In conversation with Johnny Venus

As suave as ever, Johnny Venus has us fully enthralled in his sensuality. His latest single, “So Beautiful” featuring 6LACK, feels like a collision of dark chocolate, cherries, fused by the gooey richness of honey. If these gustatory experiences were to be translated into a melody, they would amount to a 3-and-a-half-minute track that would wreck any streaming playback button. We played it, slow-dancing in our incense-filled bedroom at 10 PM. We played it biking through the sunny streets with baskets full of picnic gear. We’re still playing it, to the point that it’s become our go-to soundtrack when stealing glances at our crush. 

Whether it be collectively (through the GRAMMY-nominated, award-winning hip-hop duo Earthgang) or solo, Johnny was a way of sweet-talking to us through his lyrics and thundering composition. On this occasion, he speaks to us from the gardens of LA, detailing the entwinement between luxury and music that comes with his sultry melodies, the lesser-known facets of music production, and how chance encounters on a random Tuesday painting class can be the base of a hit single.

Hi! First things first, how are you today?
I’m doing very, very well today. I’m in L.A., about to go to the Huntington Gardens, Botanical Gardens, and just kind of kick it out there for a second, just vibe out.

What is the inspiration behind your stage name and your band name?
The inspiration comes from two artists who influenced me early on. Freddie Mercury, just because of his brilliance, someone who took the time to dedicate to their craft, knew they were talented, but took time to develop it. And John Lennon, also someone who challenged societal norms. We actually have the same birthday as well. I decided to keep those influences with me. 

Big names to live up to! Tell us more about the music video for “So Beautiful”! It is very cinematic and sentimental, does that adhere to your usual way of creating?
That is definitely my way of creating. I love movies, and I think they tell stories in so many beautiful ways. So, for “So Beautiful”, I wanted the visual depiction of what it’s like to be mesmerised and caught in someone’s beauty unexpectedly. I come into my class just getting ready to paint a model. It’s a regular Tuesday in class, and then there’s this beautiful, beautiful person, and I just don’t know what to do with myself. We get butterflies, and we start to visualise a future and all of these things, and it creates and conjures up so many emotions and things inside of us. I wanted to capture all of that, show it with the dancers, the location, and the colours. 

What role does collaboration fulfil in your creative process, for example, the collab with 6LACK?
I think that collaboration is everything. I don’t believe people are self-made. Anyone who created something major or anything significant has done so with the help of someone else. Shout-out to my brother, 6LACK, for being a part of the video. He put his spin on it, as he often does, with his unique voice, his wordplay, and just bringing taste to the vibes.

How would you describe your musical persona if you could not use any words relating directly to music/sound?
Luxurious. That’s easy. My musical persona is luxurious. I believe that anything I do is worth doing very tastefully and making sure that what you are receiving is rich with craftsmanship, rich with intention, rich with purpose, and things that are going to last. I think luxury goods are goods that last.

What’s your favourite part about creating in general?
Just the joy you feel when you see, “Oh, this is something new! This is something that I didn’t anticipate”. We’re experimenting. We’re trying new things and having fun during the process.

What was a defining moment in your life when you knew this is what you ought to be doing?
Being invited to Prince’s home, Paisley Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and having them open their arms to me in a proclamation of acknowledgement and recognition was just beautiful, man. I remember my uncles and I listening to Prince’s first album, you know, and being amazed by the music. So being able to have them invite me out there for my first solo performance, I think, is amazing. 

That’s incredible. I can imagine it must have felt like a full-circle moment. Did you, as a kid, envision your life to look the way it does now?
Absolutely not. Well, actually, I did envision that I would be doing a lot of travelling. So in a way, yes. But I did not know that I would be doing and performing in front of hundreds and thousands of people. That’s how God works. 

EarthGang was founded in 2008, almost 20 years ago. How did your creative vision evolve since then (both as a collective and individual), and what were some milestones achieved along the path?
I think our creative vision has broadened. We experienced so many different things along the way – different spaces and relationships, plateaus and peaks of life. So our music and its content expanded to encompass this. But also continuing to go back and retrieve those special elements of sounds that we love and inspire us, sounds that we grew up with, and then baking them into the new things that we create. I think that’s the beautiful part of evolution. Milestones, man, shoot. Awards, BET Awards, Australian Grammy Awards, performing in South Africa, performing here in the States, doing festivals. There are so many milestones.

And so many more to come. Any lessons you did not expect to learn from being a musician, yet you did?
I’m just always learning about business. I wasn’t expecting music to be the thing to introduce me to the realm of business. But as a musician and artist, it’s always so beautiful to engage the right brain, the logical brain, the business brain. I love it, and I love that balance. Being able to be creative, but then also being able to provide structure to your creativity so it outlasts you and your generation.

What do you think is the most impactful part about what you’re doing (for the people who receive it)?
I think the honesty and the joy that I put into my music are the most impactful parts because people come to us when they need something. You play music when you need an energy shift, or when you want to have a good time, or celebrate something. So you come to music, and it provides that. So what’s important for me is to bake that joy, honesty, and passion into every dish that we serve up. 

What would you be doing if you were not doing this?
I’d probably be like the black Steve Irwin or something. Travelling around the world, getting dirty, following animals, wrestling with tigers, saying “what’s up” to 100-year-old tortoises, and swimming with sharks. Honestly, that’s what I’d be doing. 

It’s never too late to embark on new adventures. Any dream collab you’ve been thinking about?
Tems! I love Tems’ music. Everybody knows it, but I’m just saying, she’s amazing.

On a final note, what was the last album you played on your phone?
The last album I played on my phone was DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS by Bad Bunny. I was just playing that on the way to the crib today. 

We’ll be sure to check it out! Thank you so much, and enjoy the gardens!
Y’all have a blessed one. Peace.