Jonny Greenwood says music “should be above and beyond political concerns”
Jonny Greenwood has made a statement about the role of politics in the creative industry, insisting that the two should remain separate.
The Radiohead guitarist has been at the heart of the debate surrounding politics and art, due to his longstanding links with Israel. He is also married to an Israeli artist, Sharona Katan, whose nephew served in the Israel Defense Forces and was killed in the Gaza war.
Speaking to The Times, Greenwood first admitted his hesitancy about speaking on the topic: “It’s very hard to talk about this,” he admitted. “But I think music and art should be above and beyond political concerns.”
Greenwood went on to reference a previous album he made, 2023’s Jarak Qaribak, alongside Israeli musician Dudu Tassa. The pair were targeted by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement for playing in Tel Aviv during the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
As a consequence, their shows in Bristol and London were pulled after the venues received threats; at the time, Greenwood stated that “intimidating venues into pulling our shows won’t help achieve the peace and justice everyone in the Middle East deserves.”
In the new interview, Greenwood shared, “You know, I made an album involving Israeli, Iraqi, Egyptian, and Syrian musicians? If I’m supposed to stop working with musicians because I dislike their governments, then I wouldn’t work with any of them.”
He added, “The fact is, what defines us as musicians isn’t our nationalities. But that point doesn’t seem to get through.”
Recently, Greenwood’s music was used to soundtrack the political documentary on the First Lady of the United States, Melania. As a result, Greenwood asked for a section of music originally from the film Phantom Thread to be removed from the project.
His representative shared, “Universal [Music] failed to consult Jonny on this third-party use, which is a breach of his composer agreement.” Producer Marc Beckman deemed this a “blatant lie.”
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