Introduce yourself…

John Treanor, Tombstones In Their Eyes. From Los Angeles. 

Why do you play music?

I’ve also been drawn to music. Started playing the piano early on, forced by my parents. There was a long time that I didn’t play music when I should have (during the early days of the punk scene) because I was too busy doing drugs and couldn’t keep it together. But even during that period I was at shows constantly and ended up road managing my friend’s band through a couple of tours of the US and Europe. By doing that, I was able to get the touring and rock and roll lifestyle out my system. While life on tour was fun and sometimes crazy, my life in LA was a mess. When I finally cleaned up at 27, my main desire in life was to write songs, have a band and play my songs. I did do that for many years with various bands, and through that path, I have ended up where I am today. I’m writing the best songs I have ever written, singing better than ever, but still not much of a guitar player, haha. I play music because I love writing and recording songs. I play music because I love the feeling of playing live – nothing like it. I love singing and playing the guitar. I play music because it soothes me when I’m hurting. As things have progressed and the music is getting out there, I love the idea of my songs touching other people around the world. That means a lot to me.

What was a major influence on you as an Artist/Band?

My father. He was really into music. He took me to my first concert, at 10 years old, the Rolling Stones in 1975, which ages me, I know. He also took me to see Devo in 1980, as well as punk shows at the Whisky-a-GoGo in LA when I was visiting from San Diego and too young to go myself. I’m sure a lot of it he wasn’t that into, but we saw The Blasters at the infamous club The Starwood, and I know he loved them. After I turned 16, he would loan me his car so I could see other shows on my own. He was mostly into stuff like Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, but part of his background was in music. He managed some musicians and actors in the mid-’60s, including some of The Byrds, The Monkees, Hugh Masakela, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper.  So when I took him to see X with the GoGos at the Whisky in 1980 or so, I thought he might be nervous, but he scoffed, telling me “Hey, I’ve been hanging out at the Whisky since the mid-’60s when it was really crazy on the Sunset Strip.” My uncle told me that the first time that he got stoned was riding in a limo with Davy Jones from the Monkees during that time period.

What's your ideal festival line-up?

I’m only going to use bands that are still around: Electric Wizard, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Black Angels, The Underground Youth, The Dandy Warhols, Interpol, Magic Shoppe, Dead Meadow, Nothing, Built to Spill, Luna, Mark Lanegan and Tombstones In Their Eyes, of course.  I could go on, and I’m sure I’m leaving bands out, but that’s a decent festival.

Do you prefer the recording process or performing live?

It used to be playing live by far, the rush of playing live is intense and the studio was scary to me. Now I love the studio, both my home studio and Kitten Robot Studio, where we record and mix the records. I find it really exciting and fulfilling to create songs and sounds, try different ideas, come up with harmonies, etc.  A studio is a wonderful tool for me now.

What would be a dream collaboration? 

Maybe Christian Bland from The Black Angels. I’m choosing someone who I admire and who I think would be nice, haha. I might have said Anton from The Brian Jonestown Massacre, but I don’t know how much room I would get in that collaboration.

Describe a favourite album. 

The Germs (GI) album. Changed my life. The sound was so gritty and intense. The lyrics are so darkly poetic. The guitar sound was great. The sleeve was mysterious, the pictures on the back looked so stark, and they made the band look dark and troubled. As a 15-year-old, it scared me a little but drew me in even more.

What's your favourite local haunt?  I love a local restaurant here in Los Angeles called Masa. I haven’t been there in a while and I miss it.  When I lived in Echo Park I was there a lot and even played on their softball team for a while. I was known for a while as 2E, for double espresso.

What's your strangest experience while performing live?

Nothing too crazy lately. Playing a song with the volume pedal accidentally kicked off so that nothing is coming out of my amplifier and not realizing until the song is done.  Plenty of stuff from the road managing days. One, in particular, stands out a little: during one song I would sometimes get up and play with the band, just basically doing noise and feedback on the guitar. We were in some small town or city in Germany that I can’t remember. The singer introduced me and someone in the audience shouted up “Are you Tom Treanor’s brother?”, which I am. Small world, haha.

What are some of your favourite aspects of being a musician in Los Angeles?

Access to recording studios, lots of places to play live (pre-COVID, at least). Lots of other musicians. But really, we’re pretty self-contained and I’m a shy individual, so don’t socialize much with other bands. We’re not really part of a scene here, for better or worse. Maybe that will change when we start playing live again.  

Has the current COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine influenced your creative process?

Yes. I started writing more and more in my basement studio. Churning out demos was one way of escaping the world outside. Also working on multiple releases, gathering artwork, re-working old songs in the studio, mastering demos and older songs for a compilation record, recording a new record.  A lot of activity this year.

If you weren’t playing music in Los Angeles where would you be? 

Probably Sweden. My wife is from Sweden and my mom is from Finland (which enabled me to get Finnish/EU citizenship). That’s our escape hatch. I’d have to get used to the cold, but I think I could live over there and continue to make music.

Any sage advice for young musicians?  Write a lot of songs and record yourself. It’s not expensive to have a good recording setup at home these days and that allows you to really write a lot.  I wish I’d had access to the stuff we have now in the past, it’s really opened things up for me to create on my own, share what I’m working on, etc.

Tombstones In Their Eyes have just released Demos Vol.1. You can purchase it at Bandcamp by clicking below.

You can check out Somewhere Cold Records here.

”Why are we putting out demos? Because sometimes we love the shit out of them. Some of these made it into a real studio and onto a record, some didn't. These were made by John Treanor (Los Angeles) and James Cooper (New York), sharing the project files via Dropbox. The early ones were recorded in Garageband and then we switched to Logic. We feel that these have charm and character and that is something that we wanted to preserve. Are the vocals perfect? No. Are there pops and scratches and other weird noises? Yes, haha. Many don't have any bass. But we feel that people who like the band will dig them so here you are.” - John Treanor

ICYMI…

Check out the episode of The Go-Go Radio Magic Show from September 18,2020 w/ John Treanor in the archive!!!