Cabaret? Rock? Self-aware musical masturbation? We really didn’t know what to think of the johns when we first heard their debut, the johns WANNA Dance. “They sound like a movie band” was our first reaction, but we were quick to add, “And that’s not a bad thing”. The New York-based quintet’s full-length offers a buffet of burlesque-inspired dance punk rock disco. See why we were confused?
It comes as no surprise that two of the band’s members also have pasts as actors. One of them, guitarist Jaime, perfectly described the johns’ mix-match, “I think we’re a completely unique sound. We’re like no other band on the planet, because we come from five different influences to create something wholly new and fresh and awesome.”
Our friend Ron Sella recently wrangled the boys for a photo shoot, while our editor interviewed the boys to get a better idea of where they’re coming from. Read – and see! – the results on the next page. (Bet you thought we were going to say “after the jump”!)
Oh, and here’s their first single, “I Want It Bad”.
John, The Dreamboat Drummer:
Andrew Belonsky: You are from Milwaukee?
John: I’m originally from Milwaukee, but most recently from Ohio.
AB: Why did you come here – to New York?
John: I actually came to New York to do a program called Teach for America. I taught science in the Bronx for two years. It was crazy. That’s where I get my matching outfit. All those kids, they learn how to match an outfit before they go to kindergarten.
AB: And you are also in law school?
John: I am in law school right now, yes. It’s a good way to live off of loans while you’re a rock star. It’s keep you busy, but you don’t need a job. All I have to do is go to class on Fridays. Living the life!
AB: What was your first album?
John: My first album?
AB: Yeah, do you remember?
John: That I ever bought? It was Kris Kross “I Missed The Bus” single tape. It was pretty amazing. I remember bringing my boombox on the school bus and getting yelled at for playing “I Missed The Bus” in the backseat.
AB: Don’t you miss those days – when people carried around boom boxes?
John: Yes! I actually saw someone in the east village the other day with the big, double-d batteries! It was great!
AB: How did you get involved with these boys?
John: Actually Johnny, Javier and Derek were playing and they had another bass player and I was at a party with Javier. Actually, one of my teacher friends when I was a teacher was his girlfriend. I picked up a guitar at the party and for some reason he asked me if I played drums and I said, “Yeah, I’m the best fucking drummer you’ll ever meet in your life.” They had auditioned a bunch of drummers and they all sucked, but I was the least bad out of all of them.
Derek, The Percussion-loving Pianist:
AB: Where are you from?
DK: Virginia. Southwestern Virginia.
AB: Why are you here?
Derek: I’ve been here for fourteen years. I moved here right after college and when I’m not doing music, I’m a graphic designer. I design CDs for Broadway shows, I do editorials for magazines, Soap Opera Digest and TV Guide and things like that. I work for myself up in Harlem. I balance the non-stop graphic design work with lots of fun music playing.
AB: What was the last Broadway show you designed a –
Derek: Xanadu, which was my dream job, because when I first saw that movie, the main character was an album designer and I didn’t know that that was a profession one could have when I was a young nine-year old boy in Virginia. It was very cool to end up designing a CD for a movie that inspired me to be a designer.
AB: The circle of life.
Derek: Yes. Now I can retire!
AB: What was your first album?
Derek: My first album was Olivia Newton-John’s Greatest Hits from 1977.
AB: You really had a thing for her, huh?
Derek: I did.
AB: Do you think she’s a lesbian?
Derek: I don’t know, but I had a cousin who looked just like her – this is probably incestuous – but I had the biggest crush on her! She played the piano and sounded and played beautifully and it inspired me to want to play the piano, so I started taking lessons.
AB: Do you think the Keytar gets the respect it deserves?
Derek: No, but the keytar gets more audience woos and wows than anything else I could do. I bring it out mainly just for show – people like it! Plus, when you play piano you get trapped behind a wall: the keyboard and this allows me to step up and jump around with the guys. And it’s plastic, so if you drop it and if it shatters, it’s just plastic.
AB: How did you get involved?
Derek: I have been in a number of bands and I’ve been playing music for years and I wanted to play with other people, because working with other people motivates you more. And I needed to get out of the house. So, I went on Craigslist and they were looking for a hot gay drummer. I responded by saying “I’m not a hot drummer, but maybe you could use a percussionist and keyboard player.”
AB: Oh, right! You also play the tambourine.
Derek: Yes, the tambourine and the shakers and all that. It’s another way to get away from the keyboard. And it’s good exercise. And I have an accordion I’m going to bring out soon. The accordion definitely doesn’t get the respect it deserves.
Javier, The Bad Ass Bass Player:
AB: Where are you from?
Javier: I’m from Woodier, California.
AB: How did you get over here?
Javier: I actually went to UC Berkeley and studied dance and it was always in my mind to come out to New York, but after I graduated I saved up some money and came out here and was like, “I don’t really want to dance anymore.”
AB: What kind of dance did you do?
Javier: I did modern. It was really fun. I loved it and I worked so hard. It was awesome. I was in great shape and had all these powers. I was all flexible and shit.
AB: Not anymore?
Javier: They haven’t left – I haven’t lost all my powers, but I’m not as –
AB: Flexible?
Javier: Yeah – flexible or strong. When I first stopped dancing, my knees started hurting because they didn’t have the muscles. Everything was all held together really well and now when I start doing stuff, my knees – and I’m getting older, but whatever.
AB: How did you get together with the Johns?
Javier: What happened was that I was working at this Belgian bistro and I was doing barista and Johnny P. was working as a waiter. One day I was hanging out behind the counter and I was like, “I’d like to join a band,” so I walk up to Johnny P and I was like, “You’re in a band? You’re looking for a guitar player, right?” And he was like, “Yeah!” And I was like, “Well, I play guitar. Let’s fucking jam!” So I pestered him for like a week to set up an audition and the day of the audition was my boss’ birthday, so I took her out for some beers and I was like, “Listen, I can’t drink too much because I have to go play guitar with these guys and I want to make a good impression”. But I ended up just drinking – she was giving me tequila shots! – and I just got totally drunk. So, anyway, I’m really drunk and I go up and it was just not a good scene. I could barely hold it together. My mind was hanging on by a threat and I go up there and I meet Derek and the old bass player and get the guitar and start tuning it and then I was just like, “Alright you cock suckers, let’s play some music!” And that was it!
AB: So did you always play the guitar or is this a new thing?
Javier: I started playing my junior year of high school and then I’ve just been going on – actually, we played in the Viper Room two years ago and all my high school buddies came. I mean, I had seen them at Christmas, but they hadn’t seen me play and they were all like, “Dude! You got good!” I used to be terrible.
AB: You have a reputation for being a fighter. How many fights do you get into a month?
Javier: Not as many now, but it depends on how many times I go out. Basically there’s probably a situation every time I go out. If I go out with John R, he usually steps in and mediates on my behalf. He’s very good at that. Whenever I’m out with him, it’s okay. And I think I’m getting a little older now, but, you know…
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Jaime, The Thespian Guitarist:
AB: When did you come to New York?
Jaime: In 2001 to go to NYU.
AB: And what did you study?
Jaime: Acting.
AB: Acting… I imagine you incorporate that theatrical experience –
Jaime: Into my performance? Yes.
AB: Did you always want to be in a band? How did this come about?
Jaime: Well, I was in a band in high school. I’ve been in a band – I learned to play bass so I could play with my best friend, who’s a guitar player – and I was in a variety of different bands all through school, so it was kind of just a matter of waiting for the right moment. Bass players always get work and I knew sooner or later someone was going to ask me to be in a band.
AB: So what was your high school band’s name?
Jaime: Avid Cadaver. That was the name of the most successful incarnation.
AB: It’s a good name.
Jaime: It is a good name!
AB: How did you fall in with these boys?
Jaime: Well, I was in a play with Johnny – this weird avant-garde abstract thing – and from the first moment I saw Johnny, I knew that I wanted to be in a band with him. He walked in all late and was wearing a leather jacket and looking all fresh with his blonde hair and I thought, “That dude is a rock star, I want to be in a band with him!” He was forming a band, but he already had another bass player. And a year went by and the dude quit – he couldn’t handle the awesomeness – and then Johnny called me up.
Johnny P.: It’s a true story! He couldn’t handle the bar fights!
Jaime: He couldn’t handle the bar fighting, yeah. So, Johnny called me and asked me to go on their summer tour. I couldn’t say no to that, so I’ve been playing with them ever since.
AB: What was your first album?
Jaime: First CD: Spin Doctors, Pocket Full Of Kryptonite.
John: That was my first CD, too!
Jaime: Fun fact!
Johnny P., The Flamboyant Frontman:
AB: Did you always want to be a singer?
Johnny P.: Yeah – a performer in general.
AB: Do you set the tone for the – you guys have a very distinct sound. Is this collaborative?
Johnny P.: Very collaborative, definitely. I may sing a tune or a song with them and then everyone adds their own influences.
AB: And where are you from?
AB: I’m from right outside of Chicago – the second largest city in Illinois. It’s called Rockford. Cheap Trick’s from there. And me.
AB: And why did you want to come to New York?
Johnny P.: Um, because when I was ten I got a subscription to Spy magazine, which I had seen advertised on television and I wanted to be part of all the fun.
AB: So we really owe your presence to Kurt Andersen and Graydon Carter. And you came here when you were seventeen?
Johnny P.: Yes.
AB: What did you do as a seventeen year old in New York?
Johnny P.: Drugs. Sex.
AB: What was your first album?
Johnny P.: My first tape was Madonna, Madonna. My first CD was Information Society.
AB: So you were –
Johnny P.: A new wave asshole? Yeah, totally.
AB: Do you get back to Illinois often?
Johnny P.: Yeah. I love it. I love going home.
AB: And do you perform for your parents and friends?
Johnny P.: My parents have never seen us life, but they’re our biggest fans. My mom wears big fishnets. She’s hot.
AB: What’s your favorite city to perform?
Johnny P.: LA. I lived there and I like there and I have a lot of friends there. And people dance a little more in Los Angeles. And I like Philly a lot. Our last show in Philly we just grabbed people off the street. People are bored there. No, not bored. They’re more open-minded because there’s so much going on in New York that people get distracted.
AB: When did you live in Los Angeles?
Johnny P.: I moved out there for a year when in 2003 until 2004.
AB: And you liked it?
JP: I mean, I came back. I liked it enough. I did some crappy TV movies and was in a couple weird music projects and then moved back.
AB: Do you prefer to sing on stage or scripted work?
Johnny P.: I like singing in front of a crowd. Well, singing my own words. I’m horrible at covers.
AB: What do you do when you’re not performing?
Johnny P.: I’m always performing!
AB: What do you do for fun?
Johnny P.: I like to roller skate. I like to drink a lot. And I like to dance.
seitan-on-a-stick
Snooze, rent Matador, the movie!
Dawster
what a great series of interviews!
thanks, AB!