Name: John Butler
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist
Nationality: American-Australian
Recent release: John Butler's new album PRISM is out via Because Music.
Things I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: End the genocide in Gaza!!! Free ALL hostages. Free Palestine.

If you enjoyed this John Butler interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, and tiktok.



When it comes to experiencing the sensation of "energy" as as a listener, which albums, performances, and artists come to mind?

There's ALOT.

Tracy Chapman's first album has a voice of an angel.



Jimi Hendrix and the band of gypsies - Machine Gun - Live at Fillmore East changed my life.



Rage against the Machine's first album.

There can be many different kinds of energy in art – soft, harsh, healing, aggressive, uplifting and many more. Which do you tend to feel drawn to most?

Tender and aggressive.

I have had a hard time explaining that listening to death metal calms me down. When you listen to a song with a particular energy, does it tend to fill you with the same energy – or are there "paradoxical" effects?

I don't have a paradoxical reaction to music but it makes sense that some people do.

Although relaxing elevator music makes me wanna punch someone. ;)

In as far as it plays a role for the music you like listening to or making, what role do words and the voice of a vocalist play for the transmission of energy?

Story telling is a massive part of being human. We are shaped by stories. So the vocals and songwriting are immensely important.

The vocal is extremely important as well as you can see in say something like hip-hop. It becomes another percussive instrument and it's awesome.

So yeah, the vocals are huge.

When it comes to experiencing the sensation of "energy" as as a creator, how would you describe the physical sensation of experiencing this energy? [Where do you feel it, do you have a visual sensation/representation, is there a sense of release or a build-up of tension etc ...]

It can be so many things.

Sometimes I feel energized. Sometimes I feel sad because of the emotion that's coming up out of the song. Sometimes I'm super excited and think I've been the best in the world how I feel every time the song comes out of me.

That feeling passes but still it's very cool. Exciting moment.

When it comes to composing / songwriting, are you finding that spontaneity and just a few takes tend to capture energy best? Or does honing a piece bring you closer to that goal?

Both approaches can work. It's more up to this song and how it wants to come to life rather than what I necessarily want from it.

Some songs come out in one fell swoop, other songs take a decade and a half to finish.

How much of the energy of your own music, would you say, is already part of the composition, how much of it is the result of the recording process?

The main energy of a song is in its DNA. It's there from the very first moment it comes into the world and tells you how it wants to feel and be in this room.

Then all I try to do is to capture that feeling that I feel in my heart and head and spirit onto an album or recording.

For your current release, what kind of energy were you looking for?

I was going for full spectrum broad frequency sonic experience. Dense, rich, textured and expansive.

How do you capture the energy you want in the studio?

Any way I can. There are no rules.

Every song wants to come into the  world in its own way. My job is to work out how it wants the saddle to be put on.  

What role do factors like volume, effects like distortion, amplification, and production in general for in terms of creating the energy you want?

When distortion on guitars and cymbals crashing meld I find that an amazing lift. Always looking for the right cluster of that.

How does the presence of the audience and your interaction with it change the energy of the music and how would you describe the creative interaction with listeners during a gig?

Totally. If the crowd give back as much as they are getting there's no limit to where a gig can go. And vice verse.

What kind of feedback have you received from listeners or concert audiences in terms of the experience that your music and/or performances have had on them?

A lot of different ones.

But mainly how the music has been a friend and companion in good and tough times times. And that it helps heals in some way.

Would you say that you prefer to stay in control to be able to shape the energy or do you surrender to it and allow the music to take over? Who, ultimately has control during a live performance?

It's a mixture of both. Through discipline comes freedom.  

The energy that music is able to generate can be extremely powerful. How, do you think, can artists make use of this energy to bring about change in the world?

This is my belief and kinda says it all for me. Art changes people,  And people change the world.

Music is immensely powerful and magical and I don't want to fully understand that mystery.