STAR Party Music Festival
San Antonio, Tx
Original Publication June 28, 2021
On a hot Texas day fans gathered in San Antonio to attend the 2021 Star Party, an evening of music of the emo rock persuasion. Although the air was not functioning in the venue fans didn’t seem to notice as they swayed to music of acts such as Nuclear Nation, Goodbye Gloria, Bachelor Party, Postcards From The Moon, and YouTube star and musician, Johnnie Guilbert.
We were able to interview Johnnie a year prior when he opened for Social Repose performing an acoustic set of his original songs. We were lucky enough to be able to sit down with him once more at the Star Party for a follow up interview, the video of which can be seen at the bottom of this page.
12thFret: As stated in your videos, growing up, evolving, would you say this album is going to continue in that direction?
JG: It’s already done, so I’m like, I already know, like that’s why I feel so confident with it. I’ve never felt to a place where like, I’m excited to get my music out you know like, I really am confident with this album. I did it with ZK studios who I did my EP “Not So Perfect” and “Lost” which are my first 2 EPs, and they’ve done Mayday Parade’s records and all that. I’m really excited for this album. I have 10 songs on it and 2 features on it. One of them is with Shannon Taylor who was in My Digital Escape with me so that was pretty exciting. On top of that I had my buddy come out who is named Jake and we do a band together, but he filmed the whole behind the scenes process that I’m gonna post on my YouTube Channel, and for the music videos we’re doing behind the scenes as well on top of that. I’m really giving it 100% at this point, that’s all I can fucking do. But I definitely, lyrically and everything, this is a huge step up and I feel like I really found my sound with this new stuff.
12thFret: No one can ask for more than that right?
JG: Ya, and I think all I can do is please myself, and if I’m pleasing myself and I’m happy with what I’m releasing then that’s where I’m at with this new album that I’m working on.
12thFret: Are there any tracks on this album that you’re especially excited for?
JG: Ya there definitely is, there’s a title track called, I don’t know if I wanna announce the name yet. I mean, I can, I don’t really care, I don’t have a label….
12thFret: Well you can always say it and we can blur it out.
JG: Ah fuck it dude, I have no label I can say whatever I want. The whole album, I’m gonna call it “All My Friends Are Dead.” It was, the reason for that is cause I was going through a break up and, it was weird for me. I’ll be really transparent, but it was really weird for me to see my friends like still friends with my Ex and stuff because it made me like, not in a mean way, but it made me, just it was uncomfortable.
12thFret: Ya there’s a tension when that happens.
JG: It just kinda makes it like an odd, weird position but ya the title track is “All My Friends are Dead.” It’s just like super Punk like fucking Rock. Very electric guitar and it just, it really feels like my masterpiece in a sense and um, the guys that I worked on with producing it are just so good and another song that’s super exciting is, we redid a Till Death Do We Part song which is a band I’m in with my friend Jake Bateman. We did our song “Curiosity Kills” which we did in a full studio which is completely different but, like amazing. I’m very excited for it.
12thFret: And as we talked about earlier, most people assume I’m a Metal guy, which I am…. But not really.
JG: Ya you’re wearing an Elton John shirt, very much not Metal.
12thFret: Really I do a lot of old stuff, Elton John shirt on, Paul Williams, and I know you’re very much more Rock than Metal yourself.
JG: Ya I dive with everything. You brought me this Beatles little photo, Obviously I love The Beatles.
12thFret: Because in Texas we give, if you can give, give. But with that being said, more classic stuff. What classic bands are you really into right now?
JG: Well this last year I really got into te BeeGee’s like I was just saying. Ya like “How Deep Is Your Love” is such a good song. I can listen to it nonstop. Surprisingly, I’ve always been a Bo Burnham fan and I really like his new album. It relates to me a lot. I struggle with my Depression and Anxiety and stage fright and all that. He just seems like such an honest dude that I could connect with so Inside by Bo Burnham, that album. What else do I fuck with? The Cure is something I really got into, I got my Robert Smith tattoo.
12thFret: And on one of the songs, speaking on that and the older music, one of the songs, and I was listening to this last night, I believe it was “Anxiety.”
JG: Yeah
12thFret: The vibe I got off of that honestly was, almost like Ozzy covering a John Lennon song.
JG: Wow!
12thFret: If you watch the music video for Ozzy covering John Lennon’s “How”, very similar.
JG: Ok, ya I’ve seen that I think actually. That’s dope, I mean, that was unintentional but I love Ozzy.
12thFret: It had a very good vibe.
JG: Ozzy, oh god, what a character but ya I just love Ozzy, Black Sabbath, all that shit.
12thFret: That’s one of the things I always enjoy talking with you about is the music because you always bring up a band that surprises me, like, “okay that I wouldn’t have guessed.”
JG: Ya, I’m glad I can do that for you because I like to surprise people with what I listen to and like, I listen to everything. I was a kid listening to freaking High School Musical records. I know High School Musical Songs, but I also like, you know, they’re like, Elton John or whatever, like I know shit about him. I listen to like, Queen and all that, like Misfits.
12thFret: I am very much the same way, you may hear Cyndi Lauper coming from my room at some point, because hey, girls just wanna have fun ya know ha ha.
JG: People probably assume that I listen to Hot Topic, Warped Tour music which is Panic At The Disco, The Used, which I do listen to. But I listen to, literally like John Lennon just by himself or something. I like, and that’s what a lot of, or maybe I’ll change that and I’ll have more of a full band live performance someday but, I like the acoustic rawness of what I’m doing. I mean, my biggest influence when I was younger was Never Shout Never and he did that. I don’t feel like there’s many people doing that nowadays. That’s something, it’s super raw and like, good vibes.
12thFret: I agree, and like I said in our last interview, that is sadly lost due to “Technical Difficulties”
JG: This one will be better.
12thFret: But like I said then, I honestly hate 99% of what comes. It’s hard for me to find something that I like that’s new, but your stuff. I have to say, not all of it’s for me, I’ll be totally honest, but..
JG: That’s fine, it’s not all for me either ha ha.
12thFret: …but I see a lot of good stuff, like this is more real. Like I tell a lot of people, I really get sick of hearing things that people can relate to. I wanna feel some shit, and in yours I get to feel some shit.
JG: Well thanks man. Ya like, with my new album I’m happy, like in “We All Fall Down” like I wrote those all completely by myself with like no help on the lyrics, like trying to shape them together. For awhile I was not very sure because I was still learning how to put my songs together and stuff but, I brought all my songs to the studio and I wrote them from my heart and like it just, it feels really genuine and the producer quality is just fuckin’ phenominal. Those guys are just legends. They did Cartel and some All Time Low stuff and some of it, and Mayday Parade. All these bands that are way better than me ha ha, in their own way. Really I’m just so excited to get it out and show my progress to people. A good thing to, I know I go back and forth on like deleting my old stuff and keeping it up because I, you know I’m depressed sometimes, but I like to be able to like, leave it up sometimes just so I can show people, like “hey you can make it from this to improving each year.
12thFret: As long as there’s progress, you’re good.
JG: Ya that’s what it’s about. I mean I’m 23 now, but when I started I was like 16 really. It just shows progress and I think that’s cool. I think people can relate to that and hopefully it will inspire them to pick up a guitar or whatever, or do whatever they want.
12thFret: Definitely, and that’s really what it’s about. Following your passions and just improving. As long as you’re not stagnating you’re fine. As far as the acoustic stuff, you’re right. There’s not a lot of people doing that. There are a lot of people “making stuff” but they’re not really making stuff, they’re editing. I’m not calling out any bands or anything because, like what you like, there’s nothing wrong with that.
JG: It’s definitely, I mean it’s a business for like a lot of people but there’s a difference. Like I feel like, I guess I consider myself, especially nowadays, I feel like I’m definitely more passionate about what I’m making because I like it. I’m not signed to anyone so this is literally me doing it all on my own. I don’t know, I just think that’s really transparent with it because I can make my own rules.
12thFret: That’s definitely what we call a labor of love.
JG: Ya, and it would be cool to get signed you know as long as they boost you up instead of bring you down. So, ya I just don’t wanna lose myself, I wanna find myself with everything.
12thFret: And that’s a double edged sword in and of itself. Like they say, the root word of “contract” is con.
JG: Ya, and I want people to be able to, hopefully by me finding myself with my own music I’ll be able to have people like, connect with that, even if it’s sad. You know, that’s not like a good thing to feel sad, but it would be cool if people could connect with it.
12thFret: Definitely, and going back to some music questions. So we kinda know what you’ve been listening to lately, but what are some guilty pleasures? I know you listen to a lot of old stuff that surprises people.
JG: Ha ha my guilty pleasures,
12thFret: Ya, what would be some guilty pleasures?
JG: I’ve been listening to that Olivia Rodrigo album a little bit, she’s good, and she’s cool too because she’s like young dude and people like, I don’t know, people like always try to rag on any new artist, but I feel like you can find a lot of good in people and she’s not talking about twerking and stuff so I’m able to actually connect with her lyrics about heartbreak. I have a lot of guilty pleasures, I fuck with Justin Beiber, I fuck with One Direction, and High School Musical, like I don’t, I don’t let people determine what I mess with music wise because, that’s like fake.
12thFret: That leads into another question, are we eventually gonna get any High School Musical covers?
JG: Well, I mean, the funny thing is like, I do in the future, I was listening to The Phantom of the Opera..which is another weird thing…
12thFret: No, right on!
JG: and I really wanna do an opera song now, I wanna do something like, more like, I guess kinda like falling in reverse is a good example of someone that’s done kinda like an opera-y kind of song in the recent days you know. But um, I was listening to The Phantom of the Opera single and I was like “damn” the intense instrumental is so cool but, if I like, if I were to do that with my own Johnnie Guilbert-ness to it. I feel like it’d be like, I don’t know, I’d love it. On my new album I did a song that’s very 50’s sounding so it’s like (demonstrates 50’s do-wop rythm in sing song) that’s very like, Back to the Future so..
12thFret: You’ve got me hooked already ha ha, the curiosity has peaked.
JG: .. and that’s the cool thing, and then I have this raw piano song that’s like physical at best and just like, it’s cool that I’ve been able to dive with different, you know, different sounds. That’s what’s, that’s, ah I can’t even speak ha ha. That’s what it’s about though, it’s cool.
12thFret: Definitely, and I can relate to that, one of the ones I’ve always wanted to do would be from “The Little Shop of Horrors” soundtrack, that would be …
JG: Oh yes! “Downtown”?
12thFret: I love “Downtown”, but I think I’d go with…
JG: “Seymour”?
12thFret: Yes.
JG: (singing) Suddenly Seymour
12thFret: (singing) is standing..
JG and 12thFret: beside you.
12thFret: Ok so we may end up doing a cover guys.
JG: Ya “Suddenly Seymour” cover coming soon
12thFret: The Suddenly Seymour Tour 2022
JG: I love that song, ya “Little Shop of Horrors” I love musicals, like I know people like rag on them but I like “Grease”, I like all that stuff.
12thFret: I’m a big fan of “Grease 2”
JG: I know they can be obnoxious, you need to be in the right mood, but ya like, we were talking about the Elton John musical, that ones tight.
12thFret: I know we’re both fans of “Rocky Horror.”
JG: Ya, I wanna get a “Rocky Horror” tattoo. “Rocky Horror” was a very big thing for me because it was like, seeing a guy dressed up in drag was just so like, and Tim Curry’s phenomenal but, I mean it was so impactful for peoples lives, and I’m not, you know I’ve always been supportive of people doing what they want as long as they’re not hurting themselves or anyone else and uh, that’s why I connect with that a lot.
12thFret: Have you been to a live showing?
JG: Yes! My sister used to do them.
12thFret: Nice!
JG: Ya so I’ve been to a few, I’ve been to like one or two probably, but ya like they put V on your head if you’re a virgin of going to the “Rocky Horror” show but, ya it was awesome I mean and it’s so cool that people can love things like that and I don’t know just have fun with it. “Rocky Horror” is great.
Johnnie went on to headline the show that night and the few hundred people who attended went from bopping to the upbeat sounds of Postcards From the Moon, to listening silently to the acoustic stylings of Johnnie’s original songs.
It would be easy to assume that the performance was somber, but the truth of the matter is that his fans feel a true connection to him as an artist and a songwriter. By the end of the evening the audience sang along to his songs like a choir backing their soloist.
Although the performance came to an end that was not the end for many fans. The bands all stayed around after the show to meet with, talk to, and sign autographs for the fans who remained. It is always refreshing to see Johnnie interact with his fans.
With most performers there is a bit of personal distance when engaging with fans. Johnnie however takes time to talk with each audience member he meets, sometimes for several minutes talking about music and the things that are going on in their life.
On more than one occasion a fan could be heard telling him how much his YouTube videos and/or music helped them get through a difficult time in their life. The word refreshing comes to mind when seeing this musician live.
This reporter can honestly say, no fan was disappointed at the end of this show. They heard good music, saw great performances, and got to meet the people that inspire them.
Star Party in one word, success.
Full Interview
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