JACK JOHNSON, SCARS ON BROADWAY, ROGER WATERS TO PERFORM AT COACHELLA ’08 MUSIC FESTIVAL

Jack Johnson talks about why he loves playing Music Festivals as Coachella announces quite an eclectic lineup for 2008.

The lineup for the 2008 Coachella Music Festival was announced Monday January 21st at an event in Mexico City and this year’s headliners include Jack Johnson, Portishead and Roger Waters, who will be performing the entire Dark Side of the Moon album. Also set to perform at this year’s event, which takes place April 25th-27th in Indio, California are The Raconteurs, The Verve, Fatboy Slim, the new band from System Of A Down’s Daron Malakian – Scars on Broadway, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Dwight Yaokam, Hot Chip and My Morning Jacket to name just a few. Coachella promoters, Goldenvoice also broke two big announcements, the first was detailing their plans to make tickets and travel packages for Coachella directly available to music fans throughout Mexico as well confirm preliminary details for the inaugural All Points West Music and Arts Festival. The All Points West Festival is a three-day event set for August 8th, 9th and 10th, 2008 at Liberty State Park in New Jersey.

We caught up with Jack Johnson at a recent press conference, to get his thoughts on discovering new bands and new music when he plays at these music festivals.

“It’d be hard to do them every weekend. You know it’s nice to go on a regular tour, where you actually have the consistency of your soundcheck. Sometimes being in a controlled environment lets you stretch out a little bit because you know what you’re up against. I like doing these (festivals) at least a few times a year because I get to catch up with music that I’ve been hearing about but I haven’t heard yet. That’s the big thing for me is you get to keep hearing new bands.”

Another reason Jack likes to perform at these festivals is he gets to catch up with a lot of friends backstage who would otherwise be on tour during the Summer and he even admitted he turns down alot of radio festivals in order to perform at the bigger festivals around the world which bring in a diverse lineup, like Coachella.

“I kind of tried to stop doing a bunch of the radio ones that I could and I started doing more of the Bonnaroo, there’s one called Fuji Rock in Japan and there’s Byron Bay Blues Roots Festival. There’s these certain festivals around the world where there’s a really good feeling back stage and you feel like you’re part of a scene when you’re back there and you feel like musicians actually have half and hour conversations with each other. You know you’re not just walking by and nobody really cares about each other and stuff.”

Jack Johnson will be touring in support of his upcoming album, “Sleep Through the Static.” which drops in February. Also set to perform at Coachella will be Slightly Stoopid, Battles, Tegan and Sarah, Aesop Rock, Rilo Kiley, Sasha and Digweed, Junkie XL, Justice and The Streets among many others. All Points West Music and Arts Festival will be held on a historic location in New Jersey, which offers panoramic views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Manhattan skyline. Look for the lineup for the first All Points West Festival to be announced in the coming weeks.