A NIGHT AT THE KIFF KAFÉ // FT. SWELLES, KARATS ALEXANDER & FRIENDS ON 5.2

After a month away touring the Western Coast, the beyond-talented singer-songwriter Jonny West returned home. For the tour, he and his friends rented a big RV and traveled to multiple cities around the West Coast, jamming in bars, local shops, and connecting with people old and new. His final show took him back to his local Kiff Kafé, where he invited out friends and loved ones to enjoy in the last show of his tour. The energy was absolutely amazing from the start of the evening; people danced together, laughed, and there was even a 30-minute breakdancing circle that I honestly could have watched for hours. At some point @seizerocka had to sit down to take a breath, and then literally rolled off the chair and back into the middle of the dance floor. There was delicious wine, the best tacos- @by.thefire & a night of incredible musicians. It all ended with the final song bringing everyone out from the crowd to center stage—where everyone danced, embraced and enjoyed as Jonny sang his last song. It was literally magic.

Prior to the show, I sat down with Jonny to recap his time away and also learn more about his hopes for the upcoming evening. Check out the interview & galleries below!

Rebecca: Your tour this past month featured a variety of West Coast cities. In addition to any of the stand out venue and show nights—What were some places that you got to see while you were on the road? Any special restaurants or foods?

Jonny: Starting off the rip with a good question! Lets see…there were really good tacos in Seattle—which was crazy to me. I can’t remember what the place was called.

Rebecca: What was kind of tacos did you have?

Jonny: Al Pastor-of course. Got to. And then, we did a foodie thing in Vegas. With this chef, he couldn’t be there but we did it at his restaurant— and they just wined and dined us. It was amazing. It’s honestly all food-based for the extra stuff. It’s the same as art— the same as music..Good food—it’ll fix your mood, it’ll warm your soul.

Rebecca: Exactly. Did you see any landmarks? Did you see the biggest ball of twine? Anything fun like that?—I know you saw the Golden Gate Bridge. How was that?

Jonny: The Golden Gate! Yeah. We were able to get the RV up to this little hidden spot and sleep and wake up to the Golden Gate view. It was beautiful. Yeah, it was really dope.

Rebecca: Echoing that- so with the RV, what was it like? Because you could have done it on a tour bus, but like what was the experience like for you doing it in the RV? I know your tour group was close family friends.

Jonny: Yeah, it was all just my good friends. The last tour I did, we spent all this money on these expensive hotels and like barely broke even. And then I was like, I don't need a nice hotel, you know, not yet anyways—

Rebecca: You combined the house and the car —

Jonny: Exactly. We were all making eggs every morning. It was beautiful.

Rebecca: That’s fun. I know that you added different songs and different renditions as you were going around, but did any cities have any specific songs that you really wanted to play there? Did the place you were at inspire the setlist at all?

Jonny: That's a good question. Yeah, Portland & Seattle for sure. They liked the doom and gloom ones. So I definitely whipped out some extra sad ones for them.

Rebecca: I saw there was a guy that came up and rapped while you played —did you have any other people that you performed with on the tour?

Jonny: Yeah, he's here tonight. Yeah, he's the homie.

Rebecca: Oh! Is he gonna rap!?

Jonny: No, he's not. But he's spinning though —Yeah, no just me and Swelles. But that was cool. He just pulled up and we just started playing and jamming— he spit a couple of verses over that. So that was fun.

Rebecca: Most of these shows you just do by yourself. So what was it like performing with a friend?

Jonny: It’s all just fun, you know what I mean? I don’t really do it for any other reason. If it’s not fun- I’m not gonna do it. That’s kind of everything tho. It was a blast. He’s dope. Swelles’ music is really good.

Rebecca: He does the foot loop thing! I think it’s so cool. Ed Sheeran does that, and he plays the whole show like that.

Jonny: He’s the new Ed Sheeran.

Rebecca: He should dye his hair red—

Jonny: Sorry!! Sorry ed!!

Rebecca: ‘Ed Swelles’!

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Rebecca: I first saw you on American Idol. And you did shows here, and you’re on tour—What’s it like going around and seeing the people? I know it’s one thing to have people in Florida being like, ‘hey I love your music’— but what’s it like to be at a bar, in a different city, where they are supporting your music?

Jonny: It’s a blessing. I met someone in Chico that knew me before idol— she found me on Sound Cloud. She was so sweet. She brought a friend and was like, ‘I found you on Sound Cloud and I found you again on American Idol. So I was really hype cause I knew more people were going to get to listen to you.’ So that was really cool— cause most of the people I meet are from Idol, or they are new or just found me on YouTube. But I’ve never met someone that was from way before.

Rebecca: That’s exciting.

Jonny: It was beautiful.

Rebecca: You were at the Kiff Kafé for a minute and now you’re ending it all here again at the Kiff. What does it mean to be back here and sharing it all with your community?

Jonny: It feels great. this is where I want to be. I would love to do a monthly thing here honestly.

Rebecca: And you were doing that.

Jonny: Mhm. Well I want to do every other while we plan the next RV thing. I want to go in the south next. Go up through Texas, Tenessee..

Rebecca: Jonny East-Coast.

Jonny: Exactly, there you go.

Rebecca: At the end of the show, what do you want people to walk away with?

Jonny: A t-shirt hopefully! You know that gas money costs— No, yeah, just memories. I can remember every live show I’ve ever been to and it’s always been just inspiring and wholesome. Cause it’s pure you know? You’re all sharing a moment — We don’t do the same set every night, but even if we did there would be one thing thats different. There’d be one little break, or pause or a breath and it’s never the same. It's just cool to share a singular moment with a bunch of people that can never be replicated—no matter what.

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& To wrap it up—I want to thank Jonny for taking the time to chat with me and the publication. I've known him & his music for years—from his American Idol days to seeing him perform at various venues, and now here at The Kiff.

Your talent was undeniable from the moment I heard your first song. It’s almost effortless the way it pours out of you— the best things happen when you have fun & you can clearly tell how much you love to create. I’m incredibly grateful to get to be a part of all of this and also to help to share you with the world in what ever way that I can. I'm excited to see all that you do next— Thank you for sharing your music and heart with us all. Every song, beat, and breath is truly 1 of 1- keep jamming.

-Rebecca

View Photo Gallery Below—Performances By// Swelles, Karats Alexander, Jonny West, and Hide Your Labels — Catch them all tonight at ‘Vino Y Vinyl’ at the Kiff on 5.27 by @beckshotz

To keep up with all of his latest projects make sure to follow check out his YouTube page for shorts, updates, music videos, etc. — HERE & Find him on Instagram @ohjonnywest !