Short Biog:

Jono McCleery is a London based solo artist, recently signed to Ninja Tune. He completed his 1st album 'Darkest Light' independently in 2008 which was self-produced and funded by his fans, including folk-star Vashti Bunyan and BBC radio DJs Tom Robinson and Fiona Talkington. He has collaborated with The Part Time Heroes on their debut album Meanwhile with songs Realise & Angels Fly and is now working on his new album for Ninja Tune working with electro producer Fybe.

Quotes:

"Jono's music is timeless. Music that is unperishable, that reflects past, present and future in an instant. Likened to having the melodies and rich vocals of John Martyn, the darkness of Nick Drake, the soul of Marvin Gaye and the romantic indulgence of Jeff Buckley; Jono is defining a new folk/soul sound of our time." Arts Promoter Dannii Evans www.onetaste.co.uk

I grew up hearing my father and brother playing on our piano but I'm not sure how much I actually heard because I was intermittently deaf up until the age of 9 and my father died when I was 6 but I still got to absorb the beautiful sounds of my bro's playing most nights when I was in bed dreaming.

Throughout my childhood my brother Stephen, would encourage me to sing when he played the piano, the first songs I remember singing with him were: 'Change is Gonna Come' by Sam Cooke, Lean on Me by Bill Withers and Tracks of My Tears by Smokey Robinson. I sung to myself a lot from that point on,  and particularly in the mornings, when everything is fresh and sensitive to my ears.

My brother gave me a mix-tape, I must have been about 14 or so and this has had a big influence on my music. It has taken me the most part of my life to find all the albums that the songs were taken from.

a few songs I remember being on the tape:

all songs that I adore.

My dad left a few instruments about the house, so I started getting familiar with the Spanish guitar around the age of 15/16.. and although my brother had moved out, he'd show me new chords and stuff each time I'd see him. I got a 4 track-tape recorder and made my first recordings and wrote my first songs.

At 17 I had a brief stint at ACM in Guildford and met some great people but it didn't have much to do with what I was interested in, so I gave up trying to study music and started looking for gigs...

17 / 03 / 08

Brother Douglas: