John Squire

John Squire (born John Thomas Squire on 24 November 1962, Broadheath, Greater Manchester)^[1] is an English musician, songwriter and artist.

Squire is best known as a member of The Stone Roses, a rock band in which he formed a songwriting partnership with Ian Brown. After leaving The Stone Roses he went on to found The Seahorses and has since released two solo albums. Squire is also an accomplished painter and recently announced that he was giving up music for good to fully commit to painting.^[2]

As a contemporary of Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Squire was amongst the most accomplished British rock guitarists of the 1980s, known for his chiming melodies, spiraling riffs and live solos.

Early life

Squire was born in Broadheath, Altrincham, England. He grew up on Sylvan Avenue in Timperley, one block away from Ian Brown, and after attending Heyes Lane Junior School, he passed the eleven plus exam and went on to attend Altrincham Grammar School for Boys. He excelled at art as a child.^[3] He formed a close friendship with Ian Brown during their last two years at school, the two bonding over a shared love for punk rock, particularly The Clash.^[4]

The two (Squire and Brown) moved on to South Trafford College after passing O-Levels.^[5] Although Squire had a couple of guitar lessons, he was largely self-taught.^[6]

The Stone Roses

In the early 1980s Squire and Brown founded The Patrol that eventually became The Stone Roses, with Squire as lead guitarist from 1984 to 1996. The partnership between Squire and Brown formed the heart of the band's lyrical and musical output.

The band became one of the most influential acts of its era. Their 1989 eponymous debut album quickly achieved the status of a classic in the UK, and topped NME's list of the Greatest British Albums of All Time. Squire co-wrote all of the tracks with Brown. The cover art was painted by Squire, it is a Jackson Pollock influenced piece containing references to the May 1968 riots in Paris.

By the mid-1990s the Roses were being hailed as pioneers of the Britpop movement. Squire displayed a vocal dislike of most of the bands, dismissing them as "Kensington art-wankers". The most notable exception was Oasis. Squire even made an appearance at their Knebworth concert, playing guitar on "Champagne Supernova" and a cover of "I Am the Walrus".

The band's second album, Second Coming (released in 1994), was mainly written by Squire. He has credits on all but one of the tracks, most of which credit him alone. The album's featured a heavier blues-rock sound, similar to Led Zeppelin and The Allman Brothers Band. ^[7] The album was met with mixed reaction from fans, and shortly after band infighting and rumoured cocaine abuse led to his departure from the band on 1st April 1996.

The Seahorses and solo career

Picking three unknowns, Squire formed a new band, The Seahorses, in 1996. The band's only album Do it Yourself was released in 1997. The Seahorses disbanded due to creative differences in 1999.

Squire released his first solo album, Time Changes Everything in 2002, reported to be one of the worst albums ever^[8]. A concept album followed in 2004 entitled Marshall's House. Squire has also said that he has recorded a third album, however he has decided not to release it as he feels that promoting and touring the album would take the fun out of the music and turn it into a job rather than a hobby. This is the second time that Squire has recorded an album and opted to keep it unreleased as he did the same in 1999 as a part of the band, the Seahorses, when they recorded an album, set to be name "Minus Blue" or "Motorcade", but decided to break-up rather than release the album.

Artwork

Besides music, Squire is also a well-known, published artist. His artwork has adorned the singles, album covers and promotional posters for his and the Stone Roses' music. In the 1980s, Squire's artistic style was heavily influenced by the action painting technique of Jackson Pollock. In recent years, Squire has shown a broader use of mediums and has incorporated newer influences to his work. One such item a surfboard covered with Beach Boys song titles which was for the War Child charity to auction, formed the cover for Travis's 1997 single release U16 Girls. In 2004, Squire held two well-received art exhibitions in London and Manchester.

Over the past four years Squire has worked full time on his artwork which he has exhibited at The Smithfield Gallery (July 2007) and The Dazed Gallery, London (September - October 2007).

At the Smithfield Gallery opening, Squire told a reporter from the Manchester Evening News that he was giving up music for good. He explained that "I'm enjoying this far too much to go back to music."^[2] When asked about a Stone Roses reunion, he said it was "highly unlikely".^[2]

In January 2009, Squire launched a new exhibition of his art entitled Heavy Metal Semantics, in London, and announced further exhibitions in Oldham, Austria, and Tokyo later in the year.^[9]

Intentions for a Stone Roses reunion

Although it has been over a decade since he left the Stone Roses, Squire allegedly has a lasting feud with ex-bandmate Ian Brown, whom he has not spoken to since his departure from the Stone Roses. In a 2005 Q magazine article, Squire blasted Brown, claiming "When he (Brown) was stoned, he was at best a tuneless knob and at worst a paranoid mess" (this was in response to queries about what had gone wrong with the Second Coming recording sessions, and the state of Brown's vocal due to his cannabis intake). Although both Brown and Squire have performed Stone Roses songs in their solo gigs, a band reunion seems unlikely.

John Squire was interviewed in June 2007 by Dave Haslam on XFM Manchester radio and discussed his current work as an artist, and claimed that even if Ian Brown phoned him and suggested a Stone Roses reunion, he would turn the offer down.^[10]

In an interview on The Culture Show in 2008, Squire stated: "I went to that Led Zeppelin reunion show and on the way back in the car I was thinking it would be good to do something like that one day"

In March 2009, Squire put an end to speculation surrounding the Stone Roses' reunion by defacing one of his artworks with the text "I have no desire whatsoever to desecrate the grave of seminal Manchester pop group The Stone Roses."^[11]

Also on March 19th 2009, Squire appeared on the BBC's Newsnight, and when asked if a reunion would ever occur, he stated that it " absolutely most definitely not". He said he came on air to address the fans once and for all and also, " to stop the phones ringing. " He also stated his belief that music is a young person's game.

Discography

Albums

• Time Changes Everything (2002) # 17 UK
• Marshall's House (2004)

Singles

• "Joe Louis" (2002) # 41 UK
• "Room In Brooklyn" (2004)

Live Albums/EPs

• Time Changes Everything Live EP (Japan only) (2003)

Notes

References

• Robb, John (2001) The Stone Roses and the Resurrection of British Pop, Random House, ISBN 0 09 187887 X

External links

• Official site
• Official website celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Stone Roses' debut album