Donuts To That

Jon Houlon lays down the law.

by A.D. Amorosi

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Published: Sep 18, 2007

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By day, Jon Houlon is a government lawyer representing Philly's overworked and underappreciated DHS social workers. By night, he's the obsessive, imagistic, lit-witty singer-songwriter behind pub-rockers The Donuts and the damnably poetic John Train. The Donuts had the brass to release two CDs two months ago (5-4-5 and Jet Ear), and Train just dropped the highly politicized Mesopotamia Blues.

City Paper: Two Donuts albums at once: the hubris!

Jon Houlon: Yeah, it's arrogant. But Costello, Dylan and Haggard put out two records a year in their heyday. I'm following their lead. And I'm a much better songwriter than Ryan Adams.

CP: What do you do if you're playing a John Train set and someone — not your Donuts drummer — requests a Donuts song?

JH: I'm operating at a level of obscurity where this sort of thing really doesn't happen. My own wife can only name a couple of my songs. I did get fired from a local gig for refusing a patron's request for "Bobby McGee."

CP: When does it become a Donuts versus a Train tune?

JH: I suppose Donuts songs are generally written with a lighter heart. I can't imagine singing something as ridiculous as "Guantanamo" with John Train. Some songs are simply too complex for the 'Nuts. I mean that as a compliment. I tried to throw an augmented seventh chord on the last record and they freaked.

CP: My favorite Houlon song pre-2007 was one you wrote about Jimmie Rodgers' last moments. Why do I like that?

JH: "Angels Turned Thieves" on John Train's debut. I figure you'd like that 'cause it mentions choking on phlegm.

CP: So Mesopotamia Blues. Why did you name it after the original Iraq?

JH: I've written hundreds of navel gazers about my problems. I wanted to do something different, something outward. If that situation in Iraq hasn't given you the blues, you must be sleepwalking. I also wanted to stretch back in history. Think about how we got involved in Iraq. The British — led by Leachman and others — made our same mistake in the early part of the 20th century. Bush and Cheney are no students of history.

CP: I respect your choice of covers even if I don't agree with them. I feel like you wrote the album around the covers.

JH: You're right on the mark. I read an interview where Nick Lowe stated that it's arrogant to only record your own songs. Also, it creates a hell of a challenge to write something that will stand up against a Hancock song.

CP: "Don't He Look Good?" What's the short-'n'-sassy?

A: I saw an item in the paper about how the military had revamped the Army combat uniform. Right next to it was an article about a soldier's uniform being sent home — without the soldier in it.

CP: Would you make the same record if Bush was right?

JH: Bush doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. How's that, motherfucker?

John Train

Fri., Sept. 21, 9:30 p.m., $8, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, www.johnnybrendas.com

 

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