Thursday, November 4, 2010

Jon Bon Jovi interviews with The Guardian

These interviews were conducted/published in the lead-up to the Greatest Hits' release (It came out in the UK on November 1).

The first took place when Polly Vernon caught up with Jon while Bon Jovi was in Brazil:
You have an endless capacity for commercial success, I say.

He pauses; he's not sure whether or not I intend the comment as a dig. Bon Jovi have come to define a certain kind of rock: soft and girlish and people-pleasing; lacking in rawness, edge, credibility. Critics don't like them, on principle.

"Weeeeeell… If that's how you see it. Thanks…" he says eventually.
I've always wondered if Jon would trade a few million of those record sales for a patch of critical acclaim. At the end of the day, I'm sure he'd rather his music connect with "the common man" than the critic, but I think it does bother him on some level that music writers generally look at Bon Jovi like some kind of joke.

Anyway, Jon also talks about his own political evolution (from voting for Ronald Reagan at his first election to becoming the Democrat he is today), his need to be team leader, and his feminist leanings. Meanwhile, the author suggests that his passions lie with politics now instead of music. You can read the full article here.

The Guardian also published this interview as part of its Portrait of the Artist series...
What has been your biggest challenge?
To be sure that I never sold out or sacrificed my art for commerce. We never had rappers when that was popular, or hung out with grunge guys, or tried to be a boyband. What Bon Jovi did, we did our way.
Plenty of cheap shots you can take to a comment like "I never sold out" coming from a guy like Jon Bon Jovi. I don't really think they've sold out from a artistic perspective though; they've been a commercial band since the 80s and it's true that they didn't try to be Nirvana or anything like that in the early 90s. Concert tickets, on the other hand, are another issue...

What's the worst thing anyone ever said about you?
Where do I begin?
I don't know why this bit made me smile but it did. Read the full article here.

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