Cliff Jones (musician)


Cliff Jones is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, journalist and educator who came to prominence as the singer with the Britpop band Gay Dad.

Early career

His career in music began in 1991, when he was asked to write for International Musician and the newly established Guitar magazine – both publications being part of the Northern & Shell Group, owned by Richard Desmond.
In 1993 Jones was asked to contribute music features to the UK style magazine The Face, men's fashion magazine Arena Homme Plus and Melody Maker. In 1994 he was asked to write for Mojo, eventually becoming a regular writer contributing cover features on Pink Floyd, Iggy & The Stooges and Sly & the Family Stone. Two of his more significant features were The Face 'Union Jack' cover featuring Blur in 1994 and an Oasis cover the same year. These are thought to be two of the earlier pieces on what would become known as Britpop.
Significant interviews included Bryan Ferry, The Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, Elton John, The K Foundation, Charlie Watts, The Beach Boys, Beck, My Bloody Valentine, Talk Talk, George Clinton, Les Paul, Leonard Cohen, The Fugees, Oasis, Blur, Happy Mondays, Fiona Apple, Nirvana, Will Oldham, Terence McKenna, Timothy Leary, Ringo Starr, Ride, Arthur Brown and Traci Lords.

Career as musician

Jones had been writing songs throughout this period. In 1996 the band Gay Dad was formed in London. In September 1997 they signed to London Records, but split up following a world tour in 2002. Jones went into songwriting and production bringing the Texas-based band, Young Heart Attack, to the attention of XL Recordings. He produced and co-wrote their debut album, recording in London and Austin, Texas. He went on to produce The Golden Virgins debut album - Songs of Praise - for XL and The Faceless Werewolves for the same label. Other productions include Scanners debut for DimMak Recordings, Love Bites, for Island Records, Performance for Polydor Records, Sia and The Applicators. Other musical collaborations include Brian Eno, Republica and Mark Owen.

Current activity

Jones continues to produce and song write for musicians, for film and television advertising as well as managing artists. He also sits on the media executive of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, judges on the annual Ivor Novello Awards, and remains vocal on the issue of copyright infringement on peer-to-peer file sharing networks and the issues facing songwriters and composers in the current digital economy.
He continues to write on all aspects of the music industry for The Sunday Times, The Times and the Financial Times newspapers, and lectures in composition, management and personal development at BIMM in Bristol and Bath Spa University.
In May 2018 Jones became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.