Johnny Iguana

By
January 2020 View more

An eclectic sound

I’ve been in punk bands and blues bands, but with the Claudettes I decided to take those barriers down and express all the music I love in one thing. I’ve come around to calling it “garage cabaret,” because the music has kind of a punky energy to it, but it’s rooted in blues, jazz, and soul. A lot of times when a group merges punk and blues it tends to be centered on the guitar, but ours is focused on the piano—almost as if Ray Charles had a ’60s garage band.

Embracing every performance

Every time we take the stage, we just try to think about how lucky we are and to realize that we don’t really know how many more times we’ll have the opportunity to do this. So we focus on making it special and memorable for both the audience and for ourselves.

People make the world go ’round

I’ve had experiences in the past where the musicians I was playing with were really stressful to be around, and it’s so much better to be in a band with folks I enjoy and who make me feel relaxed and happy. The people in this group are so talented, but even more than that, the energy and the kinship we have is really special and rare.

January 24 at The Venue | 21 S. Broadway, Aurora
Tickets $10–$15 | themusicvenue.org

Photo by Timothy Hiatt