John Mitchell (born 21 June 1973)[2] is an Irish musician and record producer. He primarily plays guitar and has been a member of the bands It Bites, Arena, Frost*, Kino, A, The Urbane and Asia, as well as pursuing a solo career with the Lonely Robot project.
Early life and career
Mitchell describes seeing Eric Clapton perform the song "Miss You" from his 1986 album August at a Prince's Trust concert as "the single defining moment that made me decide to put down the violin and pick up a guitar".[3]
Influenced by guitarists such as Jeff Beck, Trevor Rabin and David Gilmour,[1] Mitchell mainly sings and plays guitar, but is also a multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the current frontman for British prog-pop band It Bites (having replaced original singer and guitarist Francis Dunnery in 2006).[4] As of 2015, he has been releasing records and touring with his solo project Lonely Robot, whose debut album Please Come Home was released on 23 February 2015.[5] and featured a number of guest artists including Peter Cox, Steve Hogarth, Jem Godfrey, Nik Kershaw, and British actor Lee Ingleby. A second album, The Big Dream, was released in April 2017; [6] a third, Under Stars, followed in April 2019.
Mitchell has also played guitar for a number of other progressive rock bands including Arena, The Urbane, Kino, Frost*, and the John Wetton band. In 2008, Mitchell was drafted in to join A,[7] playing bass in place of original bass player Daniel P. Carter to support The Wildhearts on their December UK tour, as well as a 10-date headline tour in 2009. In 2012, Mitchell toured with Martin Barre in his band "New Day", singing lead vocals on many songs by Jethro Tull.[8]
In 2024, Mitchell joined Asia as the guitarist for the band's Heat of the Moment tour.[9]
Mitchell is also the co-owner and co-founder of White Star Records, an independent record label which focuses on prog rock artists.[11] Mitchell released an EP under his own name, The Nostalgia Factory, on White Star Records in 2016.
Mitchell primarily uses Cort Guitars – white and black G254s on stage, and for recording, a tobacco G210 and a blue/black G290. He also plays an Alvarez Yairi acoustic guitar in the studio, and a PRS Classic. Mitchell's rack set-up consists of a Marshall JMP1 Preamp with effects being produced by a vintage Korg A3 effects unit. This signal is then amplified by a Marshall Valvestate 80/80 power amp to a 4x12 Marshall cab.
Mitchell has since used a Boss GT1000 ran directly into the PA system; this can be seen on photos during the Arena tours.[14]
