Subhani Rawat meets Johnny Flynn to talk jazz, South American political authors and his forthcoming EP, Sweet William

“What kind of music does he play?”

If you’ve listened to Johnny Flynn, you will understand why this small question would precede an endless answer. His unique sound and style isn’t clear-cut, which in turn accounts for his appeal and diverse audience. He’s a bit of everything and has his own colourful blend of influences and thought, something that’s clear from the genuine enthusiasm he displays in Bristol’s offbeat Cube venue.

“I’m really into jazz. I started with Louis Armstrong and I’m slowly working my way through. I’ve got loads of Charlie Parker and just bought some John Coltrane records. There’s this church in San Francisco called The Church of Saint John Coltrane. They believe that all you have to do to gain enlightenment is to listen to his records. I’m not a Christian, but that’s a really amazing idea. The only teaching is to listen.”

Throughout the interview, Flynn casually slips in these bizarre little facts, all of which show a lighter side to him akin to the melody of ‘Tickle Me Pink’. His discussion ranges from the Kogi tribe and the psychoactive infusion of ayahuasca, to T. S. Eliot and the book he’s just finished, ‘The Savage Detectives,’ “a really incredible book by a Chilean writer called Roberto Bolaño Ávalos. He’s political, from a post Gabriel García Márquez era... more of a punk version of Márquez.”

On his approach to music, Flynn likes to keep things natural: “Every song I’ve ever written has arrived under different circumstances. There’s never anything similar about the way that they’re written, their influence or what has inspired it. They just happen free from process.” When asked about Sweet William, Flynn describes it as a project that he and bassist Adam compiled in his bedroom. Compared to his 2008 debut A Larum, “it has the same kind of voice and comes from the same place. I feel very behind the songs. They’re very much what I believe in.”

Since the launch of Flynn’s professional career in 2006, his fan base has grown dramatically; he’s received appraisals from The Guardian to Rolling Stone, who called his sound “[a] buoyant, spindly blend of fiddles, fingerpicking, soft-brass fanfares and pub-choir harmonies.” Despite his critical success and sell-out tour, when asked about how he’s coping with all the attention, Flynn somehow remains grounded and slightly bewildered by it all. “You know that concept of a frog being slowly cooked in a pot of water? That’s me.”