In a sprawling conversation that at times feels like a therapy session, and occasionally diverts off topic, John Grant talks about what it is like for an American living in Iceland to play festivals and tour on the other side of the world.
"I experienced the hottest weather of my life in Adelaide. It was 46 degrees. I think I must have been experienced heat stroke because I walked into the wrong hotel and went up to the wrong room, and the key that I had from this other hotel opened the door in this wrong hotel and some guy was in there and he was like 'uh, what are you doing?'"That was most likely back in 2016 when John first played WOMADelaide, at that point only having released his first three solo albums after coming out of a self-imposed semi-retirement following the dissolution of his band The Czars in 2006.
In the nine years that have elapsed since that WOMADelaide performance, there have been a further three albums representative of John's love for '70s album-oriented rock, classic songwriting and '80s electronic and industrial including his most recent album, 2024's 'The Art Of A Lie'.
"There's a bunch of stuff that I can't do from the new record because there's only two of us onstage. I don't get to have the whole band. I mean that's something that really bothers me because I can't really see myself just playing songs to tape just so that I can play all the songs I want to play. I don't really see myself playing the tracks and singing over them.
"Usually when it comes to festival sets, if I have a band each song is designed to be in the set to be sort of an attention grabber, but it's harder to do that when you're just sitting at a piano.
"It's much harder to do that when you don't have the ebb and flow of a full band set when you can probably be quite a bit more dynamic. It's becoming more and more the case that a lot of times I can't afford to have the entire band with me and still be able to make money. You don't wanna just break even when you go out on tour.
"Unfortunately when I come to Australia, it's been rare that I've been able to have a band with me. That's just the way it's been. I suppose when I'm doing my set, I'll definitely be thinking about the order of songs and I'll be working up to getting myself worked up into a froth by the end of the set you know (laughs).
"I think the songs will all speak for themselves and that's sort of the way I think about it." When asked if he will have a chance to see any other performances at WOMADelaide, John is more concerned about his own performance.
"I'll be going in and worrying about the stage setup and worrying about just doing my thing. I'll probably get to do a little wandering around. I do like to people watch at those things. I do like to see people that are going to the festivals."
I remind him that after WOMADelaide wraps, his tour continues with a show entitled 'Singular Voices: John Grant with Bonny Light Horseman' at Sydney's City Recital Hall.
"I really like them. I'd love to see them. I've never met them before. My sister introduced me to them when I was in Colorado at Christmas. I didn't really know them and my sister brought it up and she said, 'oh look you're going to play with them in Australia,' and I didn't know that either 'cause I'm never paying attention and I said, 'oh that's cool'."
We discuss the crippling anxiety and stage fright that continues to plague John (although he is better equipped to cope with it these days) and how he feels his current music is far more representative of who he is then his earlier music.
I ask about the autobiography of his songs, which leads into a discussion about whether he would still like to be an actor, something he was interested in when he was younger. "'Snowtown' is one of the greatest movies ever made," and that he would like to be in a Justin Kurzel movie. John professes a love for film and a great fondness for the culture of the "endangered species" of arthouse cinema, although a reluctance for modern cinema.
His next project includes writing songs to perform with the Royal Ballet of London for a version of the Christopher Isherwood book 'A Single Man', which he states is "outside of my comfort zone and moving into a new area".
As our conversation gradually comes to a close, John freely expresses his excitement to be returning to Australia. "I'm always super excited to come to Australia. Australia has always been a huge part of my life, especially musically.
"When I came down there first [time] I really fell in love with it. I'm excited to come back there because it doesn't happen very often and I'm always looking for any excuse to get down there.
"It does feel like a parallel universe. It feels very different there. It's weird because in Australia there's things that seem very similar to where you're from, but that's quite often misleading. It's a little bit different. It's sort of looks like where I could almost be where I come from but it's totally different."
WOMADelaide occurs 7-10 March with John Grant performing 8-9 March and Bonny Light Horseman performing 10 March.
John Grant 2025 Tour Dates
Sat 8 Mar - WOMADelaide (Adelaide)Sun 9 Mar - WOMADelaide (Adelaide)
Tue 11 Mar - City Recital Hall (Sydney)* with Bonny Light Horseman
Thu 13 Mar - Melbourne Recital Centre
Sat 15 Mar - Fremantle Arts Centre
WOMADelaide Second 2025 Line-Up
Amaru Tribe (Aus)Ane Ta Abia by Aaron Choulai, Australian Art Orchestra and Tatana Village Choir (Aus/PNG)
Bess Atwell (UK)
Bousta (Aus)
Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir (Aus)
The Cloud Maker (Aus/NZ)
Dear Stranger by Tilda Cobham-Hervey (Aus)
DEVAURA (NZ/Aus)
Digable Planets (USA)
Dojo Rise (Aus)
Dustyn (Aus)
Elisapie (Canada)
ilotopie – Les Gens de Couleur (France)
Kara Manansala (Aus)
Meena De Silva (Sri Lanka/Aus)
Ms Chipeta (Aus)
Nana Benz du Togo (Togo)
O. (UK)
Owelu Dreamhouse (Aus)
Protoje & The Indiggnation (Jamaica)
Saigon Soul Revival (Vietnam)
Sauljaljui (Taiwan)
Sofia Kourtesis (Peru)
TEK TEK Ensemble (Aus)
Yemi Alade (Nigeria)
WOMADelaide 2025 First Line-Up
3% (Aus)47SOUL (Palestine/Jordan)
Ana Carla Maza (Cuba)
Andrew Gurruwiwi Band (Aus)
Bala Desejo (Brazil)
Bangarra Dance Theatre – The Light Inside (Aus)
Bonny Light Horseman (USA)
Chris Kamu’ana Rohoimae - Pacific Break winner (Solomon Islands)
Cie Paris Benares - Chamôh (Camel) (France)
Delgres (France)
DJ Paulette (UK)
Dream Engine – Heliosphere (UK)
Duo Ruut (Estonia)
Durand Jones & The Indications (USA)
Ela Minus (Colombia)
Eleanor Jawurlngali – (Aus)
Elsy Wameyo (Kenya)
Emily Wurramara – (Aus)
Etran de l'Aïr (Niger)
Goran Bregović & His Wedding & Funeral Band (Serbia)
Hewa Rwanda (Rwanda/Senegal)
John Grant (USA)
The Joy (South Africa)
Khruangbin (USA)
Lindigo (Réunion)
The Lofty Mountain Band (Aus)
Majnun (Senegal)
The Mande Spirit (Aus)
Mariza (Portugal)
Miss Kanina (Aus)
Ngaiire (PNG/Aus)
Nils Frahm (Germany)
Nitin Sawhney (UK)
Norsicaa (UK/Aus)
O.TA.I.KO ZA MYOJIN (Japan)
PJ Harvey (UK)
Queen Omega (Trinidad & Tobago)
Restless Dance Theatre – Seeing Through Darkness (Aus)
Róisín Murphy (Ireland)
Satish Vyas & U Rajesh (India)
Shabaka (UK)
Silent Observers (Aus)
Sun Ra Arkestra (USA)
Talisk (Scotland)
Trio da Kali (Mali)
UPK Allstars (Aus)
Wrong Way Up (South Sudan/Aus)
Yoann Bourgeois Art Company - The unreachable suspension point (France)
