Aesthetica Magazine (Issue 10)
July-September 2005 Issue
Indie Rock & Art
Inside John Squire: A man of many talents
John Squire was the guitarist of one of the most revolutionary bands of the latter part of the 20th Century. The Stone Roses set a scene in motion, helped to inspire the alternative music of the 1990s, and since then we haven't been able to look back.
Aesthetica has been fortunate enough to interview John Squire and feature seven selections of his original artwork. John Squire invites us to examine our perceptions, be confused by our emotions, and explore the unknown.
Tell us a little about yourself? More or less what's your story?
I was born in 1962 in a town called Altrincham near Manchester, England where I attended the local playgroup, primary and secondary schools and developed an interest in drawing, painting and model making. I did reasonably well academically until leaving for college at 16 and forming a band. I worked hard on the guitar and used the art department after hours to make screen-printed posters and flyers for gigs, but essentially, I suppose I used Further Education as a means of avoiding work.
The band didn't make it and I started working at Tesco stacking shelves, I was a barman at the local, a labourer at a market garden and a grease monkey for a roller shutter maintenance firm, before I landed a perfect job as a model maker for the Manchester based animation company, Cosgrove Hall. Around this time I formed The Stone Roses with Andy Couzens, Ian Brown and Pete Garner. I left work for the band and we got signed after three or four years in the wilderness. We split six years after that and I formed The Seahorses. We made one album, split, I subsequently released two solo albums and here we are.
How did you get into music?
My earliest musical memories centre on my dad's record collection, as much for it's a sacred place in the life of the house as was its content. Attempts to use that deck with anything less than surgical precision would not be tolerated, even if you were spinning Sparky the Magic Piano or the Jungle Book album, but Parker, Coltrane, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis were all in there.
I remember getting a cassette recorder one birthday and taping The Sweet, Slade, Bowie, Gary Glitter, etc off the telly. My first real musical obsession, however, was with The Beachboys, initiated by the TV advertising for the 20 Golden Greats album. My auntie broadened my tastes by lending me her Beatles collection and soon after I heard school friend Andy Wakes' pristine copy of The Sex Pistols Anarchy In The UK/I Wanna Be Me on the EMI label and I had to get a guitar.
How did you get into art?
I remember playing with plasticene at the playgroup/nursery and drawing an epic felt tip battle scene in homage to Stanley Kubrick's Sparticus around at my granddads in Moston 1972. I think it was because Leeds won The FA Cup the same weekend. I was always encouraged to draw. My dad made me and my brother lots of wooden toys when we were little. Mum went to night school and did oil painting one term and ceramics the next, so I suppose it's in the genes.
Where do your influences come from?
Work I think. The more I paint the more inspired I feel to paint again. The more ideas I have for paintings the more able I am to interpret those ideas when they come. The same goes for song writing.
What's your favourite piece of writing or lyrics and why?
I have a burning desire to re-read a book I lent out last year. So to avoid complications and for his ability to make me laugh out loud at virtually every page, Tim Moore's travelogue, 'Frost on my Moustache'.
What's your favourite piece of artwork or photography?
Number 1a by Jackson Pollock. It's like a window into another world, a revolutionary technique, a painting that seems to have created itself, even the artist's own hand prints are clearly visable. Also, I like Guernica and Rembrandt's self-portrait 1659.
How would you describe your work?
Emerging at a glacial pace from the straitjacket of homage and plagiarism.
Where is the most inspiring place you work?
I've painted in kitchens, bedrooms, rehearsal rooms, hotel rooms, sheds and garages, but last year I built myself a studio. I have painted more spontaneously and prolifically since moving in. It could be a coincidence but at the moment my studio is the most inspiring place.
What has been your most inspirational moment?
Having twins. Sitting with my wife in a darkened room, staring at the monitor waiting for our first glimpse of our next child and hoping for some reassuring words from the lady conducting the scan.
She remained tight lipped for an eternity until my wife broke the ice, half joking with, "there seems to be a lot going on, are there two of them in there?" The feeling of shock, awe, joy and terror when twins were confirmed will never leave me.
What are your future plans?
To become the World's greatest living painter and musician.
Thanks to Aesthetica magazine for allowing me to share the interview in full.
Aesthetica is a culture magazine that features contemporary writers, artists, musicians and filmmakers. It reports on what is happening in 'the arts' and publishes information and articles that stir the imagination around contemporary themes.
The magazine was initially started in order to promote creativity, equality and diversity within the literary arts in and around the York, UK area, but its focus - and intended audience - have since become much wider.
At Aesthetica, we believe everyone in society has a voice, and a right for that voice to be heard. We are interested in what people have to say about their lives and experiences, and strive to make Aesthetica, in all its forms, a medium for that. We are in the business of opening doors and dispelling the aura of pretension that often surrounds art and writing. We believe in accessibility and an open community within the arts.
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