Exposed Vocals Interviews Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’:I was born in Harlow , Essex , England ; the UK in 1982 . Harlow was one of the new towns built after the second World War , 30 miles outside of London . It was alright growing up as a young lad ; living with me Mum & Dad in their council house with a younger sister , & sharing a bedroom with me older brother . I went to primary school & comprehensive school like everybody else had to. Which was around about the time I started listening to music ; with local lads & mates . I was about 11 years old in 1993 , when I first heard a compilation cassette of Rave music ! which was the beginning of it all really . The 90’s Britpop phenomena was the soul inspiration & desire to want to become an artist . It was such a unique decade & period for the UK , with the likes of British guitar bands breaking into the charts ; & hearing them on Top of The Pops ! It was the last generation of music fans that literally had to go into a Record to store to buy their music on , Cassette or Vinyl . The Music industry these days , is a different kettle of fish , with the likes of Spotify & iTunes .
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’:I’ve never understood these people that change their name by law , to something different than what they were given at birth by their parents ? I don’t agree with it ! I was christened in a church when i was a kid ! My first names actually Jonathan , but I shortened it to Jon ! it’s much simpler ! Jonathan sounds like I went to Heaton with David Cameron or something ! ‘The Genie’ was actually a nickname conjured up by my old primary school mates ! it’s just a nickname that’s stuck with me all these years ! So there you go ! Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’ !
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’: I think the digital age in the music industry , this day & age is vital for musicians . Some artist depend on download & streaming services , like Spotify , iTunes & Apple Music . I do give away FREE DOWNLOAD music to listeners on Soundcloud , because its a good marketing tool to entice listeners & fans to your sounds . The internet is pivotal in the modern day music industry , & I know personally through ‘me little black book’ that it’s set to develop !
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’: My Music career began at the age of 11 . Just work hard ; channel your energy through being patient & craft to your instrument , vocal or act . Patients is key ! Learn from others & network . Like I say , the internet is a vast parody of information ; theres nothing more empowering . I can guarantee you’ll find what you need online . Here is a great source of information for artist , local bands or acts , starting out in the UK ! it’s biblical ! www.theunsignedguide.com .
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’: The first songwriter I ever found inspirational as a musician & artist ; was Noel Gallagher of Oasis . The last song I penned started with a vocal melody , recorded onto an iPhone . Then I work out which key Im performing in , and build a chord structure around my melodies . I don’t follow this idea every time , some times I come up with a riff on an acoustic guitar , a baseline on a bass guitar , or chord progression ; & then lay down my melodies . I have even produced entire backing tracks of music , & then worked & recorded vocal melodies completely separately ; in a different mindset & focus . Theres no guideline or set rules ! in the early days of writing songs , I use to just go with whatever sounded good to my ear ! without even understanding what chords or key I was playing in !
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’: Yes , my main website ishttps://www.sumadelrecordsuk.org I publish my music onto Soundcloud , This is a great platform to expose your music . I then use twitter as a strategic targeting social media marketing tool , to promote my Soundcloud profile ; & digitally distributed work to download & streaming services such as Spotify , iTunes & Apple Music . The main outlet is obviously to promote & guide traffic to my online presence . Concluding in ; people downloading & streaming my art , thus generating royalties .
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’: I’d chill , take it easy & travel the world ! Live like a king for a year !
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’: There’s plenty of useful content online . Services that provide promotion for your act , band & sounds . Being featured on Music Industry Bloggs , is the future of industry promotion . A good networked mailing list of industry contacts is always a good working platform . Producing a physical product such as a CD to sell at your own gigs also works . & of course , the internet & social media .
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’: My life is devoted to writing , recording , performing & producing music as a career . I’m gonna keep churning out tunes and plugging it the way I do ! I’ve not performed live for nearly a year ; & there is always the prospect of booking & arranging live gigs to perform .
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’:If I wasn’t making a living as a musician , i’d be working a full time job !
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’ : The most important thing is life , people that care about you , like family . As long as I’ve got my health i’ll continue to make music .
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Jon Ian Clarke Aka ‘The Genie’ : More songs ! More Albums & Releases ! & Maybe some live gigs !