Sh*t & Shine: Johnny Foreigner

Oh how I love snobby indie bands who look down on others because they have shit shoes on. Seriously, I do this. This probably doesn’t make me a good person but whatevs! Apparently the brilliant Birmingham Trio who call themselves Johnny Foreigner also do this, and much better than I, waging a full out war against boys that turn up to gigs with “pointy shoes” on. Oh, I love you already!

Johnny Foreigner and I first collided in Liverpool Barfly. I nearly missed their set me and my friend somehow ended up in the wrong room! (Seriously, Liverpool Barfly is like a rabbit warren). It’s been a few months, and when I meet Junior, Kelly and Alexei in Oxford’s Jericho Tavern they’re attempting to put up a banner far bigger than themselves. We retreat to a nearby pub, adequately named ‘Jude the Obscure’ almost like a barometer of indie coolness in itself. They tell me all about their spellbinding year that appears to start and end with touring, touring and then touring some more; on a schedule that doesn’t appear to be lagging until far into the summer months when their album is due out; an album that has been produced by Fall Out Boy’s producer (but we’ll get onto that later!); in short, this twenty five minute interview, appears a well deserved lapse of time where they’re actually able to talk freely and be as cynical as they so wish.

Johnny Foreigners’ debut EP, ‘Arcs Across The City,’ received more trumpet blowing than probably any debut – ever. Were they surprised by its success? Alexei says, “We knew it wasn’t a piece of shit or anything and we all knew that we really liked it but having everyone else confirm it that was well…” Kelly chirps in, “I was thinking about this the other day because we’ve been asked this question before and before we actually started to get the reviews, I never thought once about getting a bad review. It’s really odd.” Alexei continues, “With a few exceptions, most of the reviews we’ve got have come from publications we don’t even read. So we probably wouldn’t have cared if they had slated us.”

They’ve just finished recording their debut album in the States, with infamous Fall Out Boy producer, aptly named ‘Machine’, we presume because he’s like one. Does the band feel that it is important to record with a named producer? Alexei says “It’s been a bit of a learning curve! We didn’t realise how much of an emphasis they put on production out there!” Kelly adds, “Machine really pulled out the right performances from us and captured our energy. Although we didn’t realise we were playing without energy before…” Alexei continues, “The album does sound amazing!”

Johnny Foreigner first came to people’s attention on ‘Road to V’. They would probably deem this unfortunate; since there is a resounding groan as soon as I bring the subject up. Are they glad they didn’t win then? Alexei responds, “The competition meant a lot more to the winners than it did to us, and they probably got a lot more out of it than we did. Conversely, we have a proper record deal, so we get more out of that than they do!” Kelly laughs “Miaow!” Saucer of milk Alexei?! We move onto the subject of band reality TV shows. Alexei comments, “We couldn’t have done something like mobile act unsigned and come out looking like a cool indie band. Whereas other bands that never really have that snobby indie factor, so it doesn’t matter!” Kelly adds “The band that won it is really commercial so they’ll probably do really well out of it. But that’s not us.”