Photo courtesy of B.A. Johnston.
By Alessandro Marcon
Both the best and worst that can be said of troubadour B.A. Johnston is that he sweats hard for his fans. Few entertainers are so overtly abrasive, disgusting and belligerently shirtless and yet, paradoxically, so charismatic, hardworking and flat out entertaining. Think modern day performance humour: wow this is awkward, mixed with well delivered one-timers, and unabashedly, literally right-in-your-face engagement.
B.A. Johnston works in a similar strain to Ottawa’s own Remi Royale but writes and sings his own songs, which he plays on acoustic guitar or sings over pre-programmed Casio keyboard compositions. The topics are wide ranging: reflections on personal failure, stealing from work, chasing down ever-elusive love, and dreams of having a deep fryer in his bedroom. He also sings about his love for Hamilton and is willing to take shots at just about anything from “Double-Coupon Day” at McDonalds to Cornwall, Ontario. In comparison to some horribly serious and pretentious performers today, Johnston’s verbal and physical self-deprecation, though bilious and saline, is unbelievably refreshing.Bursts of laughter explode throughout the bar; it’s an energetic and appreciative Monday night crowd at the Manx when I first met him, and while the beer that Johnston had sprayed and then spat on the ceiling still slowly drips down, we move into the kitchen, fittingly close to the deep fryers, for a little chat.
At the start of the interview, Johnston, wearing a tilted Hawaii meshback and a University of South Maine shirt from the 70s, rattles and twitches with uncontainable energy; his meaty sideburns flap through the air. I ask him what I’d get if I went into a restaurant and ordered up a B.A. Johnston. “Probably something very greasy” he says, ¨Maybe made with tears, sweat. Occasionally it would be tasty, but mostly just kind of crunchy and awful probably.”
The jokes continue. But under the perpetual wave of humour stands a man who’s been deeply involved in the Canadian music scene since the late 90s, and has a great deal to share. I first knew Johnston as a music booker and promoter at the Trasheteria in Peterborough, Ontario – a gig he reflects on as a (mostly) positive experience.
“I really like doing (it). I mean I still book a bar in Halifax called Gus’s Pub. I really do like booking bands. I find it’s good to have someone that actually returns emails. At the Trash it was really hands on, like, I postered and tried to promote the shows pretty well – not that anyone came to a lot of them, but I mean, I did put the work in. One of my favorite bands The Constantines played, and like 30 people showed up and it was really depressing, That was the hard thing about being a music promoter in Peterborough, is that you’d book these shows, or you’d get these great bands and it would be like,(empty) literally. I remember shows where your jaw is hitting the floor and there’s 8 people watching. If this was busy, people would be going crazy.”
I happened to be at that very Constantines show in Peterborough and we had a little moment to reflect on what a great band they were.
“I think they were always a band that deserved a little more than they got in the end. I always thought they should have been bigger than they were. I think if they had been around a little bit later, they would have.”
Despite sounding somewhat bitter on his experience of promoting shows, Johnston, to his credit, did put on many epic nights in Peterborough – including numerous sold-out shows from various bands such as The Sadies, Matt Mays and Po’Girl. It was an experience which Johnston admits helped him a lot when preparing his own tours.
“It was just kind of nice meeting bands and stuff, especially now that I do the shows. That really helped me booking tours, ’cause there were lots of bands that were eager to help, you know, ’cause I helped them, which I thought was really nice.”
And booking tours he most certainly has. Johnston has been touring heavily since 2005, crossing the entire country upwards of 13 times. Having seen and played in so many memorable and forgettable spots, Johnston reflects on the music scene across this massive sprawl we called Canada.
“I really like the Cameron Hotel in Canmore, that’s pretty legendary, I played the, oh shit what’s it called,… The Ship! in Newfoundland, St. John’s, which I think is another great bar. A lot of the bars that I really liked closed ’cause they were so liberal with their drinks, and they didn’t stay open. There was a bar called the Velvet Elvis in Oshawa that was amazing. I played a bar called The Pit in Dawson City that’s fucking ridiculous. I think if they ever close their doors they’ll get condemned, so it never closes. Lethbridge, Alberta has a really, really good music scene, which I find really strange, but they have a great scene, tons of great bands. I think they have great stuff going on there, which you’d never really expect.”
Self-glamorized big names like Kings of Leon, or other bands who act hard done by after having one or two bad experiences on their mini-tour, could certainly take a page from B.A. Johnston’s book with respect to perseverance and not acting like the world owes you a favour for strumming a guitar. Being a touring musician means hard work and long, tiring hours on the road. For B.A. Johnston, this upcoming fall is no exception. He was out east in September, west in October and playing weekend shows in Ontario through November. He’s doing Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia this winter with a stop at the Manx this Sunday. While there are some regular culprits attending these shows (mostly the hip university crowd) his fan base, as he explains, is actually quite diverse.
“It seems to really resonate with a small percentage of people out there. They seem to get really into it. I really don’t why. It’s a very mixed bag of people. I have Juggalo and Insane Clown Posse fans, out west there’s a lot of squeegee-punk fans, but then I played the other day to an audience that was like dudes going to a golf tournament the next day, that were all like real estate agents and they were freaking out. So, I find it does resonate really well with a small percentage of people. It’s a very wide mix of people, which I like. It’s good to see a lot of different kinds of people in the audience when you play.”
Things seem to be going swell for B.A. Following up his last 7-inch release accompanied by Winnipeg’s own The Magnificent Seven, his new album coming out in February or March, appropriately titled Sesame Street Fight, will be sure to keep the B.A. Johnston train chugging along for a while yet. I figured a man which such determination and drive might have something to pass on the younger generation. So I asked him, “Any advice for the kids out there?”
“Give up” he says and laughs.
We both grab our pints and head back into the main room. I sniff. Yep, the acrid stench of beer and heartbreak. Oh, and sweat. Slimy, sticky, yet illustrious sweat.
Catch B.A. Johnston at the Manx on Sunday, January 15 for free!
