{"id":3133,"date":"2011-08-06T23:14:16","date_gmt":"2011-08-07T06:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=3133"},"modified":"2011-08-06T23:14:16","modified_gmt":"2011-08-07T06:14:16","slug":"jenny-and-johnny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/jenny-and-johnny\/","title":{"rendered":"JENNY AND JOHNNY"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

JENNY AND JOHNNY<\/h1>\n

An indie-rock couple\u2019s unplanned burst of inspiration turns into a full-time gig<\/strong><\/p>\n

On I\u2019m Having Fun Now<\/em>, their\u00a0debut effort as Jenny and Johnny, indie-rock \u201cit\u201d couple Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice take on God, economics and Michael Jackson\u2019s chimpanzee, addressing these and other topics with wit and wisdom.<\/p>\n

The two began writing the album in late 2009\u2014\u201ca bastard of a year,\u201d as Rice sings on the standout \u201cMy Pet Snakes,\u201d a venomous back-and-forth between contemptuous lovers. The tune evokes Elvis Costello, an artist Lewis and Rice have recorded with and consider a major influence. \u201cI hear more of a Heartbreakers vibe,\u201d Lewis says, acknowledging a debt to Tom Petty, another rocker the former child actress, Rilo Kiley frontwoman and acclaimed solo artist has drawn on throughout her career. \u201cI think there\u2019s a place where early Heartbreakers and early Costello meet,\u201d Rice says.<\/p>\n

Whatever its reference points, I\u2019m Having Fun Now<\/em> marks the formalization of a musical partnership that began in 2006, when Rice played on Lewis\u2019 solo debut, Rabbit Fur Coat<\/em>. The Scottish-American singer-songwriter then co-produced and<\/p>\n

co-wrote songs for the follow-up, Acid Tongue<\/em>. Rice says the Jenny and Johnny project was \u201cborn out of a lack of planning.\u201d When he and Lewis began making demos, recording them in one nine-day burst of inspiration, they had no idea whose album they might come out on. \u201cWe ended up playing everything ourselves,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cIn doing so, it just sounded different\u2014and different enough that it warranted\u00a0a new band.\u201d<\/p>\n

With their mission defined, the twosome left Los Angeles for the Omaha home of Mike Mogis, the producer behind Rabbit Fur Coat<\/em> and Rice\u2019s 2005 Trouble Is Real<\/em>. The sessions dragged on for five frigid winter weeks, during which Lewis and Rice endeavored to maintain the spirit of the early demos. \u201cWe set the tone with that first week,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cBut sometimes you have to hunker down and pay attention to the details, and Mike Mogis is a really\u00a0detail-oriented person. We knew that we trusted him, and the songs really benefited from the brainpower.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis and Rice each contributed words and music, sometimes bringing in completed tunes, sometimes finishing each other\u2019s compositions. \u201cWe\u2019ve reached a level of comfort with one another I\u2019ve never achieved with anyone else,\u201d Rice says. \u201cWhen Jenny tells me something, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any ill intention behind it, or any of the B.S. that emerges when you become a band. We can basically tell each other anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Kenneth Partridge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JENNY AND JOHNNY An indie-rock couple\u2019s unplanned burst of inspiration turns into a full-time gig On I\u2019m Having Fun Now, their\u00a0debut effort as Jenny and Johnny, indie-rock \u201cit\u201d couple Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice take on God, economics and Michael Jackson\u2019s chimpanzee, addressing these and other topics with wit and wisdom. The two began writing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[2302,1062,10156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3135,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3133\/revisions\/3135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}