Brian Rothschild on how The Lennon Bus is carrying John and Yoko’s legacy forward

Founded in 1998 by Yoko Ono and Brian Rothschild, the Lennon Bus was born to provide opportunities for students from all backgrounds to create original art and media, and to carry John and Yoko’s legacy forward. It all started, says Rothschild, after he tried (and failed) to get Yoko to green-light a John Lennon sample on behalf of Fugees’ Wyclef Jean.

Long before the Lennon Bus, Rothschild’s background was as a keyboard player and songwriter – one of his first jobs being an accompanist for different musical groups, shows and for a children's theatre, which led to him writing a musical for them to perform as part of a summer program for kids in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Later, he took an interest in technology, and invested in a studio in his house. It was then that he became involved with a successful management company that was overseen by music manager David Sonnenberg, who was responsible for the careers of artists including Meatloaf, John Legend, The Spin Doctors, The Fugees, The Black Eyed Peas and Kesha.

“I had been working with him in different capacities,” reflects Rothschild, “and we always talked about having songwriting contests that would give access to songwriters who didn't have connections in the music industry. That was something that came and went because we got a lot of unsolicited cassette tapes in those days!”

Rothschild was asked if he could try to secure the rights to sample a John Lennon song on behalf of Wyclef Jean: “In that capacity, I reached out to the lawyer that represented the Lennon estate and Yoko Ono, and got back a request to meet Yoko at her apartment in The Dakota to discuss this, which I really couldn't believe,” he admits. 

“I was really taken aback by that, and I was pretty nervous about it! I went in with my beatbox and the song cued up to where Wyclef wanted to use the sample, and sat down in the kitchen. Yoko came in and I had a sip of tea and I explained what the usage was. I played her that little bit of music, and that took all of 60 seconds. At that point, she just kind of sighed and then we sat there. 

"It was a little awkward for me so I just blurted out, ‘We've also talked about having a songwriting contest; what do you think about creating a songwriting contest with John's name on it that would give access to people who don’t have connections in the music business?’ She kind of sighed and we chit-chatted for a very brief amount of time, and then I was gone within about 10 minutes.”

Feeling like things hadn’t gone well, he headed back to his office, which wasn’t far from Yoko’s home. “I got a call and somebody buzzed me and was like, ‘Yoko Ono is on the phone’. I had already told them what had happened so I just thought that they were teasing me or pranking me. They were like, ‘No, you have to pick up – it really is her’. I didn't quite believe it. But anyway, it was her, and she said two things: ‘That first idea with the sample – no, I don't want to do that. But that other idea that you mentioned; let's talk about that’.”

And thus, the John Lennon Songwriting Contest was born in 1997, which is still going today. As Rothschild was getting that initiative on its feet, he had an idea: what if he put a recording studio on a John Lennon Songwriting Contest bus in order to drive it around the US to promote the contest?

“And that's what we did!” he smiles, although sharing that it was not without its challenges. “I had never put a studio on two wheels before, but I got some great help from some initial sponsors and we made it happen. For the time, it looked amazing, but it had some issues right out of the gate. The installer was very accomplished in putting in recording studios, but had never done something that was on a moving vehicle, so it took a while for us to get everything just right. But it looked great and it worked well enough that we launched it on Good Morning America. And we had Wyclef from the Fugees on – who did not hold a grudge,” he grins.

Last minute, they had the idea that it might be nice to invite some students from New York City public schools on board, and in the course of the two hours of the show, they created an original song that they revealed in the last segment.

“It went really well, and it was fun,” he says. “The kids had a great time and I got a lot of positive responses from the public, different organisations and school districts, the mayor of Boston, the superintendent of schools in L.A. and parents. Lots of people who were interested in it – teachers especially,” he notes. 

“It revealed itself as something that was even more than I originally expected. I put this together thinking it was just going to be there for the spring of that year, and then we would take it apart,” he says. “It wasn't going to be a forever thing, but I was smitten with it and I just couldn't let it go. After a few years, it spun off as its own entity.”

Indeed, since 1998, Lennon Buses in the US and Europe have impacted millions of students while delivering unique experiential programs at schools, colleges, universities, community events, festivals, and on tour with headlining artists. The bus visits schools, universities and university campuses, with a special focus on under-served populations.

“I, of course, feel like it's the greatest mobile production studio in the world,” he beams, “but what makes it special is having John Lennon's name on it and having Yoko involved in it too. Their legacy as social activists and proponents of peace and equity is extremely moving, so having the mission of the bus be dedicated to those that don't get as many opportunities as others might, is very important. 

"At this point in time, students, girls, young people of colour and from marginalised communities have a really small percentage of roles and careers in audio and video entertainment. A big part of what we've been doing with our partners, including Genelec and the NAMM foundation, is using the bus to introduce career paths to students who may not otherwise be aware of those career paths.”

As Rothschild mentioned, Genelec has a long relationship with the Lennon Bus, which first had a 5.1 system, but more recently installed a Dolby Atmos-certified 7.1.4 Genelec monitoring system which is made up of 8341As for LCR and surrounds, 8320As for ceiling channels and a 7360A subwoofer.

“We get to work with many of the best manufacturers of audio and video gear in the world who believe in the mission of the bus. As technology has evolved, the Lennon Bus has evolved.

Genelec has been an amazing partner for all of our studio monitors,” he enthuses. “They've been a big part of the success of the studios, which are fully professional. I could go on and on and on; it's become a passion project!

“The first installation was the 5.1 system,” he explains. “As Genelec was creating new generations of monitors, we were updating the studios. That's one of the fun, cool things about the studio and is one of the things that is important as it relates to the next generation. It certainly would be sufficient to just show up with a working studio – there's great value in that, but there's something extra special about showing up with the latest and the greatest that the industry has to offer so that the next generation can see the state of the art equipment. If we're talking about wanting to inspire career paths, we want to be showing what is most current in the industry.

“Over last summer of 2023, we began to do a major revamp of the Lennon Bus in the US, and a big part of that was putting in this Dolby Atmos mix room in our front studio with a 7.1.4 system. We did that and it came out phenomenally, and then we still have the 5.1 room – the bus is separated into two studios that you can separate with these really cool sliding glass doors,” he explains.

Rothschild reports that the students are always impressed by the high end system aboard the bus: “They are blown away! At this point, it's not like everybody who comes on knows what an Atmos system is, but that's one of the points of having this as a mobile facility: to have students be able to sit down, listen and hear in a way that they haven't heard before and to take turns sitting in the sweet spot and listening to what's going on.”

And it’s not just students hopping on board. Recently Wu-Tang Clan member RZA mixed his new orchestral composition in Atmos on the bus. “We had worked with Wu-Tang Clan and with RZA previously and he's been a big supporter of the Lennon bus,” nods Rothschild. 

“He had just finished working on an orchestral piece that he recorded with the Colorado symphony orchestra. He had those stems, so we went on tour with Wu-Tang last year and recorded some new Wu-Tang tracks. We really were focused on mixing in Atmos on our Genelec monitors for this new project called A Ballet Through Mud. It's beautiful. It's very romantic. It doesn't happen to be anything like a hip hop track at all. 

"That was the very first thing that we did. It was mixed by an amazing Atmos mix engineer named Pietro Rossi, who has been involved with the Lennon Bus for a long time. As we travelled with them, he was doing mixes along with our creative technology officer, Jeff Sobel, and then RZA would come on board regularly to go through the mixes and make suggestions. We have those tracks right out of the gate to share with our visitors and with students to give them that Atmos experience.”