New Groove Magazine Presents: Dirty Honey’s John Notto

Dirty Honey’s John Notto

  1. How did you come up with the band name ?
    Marc, our singer, came up with the band name. He was listening to Howard Stern interviewing Robert Plant. Plant was talking about his past project the Honey Drippers. Marc thought to himself that name had a cool, sexy, but also dirty connotation. Then he had a light bulb moment where he thought “wait… dirty…honey… DIRTY HONEY!”. We all liked it. The rest is history!
  2. Tell us about where you come from and how that reflects in the music.
    I come from the northeastern part of the United States. I was born in Massachusetts and raised in Maine. I’ve always been a fan of rock n roll music from the 70’s and 80’s which is a result of finding my mother’s record collection. Her record collection really sealed the deal for me at a young age. Also, Jam bands are very popular in the northeast, so for a while in my teens I thought (hoped) I’d end up being in the next Phish. But after moving to LA to pursue work as a backing musician, I fell back in love with the rock n roll lifestyle and image I had been so taken by at a young age. That image is much more in plain view in LA. I think that influence is present in Dirty Honey’s music and performance.
  3. Tell us about the song-writing process, how do you create your music ?
    In Dirty Honey, 90% of the time, the guitar riff is the first thing to happen. That gets Marc’s wheels turning, and very clearly sets the attitude and mood for what will come after. Though there have been a few songs that have started with a melody from Marc, that’s not as common. The sound of the band rests so much on a big riff with attitude that it can be difficult to get a melodically driven tune sounding like Dirty Honey. We’ve definitely done that with a couple of the songs, but it’s a slower process, I think. At least so far, anyway!
  4. Who has influenced you the most ?
    Jimmy Page was the first and foremost influence in my life on guitar. And Led Zeppelin was my supreme image of a real band. After that spark the others that I really took to were: Jimi Hendrix, Slash, Duane Allman, Angus Young, Brian May, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Trey Anastasio, and Derek Trucks.
  5. What was the first song you or your band ever wrote? Tell is if you performed it, trashed it, etc….
    Well, the first song Marc and I wrote together was When I’m Gone. And we’ve seen where that went! 😉
    (note from band’s publicist: “When I’m Gone” not only went all the way to #1 on Billboard magazine’s Mainstream Rock chart, but Dirty Honey was the first – and only – independent/unsigned artist to achieve that.)
  6. What song are you most connected to or proud of ?
    I feel the most connected to and personally proud of Rolling 7s. That’s purely a guitar thing. The chorus riff, especially, is a perfect combination of my love of blues, gospel guitar, and 70’s swinging rock n roll riffs. I’m especially proud of the solo as well because it straddles my love of Slash’s early guitar playing with Angus, I think (I hope? Haha, and Marc’s chorus idea is just so fun and feel-good. It’s just our ultimate summer party jam to me.
  7. Do you enjoy playing live and what do you enjoy about it ?
    I LOVE playing live. I love the energy exchange between the audience and the band, and I love how it gets bigger and more palpable the longer I am on stage. I also personally love slightly changing little things or adding quick little improvisations to our songs in spots where I just feel an urge to reach out and say “HEY!” to the crowd. Tastefully between the lyrics, of course. 😉
  8. What is next for the band ?
    The next thing for the band is to get into the studio and make this next batch of tunes come to life. We’re pretty excited about this next crop of children we’ve written. Scheduling has been difficult with the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are hopeful we can get in there this summer.
  9. Any additional thoughts or comments you would like to add ?
    This time in quarantine has made me really thirsty for live shows and touring. I hope it is having the same effect on music fans and rock n roll fans out there! I’ve grown very grateful, through all this, of the incredible year we had in 2019, and very thankful to the fans. To that end I would say, be clean, but don’t forget to STAY DIRTY.
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