Interview with Johnny from Highly Suspect
“We grew up on Cape Cod. We started playing together out of high school as a reggae cover band. Yup. A reggae cover band. It’s kind of cool because sometimes now at a live show we will just bust out ‘Exodus’ or something and people are like “What?”. We were able to get free drinks and eventually real money out of the local bars playing Sublime songs and what have you. Things progressed from there…I think we played “Say It Ain’t So” from Weezer one night and it felt so good to just wail. After years of doing the sports bar thing we just said fuck it…saved up all our show money one summer and headed to Brooklyn. It was the best decision we ever made because when you get here you have to hustle or your getting evicted. We didn’t have any money, friends, jobs…just had to make shit happen REAL quick, you know what I mean? We did what we had to do, and here we are 4 years later proving that we aren’t gonna be chewed up. I’m really proud of that because for anyone that has lived in New York you know that it isn’t easy. In fact, most people only last 3 months out here before heading back to their hometowns. So many broken dreams. Fuck that. You want it? Go get it. So, this struggle, this pain, these hardships, (not all of us have Williamsburg lofts that mommy and daddy pay for) these are what comes through in the songwriting and in the playing. It is real music from real people. (laughs) We’re like Bruce Springsteen on real strong amphetamines.”
What has been the best/craziest thing to happen to you guys since releasing Lydia?
“We aren’t allowed to tell you yet.”
You guys just spent 10 days at SXSW. How was that? Who were you most excited to see? What new band(s) did you become fans of while out there?
Can you tell us a bit about future performances / tours?“Not yet. It is all getting worked out, and the stuff that is worked out is still “secret”. Very good things though! Stay tuned.”
What’s one piece of clothing you wish you could always perform in?
“Sometimes when you play outdoor shows in the fall or the spring it can be freezing. We played at this snowboard magazine party once and as you could imagine it was cold. I wish I could wear gloves for those shows…the strings become razor blades on your fingertips.”
If there was a TV show about Highly Suspect what would it be called?
“Trailer Park Boys.”
This or that:
“Marvel – but can we have Batman too?”
“I’M ARTHUR FOOOCKING SHELBYYYYY !! RoOIGHT!! hahah FAVORITE SHOW, FOR REAL!!!! We just scream and pretend to be Arthur shelby all the time. It weirds people out. Especially people on planes. Tommy has the better haircut though.”
