PA ~ When and how did "Johnny Philko" start?

[Mike]   We used to be called The Derelicts, and did originals and Classic Rock mixed together. We did this on and off for around 20 years. We were more interested in doing originals though, and when we had an offer from Isis Records in Sacramento, California we jumped at the chance to record a CD and perform originals. When signing with the label, we discovered that there were a lot of bands around the U.S. that were calling themselves The Derelicts, so we decided the easiest thing to do was to change the name of the band. So Johnny Philko has only been around for the past year or so, but we have actually been together for a long time.
 

PA ~ Is Johnny Philko an actual band member/fan, or just a unique name for the band?

[Mike]  When we decided to change names we spent 3 months trying to come up with great names for the band. I think we had a list of around 200 names that we liked, but we did searches on the names and found other bands in the U.S. using them. It could have turned into a legal hassle that we didn't want. If we were just going to be a local band, it wouldn't have mattered so much, but since we are trying to do a national thing, it matters. We wanted a name that no one was using anywhere and we wouldn't have to fight over it. The idea for name came along as sort of a combination of things, I was thinking that the name Johnny was an All-American name that could be incorporated into the band name, and we have this old refrigerator in the rehearsal space that we keep our beer in, I was reaching for a beer and saw the Philco name on the fridge and just blurted out the name of Johnny Philko! :-) We changed the spelling a little bit, everyone agreed on it and we found no one else using it. So we adopted the name and I filed and received a trademark for the name.

 

PA ~ What inspires the band to write and present music with a political message?

[Mike]  Well, so far I have been the one writing most of the tunes, and I've always written songs about issues I care about. So it seemed logical to continue in that vein. I really don't think anyone cares, or should care about what I feel like when I'm in love, or depressed, or about anyone's sexuality, so I don't write about things like that. It is our hope that someone may like some of our songs, and then pay attention to the lyrics enough to start thinking about some of the issues themselves.

 

Basically, we are trying to stimulate people into thinking about issues for themselves.
The mass media of today seems to be controlled by big business and the government. The government seems to be controlled by corporate America as well. We'd like for people to turn off their t.v.'s and start thinking about the issues themselves instead of listening to pre-calculated sounds bites from their t.v.

We really don't align ourselves with any one particular political party, but deal with issues on a one by one basis. I think we represent the average American working man/woman. A lot of people are pretty fed up with the way that things are going, but have jobs that they spend 8-12 hours a day at 5-7 days a week. When they get home they have to start preparing to go back to work, and do repairs to their cars and homes, then try to squeeze in a little time for their family. They really don't have time to dig into issues or think about anything except where the next rent or mortgage payment is coming from. So unless somebody does something, nothing will ever change, except for the worse.

PA ~ Who are your musical influences?

[Mike]  As a band, our musical influences and inspiration are all over the map. From Frank Zappa to Grand Funk, to Jefferson Airplane & Hot Tuna. I think we all love any music that is well done.

 

PA ~ Who are your political or philosophical influences that inspire your music?

[Mike] Geez, I really don't know where it all comes from, but I certainly have an abundance of political and philosophical opinions!! lol!! I have always had a deep seated rebelliousness about me. I think a lot of it comes from able to look past the obvious and look at the root of issues and plain old simple logic. With these two tools, you can see an awful lot of things that aren't right with society and politics as it stands.

 

The mass media and television in particular are a big influence on my writing. If you critically watch television commercials, you can see that they are mis-leading and lying about their products a lot of the time. Society has accepted this as standard practice, and it doesn't even phase them anymore. Even my 5 year old daughter points out these things during cartoon shows. The news is just as bad or worse, they skew their reporting to whichever way is in their interest at the time. Sometimes they will give 30 seconds to one side of an issue, if any time at all, then they will spend 5-10 minutes on the other side of an issue, using their wording to confuse the public into thinking one way or the other. I always thought that news reporting was supposed to be impartial, and uncommercial. If you casually watch the news reports and listen to their pre-calculated sound bites without putting any effort into thinking about them, you will be grossly mis-lead.

 

As a matter of fact, I am going to put up some links to alternative new sources on our "Issues" page, as soon as I finish this interview!

 

PA ~ You were voted the #1 patriot band through Liberty Tree radio, how is the band received at shows?

[Mike] Well, some people get it and some don't. We've played at places where everyone loves us and comes and talks to us after the shows. At some places, the people come to get drunk and pick up women or men and really don't care what any band is doing. A lot of the time, from the stage, I can see the light bulb come on for some people when they realize what we're singing about, they'll stop what they are doing and look at us with their mouth open, then sit down and watch the rest of the show. That's a really good feeling and what makes it all worth it! :-)

 

PA ~ What would someone expect attending one of your shows?

[Mike] As far as our sound, we do songs from soft and pretty, all the way up to hard rock. We don't venture into the metal area though. 

 

You can expect to meet a lot of bright and caring people at our shows, everyone from bikers to blue collar workers to executives. We'd like to build up our shows into kind of an event, or a gathering of like minded souls, where you can relax and be yourself, and meet open minded people and enjoy yourself.

 

PA ~ Any interesting (funny, sad, unique, inspiring, etc...) stories you'd like to share since "Johnny Philko" started?

[Mike] A lot of funny things come to mind, but I can't mention a lot of them for one reason or another in public! Lol!!

 

One funny thing that I can think of happened when we were getting ready to leave for West Virginia to play at a venue down there. We showed up at the bass player's house to load up his equipment and take off, but the night before some pit-bull showed up at his house and made himself comfortable there. He was still sitting outside of the house when we got there and he wouldn't let the bass player out of his house, and wouldn't let the rest of us out of our cars! We had a stalemate going on! Lol!!! We had to talk to each other on our cell phones to try and work out a plan. The dog warden wouldn't come because it was on a Saturday! So we finally decided the best thing to do was for the bass player to put a bunch of food on a plate and slide it out of the door of his house, we made a mad dash with the bass and amplifier for the truck while the dog was eating the food. It was a very weird and scary thing! :-)

 

I think the most inspiring thing to me is meeting all of the wonderful and kind hearted people we have come across in our travels!!! There are a lot of wonderful people out there trying to do their own thing to make the world a better place. We support anyone who is trying to make a difference. We have a lot of sites listed on our "Issues" page. If you can take some time and check them out, it will be worth it.

 

PA ~ What's upcoming for "Johnny Philko"?

[Mike] A lot of things are happening with us, it's like a whirlwind around here! :-) One thing that is new, is that we are doing a spin-off type of thing called Johnny Philko Unplugged. This works out really well for us in the coffeehouse type of venue. It's just guitar and vocals, a real intimate type of thing.

 

Also, we have a video / DVD of the song "Waco" ready to start airing sometime soon. I am waiting for the master copy in the mail and then it will start airing on Indie music television shows. We can't wait for that to start.

 

We have a commercial that will start airing on VH1, in select markets, announcing the release of our CD, "Songs to Swear By".

 

We are going to start laying down tracks for the new CD. We have been so busy supporting this release that we barely have had time to breathe. We have worked out a bunch of new songs and are adding them to our set list and gauging audience reaction to them now.

 

PA ~ Where can someone find out more info on you guys?

[Mike]   Well, we have a couple of different ways to contact us or check out our music.
We have our main website at http://www.JohnnyPhilko.org  go there to find links to our sound files and more.

Thanks for the interview Bobbi!!! We really appreciate your support and that of your readers. I have always wanted to get my songs and music and ideas out to the public, and it's like a dream come true for me now! I can't wait to see how far we can go! :-)

 

Peace,

Mike