Johan Jeras

Why? Who? How? & What?

 As I joined a church called 'Church of the Nazarene' I was told about their founding father John Wesley. A fascinating story from the 18th century about the pursuit of faith, justice, love, and the inward an outward signs of it. In the sidelines his brother Charles was mentioned. When I heard it was a hymnwriter and a poet, that he was less well balanced compared to his brother but at least as passionate, I felt somehow related....     

When the time was right for a new artistic, spiritual and musical adventure it was Charles, his work and his story that got me diving into where I am now.                             

I envy people who can make art just for the love of art. I can't help being incurable religious and desiring to include this into my works. It somehow feels incomplete or even empty if I wouldn't. If there hasn't been any amount of faith through the years I wouldn't even be a singer/songwriter in the first place. So let's give 'It' a name and there is my greatest inspirer: God. 

It's a tricky business to name artistic influences or (at some level I hate this word) influencers. So many people made such beatiful music, wrote such beautiful songs or stories, crafted such beautiful art in all kinds of forms or are just indescrebably inspiring of themselves. Some of them are very famous some of them should be but aren't. As you would listen to the songs you could hear: folk, classical music, hymns, indie singer/songwriter or a beautiful Dutch term (I've no clue what the English word might be) called 'Fluisterpop'. Call it what you like, I sincerely hope you caught up in it and feel the breeze I felt during making these songs...

I suppose your not one of the many if you made it till here. But as Søren Kierkegaard says: “Truth always rests with the minority … because the minority is generally formed by those who really have an opinion, while the strength of a majority is illusory, formed by the gangs who have no opinion.”