When it comes to entertainment there’s not many areas of the industry that Jon English hasn’t dipped his toe in.
The multi-award winning performer has worked on stage in productions of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and ‘The Pirates of Penzance’, has appeared on Aussie TV screens in shows like 90s hit ‘All Together Now’, where he played an ageing rocker, and of course has had a successful music career, which has won him four ARIA Music Awards.
Though he admits to loving music, theatre and screen fairly equally Jon does feel that music takes top honours purely for the fact that he has the opportunity to be in the driver’s seat.
“It’s all on me. If it fails it’s me that fails. If it works I get all the accolades,” he said.
“Whereas with everything else to a certain degree you’re dancing to someone else’s tune, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
“I just get much more personal satisfaction… if something’s my baby.
“I like the live thing too because there’s no going back and there’s no take two. You’re up there and you’re doing it and that’s that.”
Jon’s live shows have been perfected over more than four decades in the industry, but he feels the secret to his successful gigs is about more than just the music.
“I just think it’s about communication, and the fact we have a lot of fun,” he said.
“But more communication, they like a chat, they like me talking to them.
“A lot of guys get up there and just play at people, one song after another and then a ‘thank you very much’ afterwards.”
Jon will be bringing his musical talent to Penrith Hotel on Friday, September 18 as part of ‘The Classic Rock Tour’, giving local audiences the chance to experience his extensive back catalogue.
“We cover a fair bit of my career and play all the hits and tell some anecdotes,” Jon said of the show.
“There’s also a few songs we do that weren’t hit records but everyone wants to hear them.
“We try and tip our hats to just about everything. So it’s basically a bit of a trip down memory lane.”
And what a lane it is. Starting out at 22 in Harry M Miller’s production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, Jon has since produced 14 albums and won numerous accolades, including a shared AFI award with Renee Geyer, a TV Week Logie Award for ‘Best New Talent’ and a Countdown award for ‘Most Popular Male Performer’.
Though it would appear there’s not much left that Jon hasn’t tackled, he still has a couple of achievements to tick off his bucket list.
“I’d like to see a full on professional production of a show I wrote called ‘Paris’,” he said.
“I spent a lot of time on that and it’s a very successful album, but so far nobody in Australia’s had the balls to just say ‘alright let’s do this’, they’re much more keen on doing productions that have already been overseas.”
When asked about the changes he has seen in the entertainment industry since he first got his start, Jon says he’s noticed a change in the way theatre productions are created.
“We’ve lost our sense of creativity a little bit I think,” he said.
To add to his already extensive resume, Jon will also start work on a feature film which will start shooting this October on the Gold Coast.
“It’s a contemporary psychological horror type film,” he said.
“That’s all I can tell you at the moment.”
Fans of Jon will be thrilled to find him performing in a pub setting later this month in Penrith.
Jon English will be performing at Penrith Hotel on Friday, September 18 at 7.30pm. Tickets are $35. Tickets can be purchased at the door.
– Kate Reid
