The Johnny Goth Interview

 It goes without saying, that Johnny Goth has seemed to bring a new and exciting twist into what is considered to be “alternative” and “indie” music this past year. Deriving from bands like The Cure, yet somehow more relaxed, Johnny Goth’s most recent album “Demons” is nothing short of groundbreaking. (Think Marilyn Manson/NIN on Ambien, in the best fucking way). “Demons” features hints of
trap-like drum beats, punchy synths, and dreamy guitars, all while doused in reverb heavy lead vocals.

I had the great privilege of sitting down with Johnny Goth in their very own practice space to discuss everything from their onstage presence and pre-show rituals, to their recording process and future plans.

This is the Johnny Goth Interview.

GG: Good Grief, D: Damien, T: Tino, J: Johnny

GG: So starting off, how long have you guys been a band, as a three piece?


D: It’s like five years right?


T: Yeah, like five years, but not as Johnny Goth.

GG: What were you guys before that?

J: Pile of Napkins

GG: Oh cool, yeah I didn’t know it was like
the same members and whatnot.


D: Yeah we had an extra member in that one.

J: We had a few alternating members.

D: There were!

GG: So I’ve seen you guys come up on a lot of Spotify created Bedroom Pop type playlists. But I listened to the new album last night, and it was odd I couldn’t really put my finger on what sort of genre it was. If you had to, what genre would you consider youselves to be?

J: I would say Overcast, trying to start a new genre.


T: I guess, yeah. I never really knew how to explain it.

D: You asked a tough question for number two!


J: Alternative, Alternative Overcast?


T: I feel like we get that question a lot. I don’t know, it’s like sort of Goth or something?


J: I guess it just kind of depends on the day.

GG: It’s probably better that way, so you don’t get pigeon hole’d into anything. I mean in the new album there seems to be a lot of 808’s and just rap influences towards the middle of the album. There seems to be a progression between “Demons” and your older stuff.

J: Yeah, we’re for sure experimenting a bit more.


GG: Who do you guys take influence from as a band?

J: The Cure for sure.

T: Little bit of Marilyn Manson?

J: Yeah definitely Marilyn Manson.

D: During performance definitely Nirvana.


GG: Yeah I guess being a three piece, that makes sense.

J: We’re borderline crossing into Marilyn Manson cover band territory, that’s the next step haha.


T: Yeah that’s the ultimate goal I think.

GG: So when it comes to making a new album from conception to final point, how does that happen?

J: I think it’s like just listening to whatever seems inspiring at the time, then using elements of those things. Whether it be old songs, or just songs we were into at the time. Then experimenting with certain elements of other songwriting, then just sort of developing that and letting it sit. The music just kind of forms from there.

GG: How long does it usually take for an album to be created and released?


J: I’d say it’s getting faster theses days because I’m getting more used using these programs. Basically just getting the music to where I want it to be from the start. Before it was just like recording shitty things then like hammering away at it until it’s something that works.

GG: What kind of programs do yo use?

J: Logic, we pretty much used Logic for everything up until “Demons”, and “Demons” I pretty much use Ableton for everything.

GG: That actually leads me into my next question: you guys seem to be really electronically based, how does that translate into your live show?

D: Backing tracks, lots of backing tracks.

T: Sometimes

D: And sometimes we just don’t peform them.


T: I feel like a lot of times we try to perform them with backing tracks, and we see what works and what doesn’t. Then at times we’ll try to do it without backing tracks and see what we can do with the song and see what we can bring into it with only three people. We’ll see what the most important parts of the song and try to make it more stripped down live, but still make sure it captures the same thing.

GG: And none of you guys play keys on stage right? It’s just Bass, guitar/vocals, and drums?


J: We’ve been thinking about throwing some keys up there. Just circling one of us on the keys, but we haven’t done it yet. It’s sort of just taking the song and turning it into a live band version.

D: It’s like we’re covering it.

T: We do have to do a lot of tweaking to figure it out. Like on Land of the Evil, the drums were a lot different in the recorded version. There’s a lot more of a hip hop influence. So we took away the backing tracks but it didn’t seem to work as well.


D: In the original Land of the Evil, it sounds like a trap song. I can’t replicate that! My hands aren’t that fast. So I put it into half time and started playing it like a regular drum beat. So it sounds good, it still has the Hip Hop influence to it without sounding like a trap song.

T: We also changed up the bass for it to go with the new version of the song.

GG: So this is a two part question: Do you guys get nervous before shows and do you have any preshow rituals?

T: We have a couple rituals.

J: Yeah we definitely get nervous.

T: We used to take a shot of Jack before each show, sometimes a few shots. I think that’s the key to success!

J: I used to pop a Xanax before or something, you know just a small dose. I haven’t had to do that for a long time now though.

T: Sometimes naps in the green room on the table.


J: I found that performing in a clean headspace, you know like not drinking or anything is actually, it’s easier to play the songs but as far as feeling comfortable up there, it’s definitely a little more uncomfortable.

GG: How did your first show go as Johnny Goth?

J: wasn’t it at Bridgetown? We played with Logan Archer from Cellar Door Tapes.


D: Xanax Tomboys.

J: Yeah Xanax Tomboys, and Wishbone, we played with them. That was a fun show. We also played with Joan of Sailboat Thief.


T: And Benno, VA.

GG: How long ago was that?


T: Two years? I don’t know.


J: Yeah like two or three years.

GG: With that being said, what do you guys have planned for 2019?


J: Trying to put out some more music videos, dropping a single and video hopefully next month. We’re trying to play more shows.