John Griffin aka Swingin’ Johnny

Can you tell us about one song that has activated some deep emotions and influenced you as a songwriter?

Greeting, so when I was 12 years old I discovered my love for Old Time music-the big band swing horns and fancy crooning voice of Frank Sinatra was the birth of my dress code. Let’s go back a little further I had to be around 6 and heard Al Green because it would be played at family events. I knew instantly after hearing “Love & Happiness” I wanted to play guitar. I was always driving when I heard these songs with my Mom cruising downtown Long Beach seeing all the fancy lights, it was a very vintage feeling. “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra is a song that will still make me tear up today while songs like “Witchcraft” helped me discover my voice. 

What is one song that you’ve written that you feel a unique connection to-something you’re damn proud of?

I later got into Johnny Cash around age 13 and realized I also felt like a rebel and it would fit my true passion to write a song like him in which I wrote “Superhero”, that Rockabilly Rebel Country feel. Ska & Punk rock are a huge part of my identity because groups like The Specials would help me find that spooky circus sound I was looking for as a child. Here I am today welding those genres together.