Johnny Stranger

In front of a sold out crowd at the Capitol Theater (Olympia, WA), Johnny Stranger bid farewell to their friends and fans from Washington and relocated the band across the country to Boston.  For years, Johnny Stranger had been touring the Pacific Northwest and building a loyal following with their unique blend of heavy, rhythmic rock and jazz-inspired songwriting.  The band (whose lineup was eternally shifting) had been fierce road warriors out in support of their first two records, Johnny Stranger (2006) and Lucid (2007).  But it was time to seek new horizons.

Boston challenged the band like nothing ever had.  Johnny Stranger found themselves in a wholly new environment, where they essentially had to start over.  Weeks after his arrival, singer/songwriter Peter Anthony found himself alone, with the other band members seeking out greener pastures. Anthony was able to turn the initial shock of the change into inspiration, writing the next two Johnny Stranger albums in a matter of days. 

With the help of longtime collaborator Blake Buckalew and his Emery Farm recording studio (Westborough, MA), Anthony pulled a team together and recorded the 3rd and 4th records, Galacticus 9 (2009) and Iliad & Odyssey (2010).  Boston’s The Noise described the band’s new albums as “…At times dramatic and theatrical, at others, catchy, alt-rock, laced with great grooves and some cool sci-fi vibes.”  Reformed with new players, the band hit the road and toured the Northeast, meeting and building a new community around their music.  Following a grueling summer tour, Anthony decided to relocate to Los Angeles, leaving the future of the band in limbo. 

Years passed. For singer/songwriter Peter Anthony, this was a tumultuous time. He took down everything Johnny Stranger from the internet and found success as a Los Angeles songwriter, a producer/mixer, and a jingle-writer.  Anthony and his wife - Madelynn Elyse - performed across Los Angeles as Polaris Rose.  But behind all the city noise and music industry haze, he kept writing songs for Johnny Stranger, quietly crafting albums that continued his prog-rock saga.

Then, something unexpected happened.  Anthony began receiving letters from old fans - from all over the country - asking him where they could hear the old Johnny records and how much the music meant to them.  As the letters piled up, Anthony began laying the groundwork for a return.

Johnny Stranger finally returned in 2019 in support of their 5th album, ‘Valkyrie’.  The album lyrically concerned itself with the human drive for power, religious iconography, and the struggle to overcome oppression.  Like all previous Johnny Stranger records, the album was written, produced, mixed, mastered, and mostly performed entirely by Anthony.

The release of ‘Valkyrie’ included months of intense rehearsals with a new live band. Their work accumulated in a sold-out release show at the Resident (Los Angeles). The band was ready to perform around the Southwest and make a new name for themselves…

But weeks later, Covid struck. Undeterred, Anthony immediately dove into recording Album #6. A passionate DIY music advocate, the process of recording album #6 happened entirely in his apartment, with the exception of drums once again recorded by good friend Kiel Feher (Best Coast, LP, Polaris Rose). 

Years passed and Anthony tinkered away at the record. “Most of the songs were written at the time I moved to Boston,” Anthony explains. “It was an important moment for me as a person… but I also wanted to inject some new energy into the album.  I also wanted songs that tackled that moment in my life with hindsight.”  Adding 3 new songs (including ‘January Knives’, ‘The Art of Saying Goodbye’, and ‘All the Same’), Anthony completed the album in 2021. Along the way, Anthony was blessed to receive mixing notes and encouragement from John Spiker (Tenacious D, Filter) as well as Anthony’s lifelong hero Ken Andrews (Failure, Paramore, ON). 

In 2022, the music from Johnny Stranger’s 6th album - titled Mechanical Clouds - started to emerge.  The first two singles ‘Bones (Bury Me Deeply & Sweetly)’ and ‘January Knives’ were emblematic of the entire record. “I wrote those songs when I first arrived in Boston, with no job and a band collapsing. The songs are about maintaining that sense of confidence and purpose that I think all musicians struggle with. That time was essential for me and the person I’ve become.”  After a string of singles, the full album Mechanical Clouds album was released November 2022.

In January 2024, the band released Lieutenant Dan, the first single from their seventh album, Nightmares in Technicolor. The songs for Nightmares in Technicolor showcased Johnny’s more dissonant, progressive side, with wild textures and samples being utilized in a way that the band had only touched on previously. The album was dedicated to the passing of Peter’s father, Bruce Ewen. “There’s a lot of pain on this record,” Peter remarked. “It’s not necessarily our heaviest record but I think it’s safe to say it’s our darkest.” Over the course of 2024, the band continued to release dark little sci-fi singles accumulating in the album release on August 28th, 2024.

But the project is already well ahead of itself. 

“It’s now late 2024 and we are currently putting the finishing touches on album 8,” says Peter. “And the albums that are following that are well underway.  By the time we’re done, there will be 12 albums total for Johnny Stranger. Well, actually it’ll be a baker’s dozen, but I’ll explain that all later.”

Keep an eye here on JohnnyStranger.com for your updates, blog posts, and new music.