John Faraone is no stranger to covering a tune and imparting the beautiful subtleties of his voice and playing to songs penned by another writer. A quick look at his soundcloud has 3 right off the bat, from Jason Molina, Phosphorescent and Uncle Tupelo. All of which are complemented by his keen and critical ear for arrangements and soft, but incredibly emotive, vocals.
Faraone has also come to be quite an engineer in his own right. Recording a large portion of his own work at his home studio as well as some collections for friends. Friends and contemporaries are a grouping that the singer-songwriter has a particular respect for and this week we get a glimpse of that with his take on INFJ‘s ‘Before Your Time’.
I’ll let you make your own opinions about this gorgeous version of an already beautiful song, but INFJ posted to their social page, “Our BFF John Faraone recorded a cover of our song “Before Your Time” and it squashes our version like a grape“. (while we disagree with that statement specifically the “squashing”, as both versions completely cut my legs out from under me and melt me into an emotional pile of mush on the floor, it is a pretty incredible tribute to music he loves)
Check it out below and read on for a couple of questions we flew by Faraone about the tune, the band and what is coming down the line for his own music. And check out the original song HERE.
JF: For me, covering songs is part of the writing process. They are lessons in how to communicate through music, and a good break when I get stuck on something I’m working on. There’s a sense of confidence and fulfillment in playing someone else’s song that’s fully written and that you have no responsibility to, and there’s a definitive lack of pressure. I learned how to play guitar by playing other people’s songs. Since I don’t have formal training and an understanding of music theory, I learned what I needed to in order to write my own songs, which is probably not the best way to learn an instrument, but there are some arguable advantages. You can also learn a lot about yourself by performing someone else’s song. You could know the words to a song and have heard it a thousand times, but when you take on the role of interpreter and deliver the message of the song as if it was your own message, those familiar words or melodies suddenly plow you over with a whole new set of emotions. I think that’s my favorite part about covering a song.
RLR: What does the band INFJ mean to you?
JF: I discovered them completely by chance. I found their first release by researching studios to record at. I was scrolling through the Columbus Theatre’s Facebook page, and someone mentioned INFJ in a comment, since they had recorded there. I followed the link to their first release, clicked play, and before I knew it, I had listened to the entire thing all the way through without moving from my chair.
I listened to that first EP exclusively for weeks. Eventually, I mustered the courage to ask them to play a gig with me, and from the minute we met, we became really great friends. They’re both genuine and wonderful people, and incredibly talented musicians. Hayley actually sings a duet with me on my new record, and Scott has been invaluable in helping me arrange the songs and being a sounding board for ideas. When they were putting together a batch of songs which would become the Ashes EP, they asked me to join them in the studio on vocals and drums. That will go down as one of the happiest moments I’ve had as a musician.
RLR: Any teaser you can give us for the next release?
JF: The end is in sight for my first full length release. I’ve been working on it for like 2 years, and it’s taken a lot of work, but I think I captured what I wanted to. Maybe. I don’t know. I’ve also been engineering some demos for a few incredibly talented friends, and I’m very excited with what they have been bringing to the sessions. Maybe those songs will surface soon, too! That has been a great learning experience and has pushed me to finish my own stuff.