Jonny Buckland

Jonathan Mark Buckland (born 11 September 1977) is an English-born Welsh musician and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Pantymwyn, he began to play guitar from an early age, being influenced by acts such as My Bloody Valentine, the Stone Roses and U2. Noted for sparse and delicate arrangements, he uses slide bars and delay pedals with a stylistic timbre that has led to comparisons to the Edge.

Buckland has a 2:1 degree in astronomy and mathematics from University College London, where he formed Coldplay along with Chris Martin, Guy Berryman and Will Champion. The band signed with Parlophone in 1999, finding global fame after release of Parachutes (2000) and following records. He has won seven Grammy Awards and nine Brit Awards as part of Coldplay. Having sold more than 100 million albums worldwide as of 2021, they are the most successful group of the 21st century.

Early life

Jonathan Mark Buckland was born on 11 September 1977 in Islington, London, England. He is the second child of John Buckland, a former teacher at Holywell High School, and his wife Joy. The family moved to Pantymwyn, Flintshire, Wales when he was four years old. He attended primary school at Ysgol y Waun and learned his first guitar notes and chords there. His secondary education was then held at Alun School, where he took A-level music lessons. Teacher Margaret Parr said it was a "pleasure teaching him", since he was "always extremely interested" on the subject. She also commented Buckland had particular strength for composition.

During his youth, the guitarist listened to many Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton records owned by his parents. He was then encouraged to attain further experience on the guitar by his brother Tim, who introduced him acts like George Harrison, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Sonic Youth, the Stone Roses and U2. Following the former's reunion in 2011, Buckland declared at a press conference it was "fair to say that their first album was the reason I started playing a guitar".

He used to have piano lessons when he was seven years old, but did not enjoy them. At 10 years old, the guitarist was part of a rap group and experimented with computer music by using beats consisted of dog barks. Buckland then joined the Scouts when he was 11 years old and mentioned still liking the uniform in 2008. Moreover, the guitarist stated that in one night when his friends were playing on a field, they had an encounter with an angry sheep and he was attacked multiple times. The experience caused him to not wear any wool or eat lamb since then. In 2019, he remembered taking a holiday job at Daily Post, placing photos of houses for sale in the pressings. His education was continued at University College London, where he attained a 2:1 degree in astronomy and mathematics and formed Coldplay with Chris Martin, Guy Berryman and Will Champion.

Career

Coldplay

Buckland was responsible for co-founding the band along with Martin; they met each other during UCL's orientation week in 1996. Both resided at the university's Ramsay Hall, where Champion mentioned there were "a lot of musicians and a lot of show-offs", but "Jonny was not one of those show-offs", he further added that "the bloke who turned out to be the best guitarist out of all of us was the bloke who had his guitar hidden in his cupboard and who never got it out or was pushy about his guitaring". Martin stated meeting Buckland was "like falling in love". They began to practise and write songs together in early 1997. Berryman had already joined them by November of that year, with the trio being called Big Fat Noises. Champion then completed the performing line-up in 1998.

The previous group name was dropped when Champion scheduled their debut live performance at The Laurel Tree only a few days after he became part of the band, with Starfish being chosen "in a panic". In Coldplay, Buckland is usually regarded as quiet, friendly, unassuming and "the wise owl" of the group. During an interview, Martin commented spending his "entire life trying to drag him out of the shadows, because I know that he is a guitar hero – to me anyway". The band used his bedroom for rehearsals in their early years, being near the neighbors who "were able to tolerate the noise". They stated in 2019 that Buckland is usually the first to either disapprove or give his input on Martin's initial song ideas, although he was responsible for starting tracks like "Adventure of a Lifetime" on his own, which was released as the lead single for their seventh album A Head Full of Dreams (2015). Despite not being the group's most prominent backing vocalist, he can be heard in many songs and provided lead vocals in "Don't Panic", the opening track of Parachutes (2000).

Other projects

Buckland guest starred on Ian McCulloch's third album, Slideling (2003), by playing guitar in the songs "Sliding" and "Arthur". In the following year, he made a cameo appearance on the comedy horror film Shaun of the Dead (2004) along with Martin. They later recorded "Beach Chair" for Jay-Z's ninth album, Kingdom Come (2006), and were featured in Slashed (2010), an independent horror film directed by Northern Irish band Ash. He is also known to support food and wine magazine Noble Rot and became an investor in their namesake restaurants. In October 2019, the guitarist assisted Jodie Whittaker in her cover of "Yellow" for BBC's Children in Need album along with Champion.

Musical style

Equipment

Buckland usually uses a Fender 72' Telecaster Thinline, which is known to have a fuller sound compared to the usual models. He is occasionally seen with Jazzmaster, Jaguar and Gibson ES-335 guitars as well; the latter was used when Coldplay recorded A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002). While he has two Fender Hot Rod DeVille amplifiers, there are conflicting reports on whether they are the 2x12 or 4x10 version. His pedals include Fulltone OCD, which is used for boost; the Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, Pro Co RAT (vintage model) and Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, which are combined for distortion; the BOSS RV-3 for reverb; and BOSS TR-2 for tremolo. He also makes extensive use of the Line 6 DL4 pedal, while a MXR Phase 90 model can be heard in "Fix You". His favourite Coldplay guitar riff is "Hurts Like Heaven".

Influences

Noted for sparse and delicate arrangements, Buckland affirmed that "I've never gone in much for the solos. I was always more interested in atmospherics. Listening to bands like Mercury Rev, My Bloody Valentine, or even the Verve, the way those guitarists played. There's no Van Halen in me". His use of slide bar have a stylistic chiming and ringing timbre which has led to comparisons to the Edge, who commented during an interview at Glastonbury that "Jonny is an inspiration to guitar players everywhere, I am proud to know that I was one of his main influences. It makes me feel like a real rock star". In 2020, he shared on social media playlists with some of his favourite tracks and artists from each decade, including the Velvet Underground, Carole King, Joy Division, Talking Heads, Kate Bush, Donna Summer, Björk, Beastie Boys and various others.

Personal life

According to The Times, Buckland has an estimated wealth of £113 million as of May 2022. He is a lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur. After being vegetarian for a few years, he gave up while traveling to Japan, where he was not able to communicate his options to the waiters and was served beef, finding out "he really liked it". However, he still does Meat Free Mondays along with his bandmates. In 2007, his older brother Tim founded alternative rock group The Domino State, which opened for Coldplay on Viva la Vida Tour (2008–10). He married jewelry designer Chloe Lee-Evans in November 2009. The couple have two children.

The family currently resides in the Hampstead area of Camden, London, but they own two apartments in Manhattan, New York as well. Buckland purchased the first of them for $3.4 million in 2008, while the second was bought for $4.5 million in 2016. He is godfather to Martin's daughter Apple along with English actor Simon Pegg. During an interview for BBC Radio 2, he mentioned that his favourite non-musical activity is reading books. His great-grandfather formed a band named Vic Buckland's Dance Orchestra between the late 1910s and early 1920s, a photograph of them was used as an inspiration for the album cover and vintage aesthetics seen on Everyday Life (2019).

Discography