Johnny Foreigner

Profile: Johnny Foreigner
Words: Mischa Pearlman

HERE’S JOHNNY

Johnny Foreigner aren’t, as their name may imply, a band from far away shores. They – they being a three piece who go by the names of Alexei, Kelly and Junior – are actually from Birmingham, or nearabouts.
“We never really thought about our name, to be honest,” says Alexei. “We just picked it because all my neighbours are old people, old biddies and stuff and Johnny Foreigner is their general term for – and it’s not really directed at a specific race or anything – this vague threat that’s going to come and take over their lives somehow. So it just suited as a band name. But now as we start to meet people who aren’t English and explain the name we kind of have to cringe a bit. But it’s kind of cool, because you can’t really tell what kind of band we are just from the name. At least I hope you can’t.”
You can’t. Which is why the name suits the band very well, especially because, as an English band from pretty much the centre of the country, their music couldn’t be much further from their geographical location. Sure, their influences all seem to come from across the Atlantic, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly which of the fifty states, and who within them. Which is just how they like it.
“We’re really unconscious in the way we write songs. We never sit down and say, ‘We want a song to sound like this’. We just listen to loads of stuff. I mean, I can listen to it and pick out bits that sound like all the different bands we listen to, but I think a lot of the people that listen to the record might not really know about Cap’n Jazz or The Dismemberment Plan or anything like that. So the stuff we nick of those bands is fresh to them!”
There aren’t many other British bands who would namecheck either of those two bands. So not only are Johnny Foreigner making music that sounds, especially for England, exciting and new, but they’ll also hopefully turn an unsuspecting public’s ears onto some other great music, aside from the usual, boring suspects. That’s something they’d be very happy to see happen – even though, really, they’re meant to be plugging their own band.
 “If we succeed in getting more people to buy Cap’n Jazz reissues,” laughs Alexei, “the world will be a much better place!”
‘Arcs Across The City’ is released on Best Before on November 26th.