One song from these sessions co-written/performed by Johnson was used on Yes's 2011 album Fly from Here
Fly from Here
-Reaction from Anderson:In an interview with Rolling Stone, Anderson stated that on hearing the single "We Can Fly" he felt it sounded "a bit dated" and that Horn's production "wasn't as good as I expected"...
.
Johnson returned to Saint Etienne as orchestral arranger and conductor of their June 2007 live film soundtrack performance This is Tomorrow, part of the celebrations which marked the re-opening of London's Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
after its closure for extensive refurbishment. He toured extensively with Saint Etienne during 2009.
He has recently formed The Electric Opera with long-term collaborator Mark Bown, and composed and musical directed numerous shows at the South London Theatre
South London Theatre
The South London Theatre is a Community theatre in West Norwood in the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The first play opened in October 1967, and it is now a busy theatrical venue, presenting more than 22 shows annually in two auditoria: the 100-seater proscenium arch "Bell Theatre" and a...
.