Jack Johnson: The Rolling Stone Studio Live at SXSW

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Rolling Stone

Music, Music Interviews, Music Commentary

4.0 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2026

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jack Johnson joins The Rolling Stone Studio with Brian Hiatt live at SXSW to reflect on the unlikely path that took him from surfer to filmmaker to one of the defining singer-songwriters of his generation. He opens up about his new documentary SURFILMUSIC, revisiting early four-track recordings, the accident that shifted his trajectory, and the influences – from Fugazi to folk – that shaped his sound. It’s a thoughtful conversation about creative evolution, hidden intensity beneath his laid-back persona, and the moments that quietly changed everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I probably spend an unreasonable amount of my life with headphones on, often because I'm trying
0:05.4	to get an episode ready for you, the listener, whether I'm prepping for interviews or going back
0:10.3	through a discography for the fifth time trying to catch something I missed. That's kind of the job.
0:15.6	And my new headphones, the JBL Live 780s, are making my job a lot more fun. It's all about the sound. There's a warmth
0:23.7	and clarity that you don't always get from wireless headphones, spatial audio that really works,
0:29.5	and noise canceling powerful enough to zap out a busy office or a crowded street. The battery just
0:36.5	goes and goes.
0:39.1	It lasts up to 80 hours.
0:40.6	And when it's running low,
0:41.9	five minutes plugged in,
0:43.2	get you four more hours.
0:45.1	They come in black, white,
0:46.8	blue, green, and champagne.
0:48.0	I went with black.
0:48.7	It looks great.
0:50.9	If you care about how your music actually sounds,
0:51.9	and I have to assume you do
0:53.0	if you're listening to this.
0:54.6	Check out the JBL Live 780s.
0:58.0	I didn't come out being like,
0:59.1	hey, I'm the mellow guy.
1:00.2	It's just like, all of a sudden it was funny.
	...

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