BIO

“Like a runaway freight train with a sound that has been likened to Joan Jett meets The Donnas.” “.. It’s The JOHNNYS who deliver elements of freedom, satire and swagger in their music... you feel a shameless sense of rebellion..” “Just when I thought I’d never get another fix of Ramones rock’n’roll, along came The JOHNNYS and I knew that the spirit of rock’n’roll wasn’t dead!”

Veronica Johnny is an Aboriginal artist of Cree, Chipewyan, Métis and Ojibwa heritage, born and raised in the subarctic community of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories.

Dave and Veronica Johnny launched The JOHNNYS in 2003, shortly after they met and married in the NWT. With songs clocking in at 220 bpm, The JOHNNYS’ music has been described as inciting listeners to dance, get naked and destroy things – though not necessarily in that order – in a barely restrained celebration of manic energy.

Since 2005, the couple has divided their time between Toronto and Fort Smith, NWT. Accordingly, Dave and Veronica – the writers, producers and keepers of The JOHNNYS’ sound – embraced versatility, augmenting their studio sessions and live performances with a changing cast of talented musicians. The result is pure rock’n’roll adrenaline, anchored by Veronica’s charismatic showmanship and Dave’s trademark drumming, whether The JOHNNYS appear as a brash four-piece group or an intense duo.

In 2007, The JOHNNYS released the debut CD I Like It A Lot on Slave River Records, an independent Aboriginal label Dave and Veronica had launched the previous year. Since then The JOHNNYS have been featured on radio and television in the U.S. and Canada, been the subject of numerous news, magazine and online articles including the nationally distributed Spirit Magazine - where they appeared on the cover of the 2007 annual music issue.

Veronica Johnny - lead vocals and rhythym guitar

Veronica Johnny is an Aboriginal artist of Cree, Chipewyan and Ojibwa heritage, born and raised in the subarctic community of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. Based in Yellowknife, she first established herself as a singer/songwriter, quickly building a reputation as a versatile and engaging performer. Soon after, Veronica began appearing in various bands in addition to her continued solo work, and in 2006 played bass for Fidget, an all-female pop/punk group. She’s also found ways to entwine music and culture. In 2003, the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories commissioned the recording of O Canada in all the territory’s official Aboriginal languages. Veronica was selected to do the Cree version. Since then she has participated in a variety of Aboriginal music initiatives including AMP Camp, Aboriginal Music Lab and the Catapult workshop. Also in 2003, Veronica married drummer Dave Johnny. Together they began The Johnnys, reflecting their shared enthusiasm for rock’n’roll in all its freewheeling, rebellious glory. In 2005, they relocated to Toronto.

Along the way, Veronica has gained valuable experience as a manager/promoter, booking shows and displaying savvy as a fundraiser. As part of her dream to see more young women access the world of music, Veronica managed and helped record the all-female singing quartet Gloss and continues to host creative workshops for young women and adults. In addition to her music and managerial resumes, Veronica earned an Audio Engineering Technician certificate from Vancouver’s Trebas Institute in 1998. In 2006, she and Dave launched the independent Aboriginal record label Slave River Records, named for the waterway straddling the Alberta/NWT border. The following year, she engineered I Like It A Lot, The Johnnys debut CD. Today, Veronica’s musical career embraces all these influences.

She continues to record and perform solo alt-acoustic material, has begun working with Cree vocals and traditional Aboriginal drumming, and of course continues to front her high-octane rock’n’roll band The Johnnys. Veronica divides her time between Toronto and Fort Smith, NWT.

Dave Johnny - drums and vocals

Dave Johnny is a musician, writer and painter. He credits kindergarten-age exposure to acts such as AC/DC and Kiss for setting him firmly on the path of rock’n’roll; forever skewing his notions of appropriate volume and good taste.

While he has experimented with trumpet, organ and bass, drums clearly dominate as Dave’s instrument of choice. His style has been described as a neo-punk mixture of the explosive Keith Moon (the Who), the jazzy fills of Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix Experience) and the steady pulse of the Ramones.

Dave has gigged and recorded with musicians across Canada in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, the Yukon and Northwest Territories, where he met and married Veronica Johnny (then McNeill). They began The Johnnys in 2003 and, after relocating to Toronto, launched the independent Aboriginal record label Slave River Records in 2006. The label is named for the waterway straddling the Alberta/NWT border.

Notable among Dave’s musical side projects are the Radium Kings (2003-06) and the experimental-psychedelic rock act, Mein, which he has contributed to intermittently from 1998 to present.

Occasionally working as a freelance editor, Dave also paints and writes creatively, penning the as yet unpublished novel Brother Vertigo in 2005. He divides his time between Toronto and Fort Smith, NWT.