MyNameIsJohnMichaels

MyNameIsJohnMichaels
Hometown: New Orleans
Band Members: John Michael Rouchell (vocals), Joe Bourgeois (bass), Neilson Bernard (drums), (Jeremy ‘Mojo’ Phipps (trombone), Terence Green (trombone/baritone), Phil Breen (keys), Ashton Hines (trumpet)

John Michael Rouchell, lead singer and songwriter of the seven-piece indie rock/pop band known as MyNameIsJohnMichael, was born and raised in New Orleans. After a short stint living in New York, he’s back in his hometown. Now New Orleans is in his music. All those different sources unite to create an indie rock/pop aesthetic full of precise, bouncing melodies and rhythms behind bold, uplifting brass, bordering on overload but never crossing the line. The music helps purge any negative emotions surrounding Rouchell’s pensive lyrics. The galloping and intrepid song “[‘Misery Runs’] came out of all this sad shit, like you’re sort of freaking out,” he says. “But when you put it in the context of an anthem, like ‘let’s sing along,’ you get out of it; you sweat it out.”

That’s also the goal for live performances. Rouchell doesn’t want people sitting down, contemplating, wallowing. He wants “an experience in high energy and dancing and sweating and having a blast. That’s just what we know down here.” By Nathan Spicer at http://mynameisjohnmichael.com/