\u201cI\u2019m just really flattered because I know what those types of songs from other artists mean in my life. It\u2019s also really nice to be able to have a song that when you start to play it, you can feel a certain thing kind of come over the crowd, and people sing along with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack Johnson says he still can’t believe the impact his songs create. Photo \/ Morgan Maas<\/p>\n
With Johnson, it\u2019s a case of the music reflecting the man. His tunes are reggae-tinged, laid-back pop, and feel as fresh as the ocean he loves to surf. They make you want to want to crack open a beer and break out the guitar. <\/p>\n
We love him here, and his own love affair with Aotearoa goes right back to the very beginning.<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s first three records were more successful in New Zealand than anywhere else in the world, by population standards. His debut album, Brushfire Fairytales, was released in 2001 and went 4x Platinum in Aotearoa. Two years later, On and On went 3x platinum. And 2005\u2019s In Between Dreams went 7x Platinum. Even his soundtrack to the 2006 film Curious George went Platinum.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think [New Zealand] was the first place we ever had a song be a number one song on the radio. It was the first time we started getting our music really spun on a radio station, and that was really exciting for us,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the beginning, you go to some places, and you might play a small room, and then you go somewhere else, and you got a crowd you can play to in a field or something bigger. New Zealand was one of those spots where we could really early on get a bigger crowd, and it was a real exciting place for us to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s first time in New Zealand wasn\u2019t under his own steam, but as the opening act for Ben Harper near the turn of the millennium. <\/p>\n
Things will come full circle later this year when it is Harper who joins Johnson on stage when he plays two New Zealand shows.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can honestly tell you I was thinking, \u2018someday I\u2019m going to be able to tell my kids I opened for Ben Harper\u2019,\u201d Johnson says, thinking back to where it all began. <\/p>\n
Jack Johnson is creating surf clips that comprise his new documentary Surfilmusic.<\/p>\n
The singer reckons he\u2019s in New Zealand every few years at this point. It is \u201cone of [his] favourite places in the world\u201d. <\/p>\n
And with the likes of L.A.B and Katchafire breaking records domestically with their reggae tunes, Johnson appreciates how big the genre is here and why it resonates with Kiwis. In many ways, we remind him of home. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was growing up as a kid, reggae music was mainstream on the radio here in Hawaii. Like Gregory Isaacs or Ziggy Marley, those were the biggest albums of the year,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt really at home the first time I went to New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he\u2019s seen a bit of Aotearoa over the years. If you\u2019re looking to complete the \u2018Jack Johnson tourist hot spot list of places to visit\u2019, he\u2019s happy to play favourites. <\/p>\n
Hot Water Beach is special. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe showed up, and it was midnight and [a] full moon. Just to have that experience in the middle of the night was so memorable.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while it \u201cmight be a bit too touristy\u201d, Johnson says one of the most fun days he\u2019s ever had was spent on Rotorua\u2019s famous luge.<\/p>\n
And chances are, if you\u2019re a surfer, you might come across Johnson in the waves while he\u2019s here. Honouring the rules of surf culture, the former professional is keeping his spot selection a secret.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times, people are pretty welcoming unless you start talking about the name of their spot. Then you show up, and they\u2019re not as welcoming. So, I can\u2019t tell you where I go,\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n
But don\u2019t be surprised if he comes up and asks to borrow your board.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been times where I\u2019ve even been at a beach and seen a decent wave and then tried to bum like a board off of somebody,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to [bring a board with me], and now I don\u2019t because I find it\u2019s pretty easy to borrow from friends, and it\u2019s just a lot easier to travel light.\u201d<\/p>\n
Surfilmusic chronicles how Johnson’s surfing passion fuelled his creative fire.<\/p>\n
Johnson is an advocate for clean oceans. At his shows, merchandise sales are donated to groups who are making the sea \u2013 and land \u2013 cleaner. When he last played here in 2022 at Western Springs Outer Field (it was pouring with rain, and everyone was covered in mud) the proceeds went to a local foundation that helped recycle plastic waste. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s something Johnson will continue to do, this time around with the help of his wife Kim, who was the one who encouraged him to look at causes he could shine his spotlight on as his fame grew.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife and I have been together since we were 18 years old, and she\u2019s my manager and partner through everything in life,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always been part of it ever since the beginning, bringing attention to great groups doing good work. We always have non-profit groups in every town we play, and money from the show always goes back to those local groups,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
And while it\u2019s been four years since Johnson released his last album Meet the Moonlight, his creative juices are always flowing. <\/p>\n
His most recent passion project is a new documentary, Surfilmusic, which traces how Johnson\u2019s early years making surf films with his mates became a foundation for his creative life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t actually start out to make a film; it was really that we had all these little parts because we were going to put out our old surf home videos online. We\u2019d kind of missed the chance to do that a while ago,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The project\u2019s been evolving for years, just like the life of the man behind it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m 50 years old now, so it was a fun time in my life to start looking back and think about what in the world just happened there for the last 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack Johnson, Ben Harper and John Butler are playing Auckland\u2019s Spark Arena on November 20 and Waipara Winehouse in North Canterbury on November 22. Visit livenation.co.nz for details.<\/p>\n
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald\u2019s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke\u2019s Bay Today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m just really flattered because I know what those types of songs from other artists mean in my…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[62784,2372,16392,156,2550,9517,5431,210731,293,4508,22259,8274,2882,5978,5430,117,111,139,12885,69,90,1629,100734,18694,6642,1961,208,13745,1316,102,80],"class_list":["post-420051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-affair","tag-board","tag-borrow","tag-entertainment","tag-even","tag-fans","tag-hageman","tag-hawaiis","tag-his","tag-hits","tag-jack","tag-johnson","tag-love","tag-might","tag-mitchell","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-november","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-rock","tag-rocker","tag-surf","tag-tells","tag-this","tag-tour","tag-waves","tag-when","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}