Cross-cultural sounds: Johnnivan's rise in Asia’s indie scene

The members of Japan-based band Johnnivan / Courtesy of Johnnivan

By Jamie Finn

• Published Mar 14, 2025 10:56 AM KST
• Updated Mar 14, 2025 4:31 PM KST

In the vibrant landscape of Japan's indie music scene, the multinational band Johnnivan stands out with its distinctive blend of dance punk and indie rock. With members hailing from different corners of the world, this Tokyo-based group has been steadily building a reputation not just in Japan but across Asia, particularly in Korea, where their energetic performances have found an enthusiastic audience. On March 22, they return to Korea to play Reciprocity, a one-day festival featuring a mix of Japanese and Korean musical talent.

Johnnivan’s lineup reflects a diverse mix of musical backgrounds and cultural influences. This multinational composition has proven to be both a challenge and a strength, as singer Johnathan Sullivan explained: "It's easier to stand out in our local scene, but it can be difficult to fit in. I try not to focus on the nationality and stuff like that, though, because good music is good music in the end."

Rather than focusing on their national differences, the band members emphasize how their varied musical backgrounds contribute to their unique sound. "When it comes to making music, I think being multinational makes us more interesting," keyboardist Shogo Takatsu said. "When I get an idea from other members, it's sometimes completely different from what I would have done and leads to something interesting in the arrangement."

The band's musical backgrounds couldn't be more diverse. "In childhood, we were completely different," Shogo said. "Junsoo grew up in Korea, and his musical background reflects that. Jonathan grew up listening to more U.S. and U.K. indie stuff, Kento used to play Japanese indie stuff and I used to play classical music. I didn't even play rock music when I was in high school."

This diversity, they believe, gets "multiplied" into something unique and new.

Johnnivan cites an eclectic range of influences. Johnathan describes their foundational sound: "For the band DNA, I think the very, very initial starting point was like Phoenix, LCD Soundsystem, St. Vincent, Talking Heads, Bowie." For their next project, he hopes to land "somewhere between '90s U.K. house music and Fontaines DC, like a little bit of punk, a little bit of straightforward dance music."

Their music occupies an intriguing space between electronic dance music and guitar-driven indie rock. This duality manifests differently in their recorded work versus their live performances. "I think that divide is very clear between our recorded stuff and the live performances," Johnathan acknowledged. "For the recorded stuff, we're more meticulous and it turns into more like a digital dance-oriented thing. But when we take those songs and play them live, I think the indie band comes out. We’re four boys who can play instruments and one who can’t,” he said, gesturing at himself. “Live, we’re five boys just having fun."

The band has released three albums, with its most recent, "Swimmer," representing a significant emotional shift. Created during a period when several band members were processing grief after losing grandparents, the album began as potential solo material for Johnathan. "The songs that I had initially were supposed to be like my solo thing. I was going to do it by myself, but I quickly realized that I needed my friends to do this," he said.

Johnathan elaborates on the album's emotional core: "While we were making our second record, I lost my grandmother. It was the first close person that I’d lost, and by the time we finished the second album, I was finally starting to process that in song."

Guitarist Junsoo Lee added, "We all lost somebody around that time. I lost two grandmas two years in a row. We all have our emotions in it."

Johnnivan has performed in Korea three times already, including appearances at the DMZ Peace Train Music Festival and Block Party. They've noted striking differences between Japanese and Korean audiences.

"The DMZ festival was the first time for us to play in Korea," Shogo said. "We didn't expect that much. During the first song, there were about 100 people in the audience, but by the end, that was 3,000. It was full of people, and the response was much bigger than the Japanese audience."

The band praised Korean fans as more openly enthusiastic: "They don't hesitate to talk to us, they don't hesitate to share their response to the music," Shogo said. "Their motivation to look for new music and share their experience with other music fans is completely different."

Junsoo, who is Korean, added: “As musicians, the fans in Korea felt closer to us. The distance between them and us felt closer than when we played in Japan. It's like enthusiasm. They really want to talk to the artists, get signatures and take photos. But fans in Japan are shy."

Another member noted that performing in Japan "feels like going to the museum or theater. The atmosphere is beautiful, and there’s a certain kind of intensity. But in terms of building a big thing with the audience at the venue, I like the atmosphere in Korea."

As they prepare for their upcoming performance at Korea's Reciprocity Festival, the members of Johnnivan are confident in their evolution as live performers.

"As a live band, I feel like we can shut them up," Johnathan said. "Nobody's gonna get injured. But we would love to provide the Korean audience with a different sense of danger and dancing that we may have not provided before."

Bassist Kento Yoshida added a final tease: "Our live performance keeps getting better these days and keeps changing. We change so quickly, in fact, that this might be the last time to see our current style."

For fans of dynamic, cross-cultural indie dance music, that's a compelling reason not to miss Johnnivan's continuous evolution.

Follow @welovejohnnivan on Instagram or visit welovejohnnivan.com for more information.

Jamie Finn is the chief editor of Debaser Magazine.