Johnny Kahlua was born in 1985 and grew up by the coast in the small village of Høvåg, south in Norway, in the middle of The Bible Belt. But instead of following the local norm by becoming either a fisherman, farmer, or a priest, it was music that saved Johnny. Partly because of his father who toured relentlessly as a prolific country and blues pianist, but also through lying awake countless hours every night listening to obscure bluesmen like Son House and Robert Johnson. It was only when he discovered songwriters like Bob Dylan, Townes van Zandt, and Neil Young, he realized that the way to eternal life didn't go through the biblical prophecies, but through the dream of writing songs that could withstand the test of time.
He dropped out of school when he was seventeen, renamed himself into Johnny Kahlua, packed his bags, and moved to the nearest big city, Kristiansand, to seek his fortune as a musician. The learning curve was steep. After forming a couple of short-lived band projects and releasing three homespun albums, Johnny decided to take a little break from the music scene. In 2013 he traveled restlessly around Europe, exploring every corner of the continent for new experiences and adventures, but in the end he never managed to leave his true calling behind. Finally he had finished writing around twenty new songs, inspired by different experiences in the countries he had visited on his journey.
In 2014, Johnny gathered his old band to see if a last attempt could be made to restore the dream of taking the world by storm through his music. He settled in Oslo, the capital of Norway, and released his first single in almost four years, Sweet Caroline, in January 2014, to good reviews from both the media and various radio stations. In December the same year, he recorded his new songs in Silvertown Studios in Kristiansand, mixed them in SAGA Studio in Oslo with Jonas Kroon (Ylvis, Dråpe), and mastered them in Propeller Mastering with Chris Sansom (Highasakite, Motorpsycho). The first song from these recordings, Startin' All Over Again, was released on September 1st, 2015.
