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Jonny Greenwood




  Instrument Guitar
  Name Jonny Greenwood
  Img Jonny Greenwoodjpg
  Born <br/> Oxford , England
  Genre Alternative Rock <br/> Electronic Music <br/> Contemporary Classical Music
  Associated Acts Radiohead
  Label Parlophone <br/> Capitol Records
  Notable Instruments Fender Telecaster Plus <br/> Fender Starcaster
  Years Active 1992-present
  URL Official website


Jonathan "Jonny" Richard Guy Greenwood (born November 5 , 1971 in Oxford , England ) is a musician and a member of Radiohead . Greenwood is a Multi-instrumentalist and also serves as the band's Lead Guitar ist. In addition to Guitar he plays Viola , Organ , Piano , Xylophone , Glockenspiel , Ondes Martenot , Banjo and Harmonica . He is the younger brother of fellow Radiohead member Colin Greenwood .


CAREER


Radiohead

Greenwood had recently started university when Radiohead predecessor On A Friday signed a recording contract with EMI in 1991. He soon left school. While Greenwood is the only member of Radiohead to have been classically trained on any instrument (he took viola lessons as a child), he is also the only band member without an advanced degree.

Greenwood's influence on Radiohead's recording and writing can be heard in many songs, as he usually takes the traditional lead-guitarist role. For a while, Greenwood wore an arm brace due to a Repetitive Strain Injury attributed to his "aggressive" way of playing the instrument. He often still wears the brace. He's said of it that "It's like taping up your fingers before a boxing match." {Link without Title}

Greenwood is often credited as the second major influence on songwriting in Radiohead, next to Thom Yorke . He wrote the music for the closing tracks of '' OK Computer '', and '' Hail To The Thief '', the slow, jazzy rock song " The Tourist " and "A Wolf at the Door", respectively. According to Yorke the track "Just" from '' The Bends '' was "a competition by me and Jonny to get as many chords as possible into a song." An example of Greenwood's versatility is his use of the Ondes Martenot , which is featured on songs such as " The National Anthem " and " How To Disappear Completely " from the album '' Kid A ''. The song " Where I End And You Begin " from '' Hail To The Thief '' was dedicated to the memory of Jeanne Loriod , a pioneer of the Ondes.


Solo work and current projects

In 2003, Greenwood released his first solo album, '' Bodysong '' ( 2003 ), the soundtrack for the Movie Of The Same Title by filmmaker Simon Pummell. ''Bodysong'' also features contributions from his brother Colin on Bass .

Jonny Greenwood was hired by the Ltd in London.

Greenwood and Yorke also collaborated on a new composition credited to Radiohead, the song '' Arpeggi '' for voice, Ondes and orchestra, which they performed with the London Sinfonietta and Arab Orchestra Of Nazareth at the Ether Festival in March 2005. {Link without Title} The song would later be adapted for the full band to play in 2006, rearranging it for guitar.

Radiohead are currently working on another album and recently performed many new songs during a summer 2006 tour. However, no release date has been set. According to interviews with Thom, the tour was Jonny's idea, as he feels the pressure of a firm deadline helps creativity.

Greenwood won the 's "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima", it can be streamed from a link on this page {Link without Title}
Upon winning the award Greenwood received £10,000 from the PRS Foundation towards a commission for a new orchestral work. {Link without Title}

A fan of . The album contains tracks by artists such as Derrick Harriott , Gregory Isaacs , The Heptones and many more.

Greenwood's name has most recently surfaced in the credits follwing a trailer for There Will Be Blood , from director Paul Thomas Anderson . He is credited to the film's musical score.


Musical tastes

Greenwood is greatly influenced by jazz; his favorites include , Greenwood has recently become a Dub Reggae aficionado, listening as of late 2005 to little else. In February 2007, Trojan Records released "Jonny Greenwood is the Controller" - he was given access to the archives of the legendary Trojan Records and hand picked tracks by the likes of Linval Thompson, John Holt, Lee Perry and The Heptones ranging from classic Ska and Rocksteady cuts to some vintage Dub and Roots . This compilation was recently nominated by Mojo Magazine as the compilation of the year. He confessed in a blog entry that he had never heard The Stooges ' '' Fun House '', although he was aware of its legendary reputation.


PERSONAL LIFE

Greenwood is married to Sharona Greenwood and has a son named Tamir who was born in 2002 and to whom '' Hail To The Thief '' was dedicated. He also has a daughter named Omri, born in 2005 .

As well as his iconic arm brace, Greenwood has a hairstyle that sets him apart from other band members. His hair is black, straight, and worn long, cut at an angle and often overhanging his face. In live concerts he is also recognized for a frequently worn T-shirt with a pictogram of a person and sound waves emanating from their head - perhaps a "radio head."

However, while Greenwood is sometimes seen as the most flamboyant and stylish member of the band, he also professes shyness. He is apparently somewhat uncomfortable with the sound of his voice, and did fewer interviews than other band members until recently. A longstanding joke among fans calls for Greenwood to sing, something he claims he will never do. He was however, spotted singing backup during several performances in the 2006 tour, including the songs "Black Star" and "The Bends", sharing a microphone with bandmate and guitarist Ed O'Brien . Greenwood is red-green Colorblind . ''Undercover'' magazine interview with Jonny Greenwood ''Radiohead Live in the MTV Arena'' webchat transcript


EQUIPMENT USED

This is a list of musical equipment used by Jonny Greenwood:

Electric


He has used various other Telecasters over the years too, and currently uses Dean Markley Signature Series 10-46 strings.


Acoustic



Amplifiers

  • Vox AC30 , used for clean tones. (all his effects go through this except his ShredMaster)

  • Fender Eighty Five, solid state amp, used for distorted tones. (Only the ShredMaster, Super Overdrive, Reverb/Delay, Headrush and possibly Whammy go into this)

  • In the earlier years he used a Fender Twin Reverb for clean tones and a Fender Deluxe 85 for distorted tones.



Effects Pedals

  • Pro Co RAT Turbo RAT Distortion (this was used around The Bends Era.

  • Marshall ShredMaster (which is unmodified, contrary to popular belief)

  • Digitech WH-1 Whammy

  • Demeter "The Tremulator", older version of the Demeter TRM-1 Tremulator (which was originally thought to be a homemade tremolo pedal)

  • DOD 440 Envelope Filter

  • Electro-Harmonix Small Stone

  • Electro-Harmonix Poly Chorus

  • BOSS SD-1 Super Overdrive

  • BOSS RV3 Digital Reverb/Delay

  • BOSS FV-300H Volume Pedal, used as a gain controller. (placed before his ShredMaster)

  • BOSS TU-12H Chromatic Tuner

  • BOSS LS2 Line Selector (used to switch channels) (two are placed on pedalboards, one placed off)

  • Roland Space Echo RE-201 (Turned on by using a Vox Egg Footswitch)

  • Mutronics Mutator (not used live, as he uses his DOD 440)

  • Akai Headrush E1, now an E2 is used(used as a loop recorder)

  • Voodoo Labs Pedal Power units powering effects pedals.


Keyboard Effects


Keyboards



Other

  • Radio (he uses a portable radio during the songs " Climbing Up The Walls " and " The National Anthem ")

  • Korg Kaoss Pad (for sampling Thom's voice in the song " Everything In Its Right Place ")

  • Harmonica (for the song "I Am A Wicked Child" and on the Pavement songs "Platform Blues" and "Billie" from their final album Terror Twilight)

  • Glockenspiel (especially for " No Surprises and "Sit Down. Stand Up" but also used in new song "All I Need")

  • Maraca

  • Toms (he uses a pair of identical toms with two drum sticks for each hand. These are featured in " There There ", where most members of the band play percussion)

  • He has recently been spotted with a Banjo. The band played a sound check on their recent tour where Greenwood played the banjo on Radiohead song "I Am A Wicked Child."



COLLABORATIONS

; and Jonny Greenwood got together with Bernard Butler ( Suede ), Andy Mackay, and Paul Kimble to form the band, The Venus in Furs, named after the Velvet Underground song. They recorded five songs ( Roxy Music , Brian Eno and Steve Harley covers) for the Todd Haynes film '' Velvet Goldmine '', which was produced by Michael Stipe . The tracks are:
  • "2HB" (vocals : Thom Yorke)

  • "Ladytron" (vocals : Thom Yorke)

  • "Baby's on Fire"

  • "Bitter-Sweet" (vocals : Thom Yorke)

  • "Tumbling Down"

  • ; (1999). He played on the songs "Platform Blues" and "Billie". The album was produced by long-time Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich.

; along with fellow Radiohead member Phil Selway , former Pulp members Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey , electronica artist Jason Buckle and Add N To (X) member Steve Claydon. They performed three tracks, composed by Cocker:
  • "Do The Hippogriff"

  • "This Is The Night"

  • "Magic Works"



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