John J. Presley

John James Presley (born 17th January 1987) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. His debut single Left was released in the United Kingdom in 2014 on Killing Moon Records with a follow up single Honeybee and EP White Ink released over the next few years. His first instrument is guitar although he can also play keys, bass and clarinet. His music is often described as Acid Blues, Dirty Blues Rock, Electric Blues and Swamp Rock.
Early Life
John J Presley was born John James Presley on 17 January 1987 in Walsall, West Midlands. Presley grew up in the West Midlands where his mother and father bought him his first guitar, a Brunswick acoustic, for his 12th birthday. When he started at college he also spent more time in Birmingham working and going to gigs where he met characters of the Birmingham garage rock scene. A regular at The Jug of Ale in Moseley, Presley became a regular face on the scene and began playing in bands - most notably Rivers Presley Set and Vinny and the Curse (with Scott Abott now of Table Scraps).
Music Career
Early Years
Presley's first band was The Solomons which he formed in 2006. He then went onto front a two piece called Rivers Presley Set which became very popular on the Birmingham circuit. Vinny and the Curse was an additional musical project between Scott Acott, Richard Franklin and Presley on bass. They released The Psychic Foot EP in 2014.
2014-present
After Vinny and the Curse disbanded Presley took a step away from all his projects to concentrate on working towards releasing his first recordings. At this point he decided to go purely under his own name and moved back to London in the late summer of 2013. It was there where he met Chris Denman of Radio X (formerly XFM) who recorded his debut single Left and the follow up Honeybee. Teaming up with Killing Moon Records both singles did well - the debut having it's first play on BBC Radio 1's Evening Show with Zane Lowe who played it as his Next Hype Record on April 7th 2014. More support followed from Phil Taggart, Alice Levine, John Kennedy, XFM (Radio X) Amazing Radio, Tom Robinson of 6 Music and many more. Left also became a widely synched track being used many times on BT Sport and Sky Sports.
Left was also considered to be one of the 'Independent Tracks of the Year' and was included on a vinyl for the Association of Independent Music (AIM) Awards in 2014 as compiled by John Kennendy alongside Kate Tempest and East India Youth. The first two singles did well commercially in Eastern Europe too with additions and multiple plays especially from Couleur 3. The video was shot and directed by Annick Wolfers.
Off the back of this success Presley was invited to perform on the BBC Introducing Stage at Reading and Leeds Festival 2014 as well as Boardmasters, Live At Leeds, Somersault, Truck, 2000 Trees and many more.
In the September of the same year Jim Jones Revue announced they were to split and announced their farewell tour. They invited John J Presley and his band to join them throughout Europe and the UK culminating in the final ever show at The Forum, London. The tour crossed six countries in 4 weeks. Jim Macaulay (formerly of Envy & Other Sins and now The Stranglers) played drums for Europe with Tom Glendining (Headswim) on kit for the UK leg.
Presley took some time out to record the follow up EP White Ink. He recorded at Toe Rag Studios (White Stripes, The Kills) with Liam Watson. The recording was direct to tape and a studio that Presley said he always wanted to work in. White Ink was released on July 24th 2015. It received a positive reaction from the press and the lead single Come Calling found it's way onto The Independent Radar Playlist with them commenting "..the bluesy rock ‘n’ rollers’ new track is a recklessly fuzzy garage tune.." It also gained Presley a mention in The Guardian from journalist Laura Barton who commented that ".. music’s shape and sound do seem to sit midway between the blues of the Mississippi Delta and the beautiful enormity of my favourite post-rock geniuses. It’s a ferocious, belly-deep sound, but somehow tender with it." The release of White Ink also gained Presley a double page artist profile piece in The Blues Magazine. More radio support followed and soon Presley was reaching further afield with gigs being announced in Switzerland - Bad Bonn and an invite to perform at Caribana Festival, Switzerland and Colours of Ostrava in the Czech Republic alongside St Vincent and Kasabian in 2015.
The video was directed by Steve Gullick
Rise To My Confession also taken from the "White Ink"EP was used in Channel 4's Hollyoaks.
During these years Presley had also met one of his musical heroes Duke Garwood. They met in South London and soon after Presley was on additional guitar duties for some live shows including supporting Seasick Steve at the Royal Albert Hall in 2015, at Latitude Festival and on the tour in support of Garwood's Heavy Love LP (Heavenly Records).
2016-present
Presley stepped back from everything to concentrate on the writing and recording of his debut album. Between attics in North London and Giant Wafer studios in Wales, Presley worked alongside James Sanford who engineered the record. After many false starts with timelines Presley signed publishing with Alexi Corey Smith of BMG who called him upon hearing the music for the first time. The debut album project is planned for early 2019 and will be distributed by AWAL (Kobalt).
Style and Influences
Presley frequently uses a (1970s) Fender Telecaster guitar and a Selmer Zodiac amplifier, both live and in the studio. Other makes Presley seems to favour are a Hofner President (various models) and a Gibson ES-125T. He also sometimes plays a Fender Twin Reverb, WEM Dominator or a VOX AC30. Many websites have commented on Presley's playing technique and tone. David Gumble of MIPRO magazine commented on it as "...a notably raw and authentic sound; a sound bolstered in no small part by Presley’s arsenal of vintage equipment.."

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