A man of myriad projects including Queens of The Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Eleven, Spinnerette, PJ Harvey and Mark Lanegan, among others, producer and multi-instumentalist rocker Alain Johannes has established himself as not only a cornerstone player in desert godfather Josh Homme’s universe, but a remarkably formidable independent musical force through both performance and production.
With the Nov. 11th release of his sophomore solo effort Fragments & Wholes, Vol. 1, Alain further blossoms as a cigarbox-guitar slinging independent artist with an inimitable culture of sound all his own. He’s launched a PledgeMusic campaign to support the album’s release, with a slew of incentives for contributors.
Just before heading to South America for a tour with Queens of The Stone Age, Alain met us at Swing House in L.A. for an Artist of The Month studio session, resulting in a fantastic run of new material and seasoned favorites. We first debuted the understated, Beatlesque beauty of “Whispering Fields” last week, and continued with the official unveiling of “Swan and Crow,” as well as another Fragments & Wholes track, “Kaleidoscope“. Today we finish our run with the bright sunshine of “All The Way Down,” the first song Alain recorded for Fragments & Wholes.
Alain explains the upcoming release on his Pledge Music page: “On this new album, I expand on the Cigarbox guitar driven sound of Spark into a wider sonic palate including electric guitars, bass, drums, horns etc. The songs started as improvised sketches I posted on Instagram. For 12 days I chose one song each morning, finished writing it then recorded and mixed it.”
Learn more about Alain’s Pledge Music campaign here, and keep up with Alain at his official site, as well as on Twitter and Facebook. Check back next week for another exclusive CraveOnstage performance from Mr. Johannes!
Previous Band of The Month Performances:
Alain Johannes / Grieves / Steel Panther / Vintage Trouble / Semi Precious Weapons
Hot Karate / RX Bandits / Nico Vega / The Mowgli’s / Dessa / Everlast / Motopony
