Joel D Amos
Sean Lennon is a multi-dimensional artist and spoke to SheKnows about paving a path all his own.

Sean Lennon has been emerging as his own cultural icon. He was born of the richest creative journey as the only child of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

His ingenuity, culled from parental stimuli spanning the landscape of his growth, stems from the seeds of artistic brilliance. As a product of their conservatory of love, the Lennon radiance is impossible to escape.

As for the political, the younger Lennon’s view is congruent with his father’s yet his hopes for its effect are slightly varied. He sees his art as that which goes beyond the headline ravaged whims of the world. Instead, Lennon’s creations mirror the best of his father’s, works that soften the stressors of the world to the tranquil, pleasing and serene.

SheKnows: I wanted to ask first, your most recent “Friendly Fire” project is a multi-layered endeavor, how was the cinematic and musical experience for you as an artist?

Sean Lennon: Well, for me, the idea of using media for expressing yourself artistically is kind of something I learned from my mother and my father. So for me, I think growing up wanting to be an artist, I always imagined myself sort of crossing over or mixing media and so it was a natural evolution for me to try to express in a filmic way or in a visual way. It just kind of seems like a natural sort of progression for me in terms of what I’m trying to do as an artist.

SheKnows: I would think that would add another layer to the artistic professional enjoyment for you?

Sean Lennon: All of it is really…I wouldn’t say the purpose of making art is to enjoy it necessarily. For me, (laughs) it happens to be the thing I enjoy the most. The purpose…I don’t even know what the purpose of art is really, I just know that is something that makes me feel satisfied in a way that other things don’t. That’s all I know, that’s why I like to write songs and films or draw. I just like to make things and somehow I find it gives me a feeling of satisfaction that I can’t find in other areas of my life.

SheKnows: If someone approached you with the right film or the right script, would it ever be something you would want to do on its own?

Sean Lennon: Yeah, sure. You mean as an actor or director?

SheKnows: Well, as a director, the creative force behind it?

Sean Lennon: Yes, definitely.

SheKnows: Growing up there are any number of avenues that you could have gone down, what were your feelings when you sat down to record the first record in 1998 (“Following Into the Sun”) about heading into the world of music?

Sean Lennon: I don’t know. I think I was really unprepared psychologically. I was playing music, as a musician, for years at that point already. That record was an organic, natural extension of my life at that point. I didn’t anticipate the degree that certain people would have an issue with me doing music in the way in which I did music. It was shocking to me. I was naive, very young and I assumed that everyone would understand me. It’s not like a chose to play music necessarily, because I already was, it was more that I was unprepared for the public aspect of it all.

SheKnows: Now that’s a natural position that most musicians report experiencing, but do you think a part of it is also frankly, because of your last name?

Sean Lennon: I think, yeah, I think I have a specific set of, I have a specific sort of negative energies to deal with that might be specific to me, but it definitely something that all artists have to deal with at one point or another. But I think for me, it’s just maybe more specific.

Next up, Sean talks about how his father John would view the world today

SheKnows: Yeah, speaking of your father, he probably would not be very happy with the political situation in the world right now, do you find yourself being pulled towards causes and what are some that you hold dear?

Sean Lennon: For me, I don’t really believe in political art. I feel in my heart the purpose of art transcends cultural and class and politics. I think something like the Sistine Chapel is something that goes beyond just being a Christian thing. It transcends its Christianity and becomes sort of a universal beauty. And I think that’s true of music and art and literature. I think when people try to use their art for political views, I think they’re art becomes smaller, less interesting. And so for me, as an artist, I’m trying to speak about things in a universal way and not be pedantic or small-minded and try to convince other people of my political views. But having said that, every day I live in sort of complete terror because of what I read in the newspaper and what is going on in the world. I’m constantly, as I think many of us are, overwhelmed by the sort of, mass psychosis that’s occurring. I believe in creating something beautiful. And that’s for me, if art has any purpose it’s simply beauty, the best art for me does that and when I listen a Beatles record or a Bob Dylan record for me, it inspires me to go beyond my personal feelings about being in this country or that country or a part of this or that political system. It makes me feel like a member of the universe, like a human being. I think that’s more interesting to me. I want to make art that’s beautiful, not political.

SheKnows: In its way that is playing a part in helping people deal with it…

Sean Lennon: That’s how I feel. Some people feel that it’s controversial if I say that because my dad is known as a political artist. But I don’t really believe that he was a political artist. I think some of his songs were political, and I think they were incredible because he was able to make art that was political and that wasn’t pedantic. But I think he was unique in being able to do that. Generally, I would say that my favorite songs of his are not necessarily political. And I wouldn’t even say “Imagine” is political. I think it’s…more just sort of declaration of humanity. I don’t find his political songs to be the ones that I go home and listen to. And I would say that of any artist. They’re not the ones that interest…that I crave in my heart to hear. The songs that I want to listen to are the ones that transcend specific cultural or political ideas.

SheKnows: Speaking of art, I noticed on your website and generally in the art work associated with there is a prevalent influence of your father and mother’s artistic skills in your art. Was drawing, painting and expressing yourself that way always something that was around the house?

Sean Lennon: Yes, definitely. I was brought up to see art as conceptual. It starts in the human mind and then it is expressed after that through a specific medium. Whether that medium is music or a piece of paper, or a piece of clay or film, is sort of superfluous and the thing that’s important, is the concept.

SheKnows: Now when you’re putting something together like this and given your mother’s vast experience and expertise, do you ever get or ask for her influence or ‘what do you think of this’ or is it something that she hears with the rest of us?

Sean Lennon: What’s interesting and this is the truth about my mother and I, is that we are so close and we still are, I grew up so close to her that I don’t even need to necessarily need to ask what she thinks because we really have…I know that if I write a good song she’s going to like it. There is not even a question. And she’s never recorded a song and said ‘what do you think’ to me.

SheKnows: Mothers and sons relate on that level…

Sean Lennon: Yes, she knows that I know and she knows what I think. I know what’s great about what she does and I think she and I basically know that if I do something good, she likes it. Because I come from her, in terms of my life and my artistic background, I come from the place she created.

SheKnows: It’s hard not to look at you discography and see how many times you’ve been involved with anything with your father’s music. What do you personally, as a songwriter, appreciate about his ability to craft a song?

Sean Lennon: Wow, when you talk about someone like my dad, he’s definitely one of greatest writers of his generation. There is no question about it. When you are that good, when work is that good, you have to appreciate every aspect of it. It’s the architecture of it, it’s like looking at a Frank Lloyd Wright building or a Lautner building, it’s master craftsmanship. Every aspect of it intertwines in a perfectly harmonious way. That’s what architecture is at its best and the architecture of my father’s music is on that level. I couldn’t pick any one thing because the point of it, the reason it’s master craftsmanship is because every aspect of it is essential.