Episode 26: Interview with Jonny Polonsky

The DLR Cast

This week Darren has a great interview with the supremely talented and awesome singer/songwriter Jonny Polonsky. Jonny talks about first seeing David Lee Roth and Van Halen on MTV when he was 8 years old, learning Van Halen songs on guitar, Dave as a cultural influence, pursuing passions, the rock & roll lifestyle that used to be versus today, and much more. Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in suburban Wilmette, Illinois, Jonny Polonsky began writing, recording and self-releasing homemade cassettes as a teenager. Filled with smart rock and pop melodies, these cassettes landed in the hands of influential artists he admired, like Reeves Gabrels, Zander Schloss and Frank Black, who helped Jonny do a demo tape and find a manager. Soon the tapes got him a deal with Rick Rubin's American Records, and his debut album "Hi My Name Is Jonny" was released in 1995. Subsequent albums and musical projects included Jonny working with the Brad Wilk and Tim Comerford (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), Maynard James Keen from Tool, including joining Keen's side project Puscifer. As a studio musician he's appeared on albums by Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, The Dixie Chicks, and Pete Yorn. His latest album "Power and Greed and Money and Sex and Death" was released in 2020, recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown in his aparment. For more info visit JonnyPolonsky.com.