Jonathan Roy: Interview at Melkweg in Amsterdam

On the 14th of May, Studio Talks gained exclusive access to Jonathan Roy’s backstage before his performance in Amsterdam at Melkweg as a part of Jonathan’s “Nice to Meet You” European tour for an interview. Jonathan is known for his albums, “My Lullaby” and “Life Distortions”. Andrej from Studio Talks spoke to Jonathan about the Amsterdam show, European tour and new music.

You started your European tour a few days ago. How is it going so far? How are your feelings about it?

It's been beautiful. The people here are so kind and so giving. We are having a blast every time. And this is the second time we've been here. Every time we're here, it's always special. And I love to play music out here. It's awesome that they've opened their arms to us. You guys have opened your arms to us and it means a lot, thank you.

I know you named this tour, “Nice to Meet You” which is also the name of your newest single. What was the reason for choosing this name for this tour also?

I feel like we're here to meet new people and keep growing our audience. And so I just felt it was perfect for that.

“Nice to Meet You,” is also a single from your upcoming album. Can you maybe share something about the album? Maybe when can we expect it to be finished and released?

The album is going to be called “Symphony of Doubts,” it should be released probably towards maybe January-ish of 2025. It's a very different album from anything I've ever done. I used to kind of writing alone or writing with Marc, who's also my drummer, or writing with other people around the world. But this time, we decided to do it as a team, as a band, and we've never done that. It was really special to all get to the studio and create together and feel good about everybody. Everybody wanted to feel good with the parts that we were playing and I'm in a beautiful place in my life. So the songs just kind of flowed and connected with all of us. I think that's going to show when we're playing live and that's what we want to do is play live. We want to make sure that, what we're doing on stage is really going to connect with everyone that's going to come see us play every night.

This is not your first time in Amsterdam playing a show. I know you've been here one year ago, almost to date. What are your expectations before this show? How was the Dutch crowd from what you can remember?

It was wild. It's been amazing throughout Europe and especially here. Amsterdam was actually the first place where we sold out. That meant a lot to me the first time. People were just super excited to see us. They were singing every lyric. And tonight we've really honed in on the show. We're adding new songs. We've got the whole rig of lights and we’ve got even video behind us. We're going to be able to give people the experience that we give back home. So that's really exciting for us.

While you’re on tour, do you have some time like in between shows to visit all the different cities, or are you just focused mainly on the music?

I try, but I really want to give people an amazing experience. I am really focused on trying to get the best out of myself and I give everything I have every night to everyone. Sometimes it takes a toll on me. I do need to just rest and relax and listen to music, watch some Seinfeld and just kind of lean back because, it's like a little marathon. We've got like 20+ shows in 30 days and it's crazy. I'm just trying to take it easy, so that every night I can give my best to the audience. But I do try, sometimes I go out.

Did you have a chance or are you planning on visiting something in Amsterdam?

Yesterday, we went on a little walk, went to the red light district and I had a wine and a coffee. It's beautiful. It's really gorgeous here. This is different a place that I would actually live and I love the people. The people are so kind. There's just so much everywhere. I love the little buildings that are crooked by the water. There's just so much character throughout the city. It's really special.

I also have to say, you were really lucky with the weather. This is not how it normally looks.

So far the whole trip, even in London, it was sunny. I don't know, I guess we brought the sun and I'll take that any day. We had a little thunderstorm yesterday, and it was a minor. It feels good. I love the sun. I'll take that any day. But rainy days are creative days...

Are there are some songs or some music you're currently listening to. What are you getting inspired by these days?

I’m a big fan of The Teskey Brothers, Matt Corby. I love Dermot Kennedy. I think he's a brilliant writer. I listen to a lot of instrumental music, piano music, especially, when I'm writing, I don't listen to too much lyrical content. I try to just listen to musical stuff that has nothing to do with lyrics or melodies.

What is something that you always have to have in your backstage?

This sounds really dumb, but water. I love water and tea, I think it's essential. We don't drink enough of it. I love bananas. Bananas are huge - important thing. I gotta have my wife with me once in a while. I enjoy that as well.

Follow Jonathan Roy on Instagram: @jonathanroy