From the Highlands of Scotland is a talented new artist on the rise. Connor Johnston is gaining a lot of traction in his hometown of Inverness, and he has been performing at multiple well recognized Scottish festivals and pubs. He’s been writing, singing, and producing his own music since the earliest days he can remember. His area of specialty is pop/folk pop, but he enjoys exploring various genres. Connor decided to take his passion and commitment to music to the next level, and he is now studying at The Riverside Music Complex in Glasgow. Now that’s what we like to hear! “The Song I Wrote That Day” is a new release from Connor that beautifully exhibits his singing and song writing abilities.
“The Song I Wrote That Day” has a classic Ed Sheeran feel to it with a palatable guitar and storytelling lyrics sang by his pleasant and satisfying voice. “The Song I Wrote That Day” starts off with a mellow guitar stringing together the perfect entrance for Connor who begins to sing and tell a story brimming with emotion and passion. The song about is about not feeling confident within, feeling like life just isn’t playing out in his favor. It sounds like most of us have been down that road at one point or another if you ask me! When Connor sings in “The Song I Wrote That Day”, his every word is overflowing with emotion, spirit, and honesty that really brings a connection between him and the listener to the point where the song feels personal. Connor Johnston has an incredible talent in making music and creating a bond between him and his fans. His experience, education and drive to succeed will take him far in his career, so make sure to keep on the lookout for new music from Connor!
Listen to “The Song I Wrote That Day” here and get to know more about Connor Johnston below!
Hey Connor! Can you tell us more about yourself and background?
I’m a 21-year-old singer/songwriter from Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. I’ve been self-teaching myself everything I know about music since 2014 and I love it! From first picking up an old acoustic guitar, I ended up playing at one of my local festivals “Jocktoberfest” in under a year! From there I got asked to play at the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival a further two times, joined “The Howl and the Hum” on their Scotland tour, played at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow and released an EP that I produced entirely myself. This year was a little different as I’ve started living and studying music in Glasgow at the Riverside Music College which is where I recorded my brand new single “The Song I Wrote That Day”.
Can you tell us about the meaning behind the lyrics in “The Song I Wrote That Day”?
I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a sad song even from the first listen, but I think that’s why I called it what I did. I wrote this song in early 2018 and because it was completely open in terms of my emotions at the time and I sort of locked it away not expecting to use it for commercial release. I remember wanting to be as honest as I could be – I think that’s actually a lyric in the song – and I think with my mindset from back then, honesty meant extremely depressing. But that can sometimes make a good song and I guess you’d have to listen to it to see if that’s true!
What makes this song different from all of the other ones that you’ve released?
This was the first song that I’ve released that I worked with others to get to the final product. My two friends from college,Connor Jamieson and Frazer helped me with bass guitar and drums respectively. Connor (good name, I know) also composed the guitar solo you hear in the bridge section. It gave me good experience to work with other people rather than produce everything by myself. Another reason this song is perhaps different than the rest is, again, in the lyrics. Most of my songs up until now have had hidden meanings and purposely vague lyrics so people can interpret them they way they want so to put myself out there like this was extremely scary but I’m hoping it’ll pay off!
Who are your biggest musical influences and why?
Probably my biggest influence just now is Jon Bellion. I’ve been a fan of his music for many years and one of the things that kind of created a connection in my head was his videos on how he makes his songs. I saw a lot of similarities in the way I would write and/or produce in that I feel he has the song already finished in his head and it’s a case of putting the pieces together in the studio. I’m much the same when writing in that I can hear guitar parts, basslines and other components before I’ve even finished writing the song. Another one of my influences is the mighty Ed Sheeran. There seems to be a theme with me listening to artists before they hit it mainstream but I remember watching that video of him sitting on a boat performing his, now classic, song “The A Team” and thinking the way he wrote that song was completely original and different to anything I grew up listening to or heard on the radio. Ever since then I’ve been a fan of most of Ed’s songs as he has a notable way of writing songs that I think has rubbed off on me.
Can we expect some new music from you in 2019?
Hopefully yes! My first year of studying is (sadly) coming to a close so I’ll be returning back up the road to the Highlands over the Summer but when I get away from my job I’ll be writing and recording all sorts of new content! I have several songs in my catalogue that are patiently queuing up for some studio time, but if I feel I’ve written something better, I’ll get to working on that. If everything goes as smoothly as I hope it can, I can guess new music will be arriving in early August! I’ve even started planning ahead of that for the next year in advance, so I’ll have lots of projects to keep me busy for the foreseeable future… Make sure to get me followed on my social medias to get involved!
Connect with Connor Johnston on social media
www.facebook.com/ConnorJaay