JOHN HINCKLEY JR – AN INTERVIEW WITH THE FAMOUS MUSICIAN

JOHN HINCKLEY JR – AN INTERVIEW WITH THE FAMOUS MUSICIAN

By Kat Gullage

Yes, that one John Hinckley Jr.

Mr. HinckleyHis fame arose from an incident that occurred in 1981. He attempted to assassinate then-President Ronald Reagan. A police officer and a Secret Service agent were injured. Reagan was injured when a bullet ricocheted off the presidential limousine and hit him in the chest. Press Secretary James Brady was shot in the head and critically wounded, leaving him paralyzed on his left side. His death was ruled a homicide when he died thirty-three years after the shooting. Hinckley he was also obsessed with actress Jodie Foster at the time. I only mention this as not all of our readers are familiar with the controversy.

Hinckley he was convicted and served thirty-five years in a mental institution. He was released in 2016 with numerous restrictions banning him from a variety of activities not limited to but including “watching or listening to violent media” and “speaking to the press”. Fully released from court restrictions in 2022. Free forty-one years, two months and fifteen days after the incident.

Hinckley was scheduled to appear at a fledgling venue in Naugatuck CT this month. However, it was cancelled, not solely because of who the performer was, although it did attract the attention and scrutiny of local and city officials. Hinckley had last-minute cancellations in several venues, including Chicago, Brooklyn NY and Hamden, CT, mostly due to threats to the venues.

AMP/KAT: I read that you started playing music as a young adult. Who were your musical influences?

JH: Well you know, I'm old. When the Beatles came to America in 1964, I was eight years old and I was interested in music then. When I was about ten, I picked up a guitar and have been a music fanatic ever since. I loved all the 60's bands, it was a great time for music. When I was in college, I kind of got into the folk and country rock scene, and that's when I got into Bob Dylan, his early stuff. I was very influenced by Bob Dylan and still am I guess. Because you know most of my music is folk music. Growing up in Texas, I heard on the radio – Allman Brothers, Eagles, Skynyrd stuff like that. I liked it, but I didn't go out and buy their albums. Also, I liked the 60s garage sound better. I listened to punk in college like the Clash and the Sex Pistols, I liked all that too.

AMP/KAT: My taste in music was influenced by my mom playing Motown all my life. What kind of music did your parents listen to?

JH: Dad was a jazz lover and I remember a lot of jazz albums. When he was in college he was in a jazz band. He was playing drums. Mom was not musically inclined at all. It just went right with the flow.

AMP/KAT: For a while you couldn't hear what I saw called “violent music”. You have lost so many hits and items. So, when the restriction was lifted, did you try to catch any of them?

JH: The government thought I liked “violent music.” I think it's a ridiculous term. Typical ridiculous government thinking. So, you know, hard rock and heavy metal to them is probably violent music. I listened to some Metallica songs. I liked some of the grunge, you know I like Nirvana. I have their greatest hits now and listen to it from time to time. Kurt Cobain was so great. I don't really like today's music and I never listen to like top 40 radio. I'm not really into rap. I'm still kind of stuck in the 60s and 70s.

AMP/KAT: Do you have a favorite guitar?

JH: I have many guitars. My favorite is probably the acoustic guitar with my name on it. It's Fender, they're not really known for acoustic guitars. I got it three or four years ago, I really like the tone of it and it's good for recording too, so it's what I play the most. In addition, I have several electric guitars, I have a Fender Stratocaster, Ibanez, I have a Gretsch.

AMP/KAT: Your song “Never Ending Quest” includes the line “old guitar is all I need”.

JH: Correctly. All I need is an old guitar and I'm good to go.

AMP/KAT: It looks like you just randomly slapped vinyl stickers on your guitar to write John Hinckley. Is that what you did?

JH: Right.

AMP/KAT: Have you ever been to a concert?

JH: Oh yeah, sure. Well, this is before my incarceration, I saw the Rolling Stones in their prime. They were out promoting Exile On Main Street. I saw them in Fort Worth, Texas. It was an afternoon show, it was a bit sloppy, but ok, I liked it. I saw The Who in their prime, when they still had Keith Moon on drums. He wore headphones the entire concert. The next day when I went back to school I had a ringing in my ears.

AMP/KAT: Is that a real crowd you're playing in front of in your “Never Ending Quest” video?

JH: No, what this is, it's from a documentary that's coming out in about two or three months and what (did) the filmmaker rented a theater here. I mean there were people out there listening to it, but it wasn't like a packed auditorium.

AMP/KAT: It's a good edit, I can hear people cheering and whistling.

JH: This is all fake.

AMP/KAT: So you have a documentary coming out?

JH: Yes. It will be called Redemption. It's an Australian film crew, they spent six weeks with me in January 2023, they're filming me here and they're going to continue, and Netflix wanted more of a crime documentary and we didn't want to do that, so I'm pretty sure it's going to be Amazon .

AMP/KAT: You released your self-titled album Acquisition on 7/12/23 at Asbestos records. How did this relationship come about? You have seven songs on side A and seven songs on side B. The blue and red vinyl choices are interesting. How are sales? In your “Finally Living Free” video you say “They're going fast!”

JH: Well Matt Flood is the guy who runs Asbestos Records and when I released my full length he contacted me, you know, out of the blue through my Twitter page and we started a correspondence and he told me to do an album with him because he had contact other record companies and they turned me down. So I went with him because he was so enthusiastic about it. The red and blue vinyl is his. The first pressing sold out. Now we do a second press.

AMP/KAT: I noticed you're not very animated in your videos. Doing two things at once, like singing and playing guitar at the same time, is difficult. I noticed you look down a lot in your videos, are you looking at your guitar or your lyrics?

JH: Lyrics. My music is strictly low-fi. I do everything myself and I'm not in some fancy recording studio. I'm like a one man band.

AMP/KAT: So are you going to continue solo? Or are you thinking about adding band members eventually?

JH: I have a guy called Ben, he's my lead guitarist and we practice together and he's fantastic on guitar. Yeah, if I get a gig or go on any type of tour, I'd have Ben with me. My first concert in Brooklyn, New York, which was canceled at the last minute, we had a full band. They had hired a drummer and a bassist. We were going to be a band, but the sad story is that it got canceled at the last minute.

AMP/KAT: Aside from what you're currently doing with playing, singing and composing, are you doing anything to improve your musicianship? Or will you remain self-taught?

JH: I will remain self-taught. It's too late in the game. If I was twenty or something I would, but I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

AMP/KAT: Any pre-show rituals? A quick prayer?

JH: No. I should do it.

AMP/KAT: It's prudent to open all your videos with “Hi everyone, hope you're doing great” and always end with “Thanks”.

JH: I'd rather people listen to my music on streaming sites than YouTube because I just think my songs sound better on Spotify.

AMP/KAT: You wear glasses on “I Won't Go Back Again”. Someone commented that they thought you looked like Elton John, but I have to tell you I loved it, it added some flair.

JH: (laughs) That's good to know.

AMP//KAT: I found your lyrics to be thoughtful and real and I feel like you sing almost like a diary.

JH: Yeah, that's a good way to put it, as a lot of my songs are about overcoming hard times. I know all the crap I went through in the 80s and 90s, early 2000s. I got over it. I am a survivor of all this. And now that my life is going so much better, it's like I can put it into a song, how I got through it all.

AMP/KAT: When I heard “I Will Be Your Man”, at first I was like Yawnsville, but the lyrics caught my attention: “the country is fucking crazy” (JH: Well, it is.) and “you can't make me hate you back, I don't have time”. Is this a shout out to the people who leave negative comments and troll you?

JH: You know I got haters everywhere out there. I will not hate them because they hate me. It's just a waste of time.

AMP/KAT: And at the end you say “Thank you”.

JH: (laughs) Right.

AMP/KAT: There are also a lot of positive comments, I would say most of the comments I saw on your YouTube videos were positive. But the ones that aren't, do you just ignore them? I mean you're a human being with feelings, how do you deal with that?

JH: You know I've had so much negative feedback over the years, I just kind of ignore it now. It doesn't really bother me. I know that sounds weird to say, but it doesn't really bother me.

AMP/KAT: I think it's possible that some people will attend shows like your show in New York before it was canceled and sold out, because of your reputation and curiosity over your actual fans. You care?

JH: They just need to come quietly and listen.

AMP/KAT: I loved the art you chose for the album. It reminds me of that trippy 60s genre.

JH: This is a young lady I know named Molly. She did it. I told her to make a psychedelic album cover and she sure did.

AMP/KAT: For your art, what is your medium?

JH: Acrylic on canvas.

AMP/KAT: Your cat series, which of course reminded me of Warhol, is that your cat?

JH: This is my cat I just do over and over and over. You know my talent is with my music, that's where I have more confidence. I'm not really sure about my painting. I'll be the first to say I'm not a great painter. I just did a ton of cat painting. I have an orange tabby named Theo.

AMP/KAT: Do you like dogs too? Are you an animal lover? Which is your favorite animal?

JH: I am an absolute animal lover. I had a German Shepherd when I lived in Colorado. My favorite animal would be in the cat family, you know like a tiger or a jaguar or a cheetah.

AMP/KAT: What was your inspiration for the ladies painting series?

JH: This is not inspired by anyone, this is just what I draw.

AMP/KAT: Of the paintings you've posted recently, my favorite is the abstract one. I like colors and textures.

JH: Unfortunately I no longer have the original of this, but prints of it are available. I kept getting asked to make prints available, so I arranged with ArtPal to do so.

AMP/KAT: Do you have a favorite artist?

JH: Wow. Maybe De Kooning (Willem), some of Warhol's stuff.

AMP/KAT: Well, thank you for the interview Mr. Hinckley, I hope I haven't been too harsh on you.

JH: Not at all, I like talking about music.

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