A Dirty Dozen with JOHNNY IGUANA from THE CLAUDETTES – May 2026

Photo credit: Timothy Hiatt Photography

According to a recent press release: “Red-hot dance cuts, ice-cold noir songs, rabid rock, passionate soul…the Claudettes reach a whole new level of sound and style with their seventh album, GARAGE GLAMOUR. The album’s title points to the signature blend of glitz and grit that the Claudettes bring to the stage and studio. And the music? Fellini would nod and smile at this carnival ride of an album, which is bookended by two of the most nakedly sincere songs of the Claudettes’ career. GARAGE GLAMOUR is being released on venerable Chicago independent label Pravda Records late Spring on 12” LP vinyl, CD, streaming services and digital download June 5. Six albums into their lauded career, the Claudettes (of Chicago) continue to put a fascinating new spin on American roots music. Blues and R&B are laced with punk spirit and film-noir moods to create the band’s singular “garage cabaret” sound. The Claudettes have earned worldwide acclaim with their recordings and concerts that are equal parts heart, musicianship and theatrical flair. Force-of-nature vocalist Rachel Williams (who dominates the stage like a glam-rock rebirth of Annie Lennox and renowned pianist / songwriter Johnny Iguana join the positively heroic rhythm section of Zach Verdoorn (bass, guitar, vocals) and Michael Caskey (drums).” We get Johnny to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

The album starts and ends with really heartfelt, passionate, sincere songs. There are also dark songs of murder and death and addiction. Right in the middle, though, is a mini-rock opera that is drawn directly (verbatim, in some cases) from a Medium piece published by Jeff Bezos about his public feud with the legal team of David Pecker. Go find the Medium piece “No Thank You, Mr. Pecker.” When we wrote “Mr. Pecker’s Apoplexy,” it was sort of a hero vs. villain tale. Now it feels more like villain vs. villain…but in any case the song rocks with a vengeance and is what we call “over the top of over the top.”

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Yes, I can. I was a small child at a Cars concert and my family had backstage passes because my uncle Steve Berkowitz was the band’s road manager and also a musical and personal insider of the Cars. I was walking backstage, down a hallway, and saw Cars bassist / singer Ben Orr walking toward me with two women. He had his arms around the two of them and was wearing a feather boa around his neck and sunglasses. I said to my very young self, “That looks good, I think I wanna be that guy.”

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

When I was 15, I suddenly moved on from the classic rock and top-of-the-pops hits I had previously fancied. This was because of two things. First, my friend’s older brother turned our friend group onto Echo & the Bunnymen, Husker Du, the Cure, the Clash…and then I discovered Minutemen and fIREHOSE along with Wire and a whole bunch of other UK punk and American punk. Second, my uncle Steve Berkowitz mailed me Junior Wells’ Hoodoo Man Blues, Jimmy Smith’s Organ Grinder Swing and a mixtape he made for me of the Treniers, Lonnie Mack and a mess of other blues, jazz and R&B. I had already taken piano lessons and had already been in a band that played covers and a couple original songs. But after the punk and blues lit a fire under me, I was off and running in new directions. The Claudettes are an amalgam of everything I just named, all of it (genre designations and algorithms be damned).

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

I have so many living and dead musical heroes, and I already joined Junior Wells’ band when I was quite young. I already played on a bill with Mike Watt and he slept at my house one night. So, there were two of my teenage music heroes right there. The third was Joe Strummer. When I had my band oh my god in Chicago, we were on the short list to open for the Mescaleros at the Metro in Chicago. Then he suddenly died, and so I never got to meet, play with or hang with the third of my three teenage musical heroes. So: I would want Joe Strummer to sing on a song I wrote or at least a song on which I played.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

Believe it or not, it’s to be in my house alone, playing piano. When my wife and son are home, I worry a bit about them having to endure it while I practice a difficult piece 30 straight times. I figure I’ll drive them crazy, and it doesn’t help that I call myself a “punk rock piano player,” which is to say: I really bang the thing (poor thing). So, I’m very relaxed and happy when playing piano to an empty house.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I call it “garage cabaret,” because it’s part elegance and part muck…part R&B / blues and part punk and garage…partly in the ritzy lounge and partly in the dank basement. I have had people compare TWO of my bands to Ben Folds, and I know it’s just because he’s a keyboard player. The two bands of mine have little in common with each other, musically, and also little in common with Ben Folds music. Also, people assume I really dig Elton John and Billy Joel, but I do not. It’s possible to greatly respect someone’s musical talent but not be drawn to their musical taste. There are other icons whose musical taste turns me off, but I don’t wanna get into trouble here. I’ve already pissed some people off with my unabashed honesty about artists I don’t particularly like.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

None of that describes our hangs. People might pour their own nightcap, and I usually break out a bluetooth speaker and either put on playlists or ask Zach to DJ. But I don’t think we have ever cooked together and we don’t operate in the strumming acoustic guitar world. It’s piano banging and a huge pedal board full of electric guitar effects and playing in a heartfelt but also dramatic way on stage. We don’t really make music together outside of the practice space and studio.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Well, I was with my mother when she shouted, “Oh, my god, there’s Rod Steiger!” The Pawnbroker is one of her favorite movies. I saw Connie Chung running across the street in NYC. That was more “it struck me funny” than “starstruck.” I have gotten to play with so many greats, especially in blues, that I feel not much can make me starstruck. I saw Jerry Springer at Newark Airport and asked him to sign my copy of Literary New York (a book I recommend, especially if you have ever lived in NYC). He opened it up and took my pen and wrote, “Thanks. Jerry Springer.” Again: “struck me funny,” not starstruck.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

I have been lucky enough to have been touring internationally since the mid-’90s. I have played in the Middle East, Indonesia, all over Europe and Japan, long tours of South America and Australia / New Zealand. That is my favorite part: meals, drinks, neighborhoods, museums and people in many corners of the world. When friends tell me about their vacations to Europe, I nod my head and feel so thankful and sort of pleased with myself that music has taken me on the vast majority of my overseas trips. It’s a large part of why I practice so much. I want many artists to ask me to join them on international tours, and I want the Claudettes to go overseas again and again (we have gone multiple times, and we want a lot more such tours). I literally have no other career I would want, apart from wanting more scoring work (I’ve had some nice gigs in that realm). I wrote for catalogs and magazines, but I would never want to do that INSTEAD of music. As long as my hands and mind work, you’ll find me at a piano or on a plane to a different piano.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

I always wanted to talk chord progressions and voicings with Bob Mould and others I admire. Everything in interviews and published pieces tends toward the gossipy and general interest…the juicy stuff…but I wanna talk about, “Who led you down the path of nothing but add-nines?” and “what drummer inspired that one song’s ending (or intro)?” and “Hey, Mose Allison, I hear Chopin in you…were you nuts for Chopin like I was?” As for annoyance, I guess it only enters in a bit when questions are so basic that they could be answered by the interviewer with even the tiniest bit of research or preparation, but I know we’re all busy and it doesn’t really bother me much.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I would probably get more big gigs (in the studio and on tour) if I was more of a schmoozer. Many have urged me to move to Nashville or LA, but I have stayed in Chicago and been happy and busy there. I don’t attend the industry events I guess I should, for the most part. I am not a relentless self promoter, at all. I am not determined to follow best practices with social media apps, nor am I drawn to TikTok-ing. If I schmoozed and went to industry events and cranked out the social media, I’m sure I’d have more of what we deem “success.” But, hey, my calendar is absolutely packed with studio sessions and tours, all across the U.S. and Europe, so: I am satisfied and often feel excited and inspired. We all have our days of wanting more and feeling stupid and inept, when it comes to climbing the ladder of success, but a new song idea keeps me buzzing, and they seem to keep coming, and I’m happy about that.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

I could never imagine myself adding to or subbing in for my favorite albums, because they’re so perfect and everyone is so brilliant…or in an emotion place that produced something so moving that it could never be improved or replaced. But the 13-year-old in my would love to have watched AC/DC and Led Zeppelin and Queen crank out those masterpieces. It was illuminating to watch an interview with Malcolm Young when he said a key to their recordings was how QUIET the guitar amps were. I guess they cranked the preamps, not the amps. I would love to see the reality of explosive-sounding recordings, and likely discover just how meticulous they were in actuality. Also, to see Junior Wells and Buddy Guy interact on “South Side Blues Jam”…with their instruments as well as their endlessly entertaining jawing.

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Category: Interviews