Johnny Foreigner

Johnny Foreigner
Alexei Berrow of Johnny Foreigner live at Reading 08
Background information
Origin	Birmingham, UK
Genres	Indie rock, punk rock, noise pop
Years active	2006 – present
Labels	Alcopop!, Best Before Lame-O, Swerp, Nettwerk
Website	http://johnnyforeignertheband.com/
Members	Alexei Berrow Kelly Parker Junior Elvis Washington Laidley Lewes Herriot

Johnny Foreigner are an indie rock four-piece from Birmingham, England, consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Alexei Berrow, drummer Junior Elvis Washington Laidley, guitarist and visual artist Lewes Herriot, and bassist and vocalist Kelly Parker (née Southern). They are currently signed to Alcopop! Records for the UK and worldwide, and Lame-O Records for the USA; their previous label was Best Before Records, which is part of the artist management and nightclub concern Mama Group/ChannelFly Group.

Before the band formed, Berrow and Parker both played in different outfits, Panda Love Unit, Twist and Autolight.

Johnny Foreigner formed in December 2005 in Birmingham, consisting of lead vocalist Alexei Berrow, drummer Junior Elvis Washington Laidley and bassist Daniel Boyle. Berrow described the band as "a country band with pretensions". This original line-up self-produced and released their first album We Left You Sleeping and Gone Now in 2005 in a hand-made edition of 40 copies.

After the release of the album, Boyle left Johnny Foreigner for Gentle Friendly, and was replaced with bassist and vocalist Kelly Parker. The band released their first single, "Sometimes In The Bullring" in October 2006

The second single, released 21 May 2007, was a split with fellow Birmingham act Sunset Cinema Club and contained the track Yes! You Talk Too Fast, as well as a cover of Sunset Cinema Clubs Ninki. vs Dingle, whilst Sunset Cinema Club covered Johnny Foreigner's Candles

After signing to Best Before Records in 2007, the band issued the EP Arcs Across The City in November of that year. The EP was rated 10/10 by Drowned In Sound.

Later in 2007 Johnny Foreigner recorded their debut album Waited Up 'til It Was Light in Hoboken, New Jersey, during which they also gave their first live performance in the United States, supporting Delaware's Spinto Band and Cardiff-based indie pop band Los Campesinos! at the Bowery Ballroom in New York on 30 November 2007. Leading up to the release of the album, the band released the songs Our Bipolar Friends and Eyes Wide Terrified from the album as singles on 10 March 2008 and 18 May 2008. The album itself was released on 2 June 2008. On 12 January 2009 Lea Room was released as a single as well.