Jon Courtney- Pure Reason Revolution Interview
I recently had the pleasure of talking with Jon about the latest Pure Reason Revolution album Terrifying Angels, his future plans and touring.
Here's what he had to say..
JWS Good day Jon thank you for talking time out totalk with me.
JC - My pleasure, thank you for your interest in the band
JWS - ive heard the album,, I actually listened to it on the train to Glasgow recently, I really enjoyed it.
JC Well the album comes out after a difficult time for me, We had to have our dog put down as he had cancer, and the grieving process was far harder than I thought it would be, He was a lovely dog but you can't see them suffer can you!? That really affected my Wife and myself in unexpected ways Ways that we are still coming to terms with the loss, We may get another dog when we are ready,A rescue one though I think it will be best to give another dog a chance for a good life., plus I had a diagnosis of OCD i was coming to terms with too.
JWS We have a rescue dog - Ted he is a 6 year old pomeranian we got him from Wales, he's a pain at times and is forever barking ( that's the breed though) We wouldn't bel without him.
So tell me about this new album,
JC Well with the loss of the dog the last album Coming up to consciousness was a far softer more introspective affair, after a while I got angry again and songs started pouring out of me again, With spin like fire and Haywire heart being the first to emerge, the albums theme is Isolation and the advent of AI and the potential inherent dangers that represents for humanity. It is possibly a little dark for all that we've been through i must admit, it felt somewhat Cathartic to make the album.
The album also features two longer tracks for PRR, namely Terrifying Angels and Hold Your Wrath where we have and take the opportunity to stretch out the music a little more, it still retains the mix of heavy and softer tones though, with lots of melody and harmoniescin amongst all the metallic crunch of the guitars.
JWS Tell me about the upcom8ng tour in November?
JC Yes well we are touring the album, although we will be mainly playing The Dark Third album we will be doing several tracks from this latest album alongside variou other PRR greatest hits as it were, we have kyros supporting us, I'm looking forward to it really,
We got a lot of emails asking why we aren't playing their town,However We can only play shows if it is feasible for us to do,touri7ng isn't cheap and folks are reluctant to shell out upfront for shows these days unless it's Rush or Oasis or Taylor Swift etc small bands like us often fall between the gaps, but I hope this tour will be successful for us,, After the UK we have some European dates then possibly the USA.
JWS So who is in the band these days?
JC The core is myself on guitar and keyboards Annicke Shireen on vocals and Ravi Keseveram on drums we will also have a few other musicians around to help us., Cloe Alper may do some dates we're not entirely sure which though yet.
Greg Jong is in America so he is unlikely to be able to do these shows, He co-wrote several track for the album.
It's is much harder now than when I started out i was a young 17 year old who'd moved to London from reading with my band Gel, We'd been signed by Seymour Stein of Sire records, releasing their sole album Sparkly Things in 2000, PRR were formed sometime after that releasing Third Third in 2006.
Back then it was all fanzines and getting press, nowadays everything is online and its harder to be seen and get noticed, it's is really hard going at times, However I believe in my music and hope others do too.
After they originally split up in 2011 Jon and his wife moved to Berlin where they currently reside, Berlin has a rich musical heritage with David Bowie's Berlin trilogy especially and the likes of Karl Schulze and Tangerine Dream both hailing from there.
Berlin is a nice city, rents are affordable, Tfhere are good places to eat out and travel is straightforward enough, we find it cheaper than the UK especially London.We really like it here now.
JWS Tell me about Bruce Soord ( Pineapple Theif involvement with the album
JC Bruce is a very talented man in his own right but it is his mixing skills that set him apart from others, Bruce as a musician understands and accommodates my desire for certain Sonic Tweaks to the sound, he understands what I am seeking to achieve and he is happpy to help me realise that musically. The sound of this album is what I was striving for.
JWS Have you thought of enlisting Steven Wilsons help at all?
JC I know Steven although we've not been in contact fir a while as he has his own things going on,but maybe I should reach out to him again and see if he would be open to a collaboration or something, I will do that I think.
JWS You teach English now don't you?
JC Yes my degree was in music, it was a degree of various blocks like sound engineering and production skills nothing to do with English but when we came out here I did a course that enabled me to teach English as a second language.
After the solitude of woiurking in the studio, I find it really useful to get a fresh perspective on things, and teaching companies and organisations employees English I get that from those interactions, plus it helps pay the bills etc.
JWS Well Jon my time has gone so thank you for talking with me today I appreciate it hopefully I will see you in Bilston in November.
JC Thank you jon for talking with me I appreciate it.
Author John Wenlock-Smith Saturday 2nd October 2026.