#jonnyowen

            Setting upon a path in anything that can be considered an art has a significant degree of consistency as far as origin is concerned. The artist in question, either through some kind of ancestral birthright, innate passion, or fortuitous curiosity discovers their craft and through the years of living an inordinately imbalanced lifestyle to devote countless hours aiming towards perfection or success will then reach a compromise of the aforementioned goals. Once status within the industry is seized the arc will either continue as they improve and continue evolving and inevitably fading away over time, or leave a brief but brilliant impression burning out on the passion that formed both the fuel and the fire, left to destroy what they love the most and to love what most destroyed them.

Jonny Owen challenges this standardization. There are no parallels to draw, no allusions to consider, and no conflict with the unconquered echelons. Research reveals an eclectic surplus of past history: amateur boxing, recording contract with Sony, forays into journalism, an acting career, and screen-writing, but at a distance there seems to be little in the way of a uniting theme besides a forward propulsion leading to incremental levels of success at each and every seemingly meandering step. Needless to say it’s been a long path to where Jonny is now, discussing - between long digressions into boxing as a metaphor for life and art – the philosophy which lead to said passions and finally an adaptation of his web-series Svengali into a major motion picture.

 “I think it all can be boiled down to performance, where you get your buzz from. It’s very similar to boxing. I mean there’s nothing quite like going into the ring, or like going on stage, and it’s wherever you find that. I boxed at a young age and got a real buzz off of that. I would get so worked up fighting that I would vomit between each round, and I remember my mother saying, ‘Why would you put yourself through this every time?’ and I would say, ‘I have to, it’s something I have to test myself in.’ And it’s the same thing with acting and writing – performance. When you put yourself out there, you’re completely out there, and people can criticize you or say ‘What’s this?’ and ‘What’s that?’ and it’s a scary thing because you’re completely putting yourself out there for criticism. It’s something you force yourself through to a certain extent, and afterwards there’s an incredible feeling of accomplishment, ‘I did it.’ People say it’s the hardest thing, to give up- but it’s the easiest thing, there’s no two ways about it.”

Jonny’s latest project is one which would likely have compelled many others to give up and throw in the towel. Upon moving to London and discussing an idea for a web-series with his agent he carried on and didn’t look back – except for inspiration. The seed of the idea informed by the period of his professional life in the 90’s when music reigned, during this time his band “Played with some big groups and went to the States. Sony flew us to New York. We were a decent band - kind of at the height of the Brit-pop era.” The project in question is of course Svengali, a charming, tongue-firmly-in-cheek depiction of the music industry. Jonny plays a small-town Welshman-turned musical guru, whose earnestness and naivety is only surpassed by his expert-ear for quality music. Upon stumbling over an obscure band on YouTube that shows profound promise, he uproots himself and his girlfriend Shell (played by Vicky McClure) to London. Seeking the group out to sign them, he goes about trying to shape the next classic rock band, confounding the industry big-wigs along the way.