John Soltys was essentially a live performer under the name of Johnny Solstice due to people’s difficulty in pronouncing his name. Based in Leeds from 1986, he was a regular at the Grove Inn open mike sessions, with his Scottish accent and wild appearance, being famous for his rap poem Pop Mewsick.
He performed at various venues around Leeds such as Café Moderna with Jean Binta Breeze, and at Dr Wu’s opening for Jon Gomm, who called him a lyrical genius. He has also appeared many times alongside his friend Rory McLeod, from Stroud to Solfest via the Northern Green Gathering.
His performance and writing addresses political and environmental themes, and the darker side of the British establishment, from his experiences in central London in the late 1960s, as a runaway from domestic abuse. He has run creative writing workshops for Leeds City Council, and worked in professional travel and advertising photography, which he continues to this day to use in his art.
On first looking into the eyes of Johnny Solstice (John Hepworth)