johnnytwentythree

"Others combine sound and cinema to dramatic effect, but few scratch so deeply and seek out bare nerves as johnny23. Reverb and delay-drenched guitar delirium, precision ambient-to-pounding rhythmic building and gorgeous siren-song violin are tools they use to create instrumental swells." - CityBeat

Sept. 29, 2007 City Beat, Ezra Waller
No jaws were left undropped over at Ink Tank when johnnytwentythree played. I have to admit I haven't seen them in quite a while and I felt a wave of euphoria rush over me just seeing their video rig. I made a deal with myself that I would forget all about the festival, take a seat on the couch and just watch them do their thing from start to finish. Stephen Imwalle was going absolutely apeshit with the visuals. He has one high tech — laptop-driven projector and two reel-to-reels that he uses in combination — but instead of just letting them run, he is constantly switching and fiddling with the films, almost like a turntablist at work. He also waves his hands wildly in front of the lenses in synch with the music, creating something that is not a strobe effect, but more of a visual vibrato. Of course the content of the films evokes emotion and combined with the intensity of the music, it's pretty much a dagger to your chest for 40 minutes. The band only stopped three times and each time, there was a moment of stunned silence when you could hear people mutter things like "Wow," "Holy shit" and "Dear God." Yep, that's pretty much it.

Sept. 29, 2007 City Beat, C.A. MacConnell

Johnnytwentythree played on over at InkTank. By the time I got there, they already had the films going, playing war footage, rocking out songs from their self-titled fresh album. Stephen Imwalle (film and video for the band) was going wild switching reels, dancing and jerking around to the music, looking like he was losing his mind (always a good sign), when the band hit some of their trademark intense crescendos.
- CityBeat