Synth Wizards Interviews: Howard Jones

Howard Jones was a synth pop icon in the 1980's, and in 2019, he's still killin' it! Syntaur's Sam and Carlos were excited to spend some time talking synths with him at the Brauntex Theatre in New Braunfels, Texas.

[@audioartisan]

"It's not the instrument that makes a great sound, it's you" - Howard Jones :)_

[@SPAZZOID100]

True, but his live rig is pretty BORING now.

[@mickgormaley7366]

He’s is one of the guys that made vintage synths vintage.

[@Ingens_Scherz]

Oh man, what a great comment :)

[@timburdsey]

So true. Fascinating to discover that he’s “not a collector”, but, my goodness, he knows his way around a synth and his music certainly makes them sing.

[@NYyazoofan]

Such a genius...yet humble. Love that he is still putting music out today. Fortunate enough to see him play live on many occasions. Always a great showman.

[@DaveMcGarry]

Great to see an interview with Howard... Synth legend and wizard. Still got Human's Lib on vinyl

[@Mind-your-own-beeswax]

Seen Howard Jones twice and what a great guy he really is. So down to earth and loves to have fun. Not to mention great song writer and keys man

[@VinylCollectorJames]

Absolute hero of mine. So glad he’s still making new music and touring

[@framax67]

Mine too 👏😉

[@Dziricani]

Like someone said, "It's not the kitchen. It's the chef." Thanks for sharing this with us.

[@hennerz702]

Fantastic! Howard is one of my all time favourite musicians

[@framax67]

Me too 💕👏

[@ChrisHuelsbeckOfficial]

Great interview - Howard Jones is such a cool cat! :)

[@Peter-gu9ph]

Howard is a living legend yet a very humble man. I'll never forget seeing his incredible Sept 2012 tour in Australia in which he performed every song from Human's Lib and Dream Into Action at the Factory Theatre in Sydney - he did multiple encores - and even performed B-sides and bonus tracks...

[@SloreTactician]

I saw Howard many years ago on an acoustic tour in NYC. Very small audience. What a nice, humble man.

[@etpslick100]

One of the masters of the synth. Vintage AND modern! Glad he’s still here.

[@shanemorris702]

Absolutely love Howard! So many memories with his music. Thanks for sharing.

[@framax67]

Yess 👏👏💕

[@AndrewTGreen]

Thanks so much for this! What a cool gent. Best Regards.

[@DarkSideofSynth]

A synth legend. So glad I was able to see him play in a local club for an '80s event in 2001. Go Howard!!!

[@MarshalArnold]

Howard Jones is such a cool dude! Thanks for the interview!

[@fincorrigan7139]

Hey Marshall I think we've just seen a turbo-ad for Arturia's V Collection and Analog Lab :)

[@MarshalArnold]

@@fincorrigan7139 lol yeah probably, but I remember Howard saying he really liked the Arturia emulations years ago in a SonicState "greatest synths ever" interview..that was like 2007.. so yeah, he seems to love um! Is high praise!

[@fincorrigan7139]

@@MarshalArnold Such is the weird, entangled world we live in: I did my first track on Arturia software in over a year last night - and then I click on this vid this morning......."I always feel like...somebody's watc......." :)

[@WunHungLo99]

Humble man, just loves music and playing. Certainly inspired me as from same era.

[@TheKnobCalledTone.]

Howard seemed to enjoy geeking out over synths. Great interview.

[@plainlazy2097]

Great interview. Howard comes across as a really nice guy.

[@stefannyberg3203]

Howard is one of my childhood/preteen heroes. Got the Human's Lib cassette on my 7th birthday 1984, and I played it over the years until the tape literally fell apart. Still one of my absolute favorite albums of all time. Would love to catch him on tour!

[@SPAZZOID100]

Cd’s don’t fall apart.

[@macronencer]

Yay, Howard Jones, what a great musician. "Hunt the Self" and "Life in One Day" are my personal favourites.

[@darrenhirst9900]

When you talked to him you should have said "Like to get to know you well" Nice to watch so thanks guys.

[@vonbeat5914]

Howard Jones. . . . Well I just had to click. He was, and still, is a major influence in my music. Cheers Howie

[@SynthgodXXX]

Excellent interview with Howard Jones! I am rocking the keytar nowadays & I love to see my idols do it, too! A++++++++++++++++++++++++

[@davefreemanlive]

Great interview! You asked great questions, and he seemed very at ease giving his answers :-)

[@_P_M_]

Nice to see! Howard has had such a great influence on so many.

[@Retrogamer71]

Love HJ's 80's work. Still have three albums on cassette.

[@thenewstuff3377]

Howard Jones is magnificent!! He is a legend!

[@JamesMyddelton]

Excellent informative interview, many thanks :)

[@synthsei]

I was fortunate to get to see him play a couple of years ago in my city. It was a great show. He talked in between some of the songs and gave some of the history of what lead to the inspiration of writing the songs. Of course, I wanted to see a bunch of his vintage gear, like a Jupiter 8, but as he said it would have been too hard to travel with all that vintage gear. I had my "Human's Lib" cd at the show, which he graciously signed for me. He is such a synth legend and inspiration to me!

[@framax67]

The synth pop LEGEND Howard Jones 👏👏 just fan 🥰 Thank you for sharing Syntaur and regards from France 🇫🇷 😊

[@chrismitchell3283]

Well said about gear Howard. You don't have to surround yourself with vintage kit to sound good...The ideas (and getting them out) are more important. I'm still using Reason 3 when not using hardware, and not ashamed to say so.

[@LifeAquaticSteveZissou]

So good to see a synth legend like Howard Jones still clearly in love with his craft. I did find it amusing that he has a picture of himself for his laptop wallpaper. That's very un-british 😀

[@kfirtsairi3986]

Total inspiration

[@KeytarKris]

Keytar is life! I have a Korg RK100S. Its a nice synth

[@pipposgarage7598]

I can only say... THANK YOU!!!

[@stue57]

I saw HJ perform several times in the early to mid 80s , most memorably at Aylesbury Friars , amazing to see and hear his array of tek , he added extra performance with Jed the dancer . High Wycombe had a vast music and tribal scene going on back then .

[@ElectronicazMusic]

What a lovely bloke. What Is Love? This is.

[@TheRealWinsletFan]

Legend.

[@TerekkiTerekki]

Legend

[@user-qz5tz3bv7v]

This video good for me and music thankyouverymuch Howard kayoko

[@bd594]

ah memories

[@ZTAudio]

Nice interview.

[@zachbognar4494]

Wow! Great interview!

[@tmitz73]

Iconic!!

[@harrycash8713]

HoJo!!!

[@NathanChisholm041]

Very interesting as all ways!

[@loung71]

The essence is....Midi Controller Arturia Keylab88...MacBook + Mainstage....That's it...no more tons of synths on stage...fortunately we're in 2019.... :)

[@SPAZZOID100]

How is that fortunate. Looks & sounds boring.

[@TONY_FEZ]

Wish they had of asked him more about his mac set up - what specs does his macbook pro have, what audio interface does he use etc etc.

[@SPAZZOID100]

Give Howard an OB6!!!

[@maxmatson1578]

He has a VL-1.. Kick-Ass!!🎹👌👍 one of these has the breath controller on it?

[@maxmatson1578]

What I meant to say was😅 I wonder if he uses the breath controller on it?

[@Syntaur]

@@maxmatson1578 That caught my attention, too - it's an amazing keyboard.

[@VIC-20_Synthwave]

Legend!

[@hawsrulebegin7768]

He looks like he’d play a great evil accountant in a black n white noir film.

[@theviolinoob]

How can I get a cool synth wizards tee shirt?

[@xxheartbrokexx100]

Vinnie D go to the syntaur homepage

[@jonnyhead]

It's funny the music that I hated when I was young because it wasn't "alt" or "edgy" enough and I was trying to be different and cool........ it's the music that carries on through with the memories.

[@johnmax5652]

RAVE ON!.-

[@DjNikGnashers]

Thumbs up, good video, but why does the intro music have to be SO FUCKING LOUD yet the interview speech so fucking quiet ?

[@RobertFisher1969]

Guitarists will build walls of empty Marshall cabinets on stage while actually playing through their Kemper or something else practical. Somebody should build shells that look like vintage synths with MIDI controllers hooked up to the hidden Mainstage running soft-synths.

[@TheFokker03]

find and interview the keyboard king,Rick Wakeman!

[@djilyaz]

jupiter 8 vs. 3 jupiter 8 vsts stacked together.....??? Howard is not a gearhead, it's refreshing to see.

[@WunHungLo99]

How I miss that godamn swirling noisy Juno 60 chorus. Switch it off and it's like someone turned the wind tunnel off.

[@XnazxulX]

Wait, did he play in New Braunfels?

[@Syntaur]

Yes, it was his only public US date! He was performing the next day at a private event in San Antonio.

[@SPAZZOID100]

No analog synths?? Virtual analog at least???

[@kiko1935]

Not reliable for a touring setup as he says in the video

[@celticprogeny1569]

A great guy but I always get the feeling he's not completely with us. As if part of his mind is occupied with something else.

[@annother3350]

Music, probably

[@jokerfleckcast3196]

David arquette is a dead ringer for howard.

[@leepshin]

He's emmm........ he's no agein' well these days is he? Just reinforces my strong opinion that gettin auld utterly fkn sucks.

[@cfcreative1]

That is the worst lighting i have every seen.

[@Syntaur]

We were at the mercy of the stage lighting, and literally had 10 minutes with Howard - which he very graciously took out of his dining time just prior to the show. So yes, lighting could have been much better, but there wasn't time to worry about it.

[@cfcreative1]

@@Syntaur you can probably add a filter to make it look a bit better.

[@1963geckos]

What a waste of 9 minutes. Booooo

[@DirtySouth211]

Ain’t no way in hell I’d take a Jupiter 8 on the road🥵 that’s 30 grand brother. I can’t put on a show if I gotta babysit a collectors item.

[@brianptguitarkeyboardcover9957]

Legend