Meet John Treanor | Musician and IT Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with John Treanor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi John, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
Writing a good song makes me happy. And by good song, I mean one that I personally like and want to listen to over and over, haha. The good songs don’t happen every time I try, but by keeping at it, eventually one will pop up. It’s a bit like channeling something from the ether, I don’t know where they really come from but not just from me.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started playing music (piano) at an early age, but I didn’t want to play piano, haha. I gave it up when I was in my teens and really got into punk rock music and general debauchery. When I finally settled down and cleaned up, I knew one thing: that I wanted to play guitar, write songs and have a band. So, without formal training on guitar, I began to do those things. I did that for many years and then took a break. When Tombstones In Their Eyes formed, it was different, technology allowed my to record on multitrack at home, so I was able to put together songs on my own. I gradually found a sound and vibe that I liked and began to actually like my own songs. I am still not a great guitar player, but have found that some of those limitations have helped me to form a unique sound. My musical ears are good, my voice keeps getting better and I fumble around with creating the sounds that I want to hear. And now, after nearly 8 years of TITE, the songs continue to come and I have been able to progress and see/hear the songs change. We have been called psych rock, shoegaze, but at this point I don’t know what genre the music fits into. It doesn’t matter to me, as long as the songs are special. I have great people I work with and a supportive label, Kitten Robot Records. Our producer, Paul Roessler, is very important to us, as he helps to take the demos into the studio and expand upon the songs. I am extremely proud of what we have created and hope to continue to do this forever.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would definitely take them to Masa restaurant in Echo Park, one of my favorite places in the city. I would take them to our cabin in Crestline, where it is beautiful and peaceful. Being a homebody, we would be home a bit, haha. But if it was James, my band collaborator, we would visit Kitten Robot Studios, for sure, and make some music. We would also work on music in my home studio in the basement. Otherwise, we would drive around the city, listening to good music and visit random restaurants, coffee shops. I like to keep it fluid and do whatever comes to our mind at the moment.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
On the music side, I have to give a lot of credit to my old friend, James Cooper, who lives in Manhattan. I had stopped playing music for a few years, and a chance meeting (after 20+ years) led us to begin collaborating on music. James helped shape my songwriting and is my musical cheerleader, mentor and helps me decide which songs to focus on. Our cross country file sharing project turned into a real band, Tombstones In Their Eyes, and it has gone so far beyond what I ever imagined that it is hard to believe.

Website: https://www.tombstonesintheireyes.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombstonesintheireyes/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tombsinthreyes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TombstonesInTheirEyes/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzU9R4E3wcXBkfK__2Z6mGw

Image Credits
Deb Frazin, Karin Johansson, Julie Albright, Rachel Roessler, Paul Roessler