Meet Johnny & the Dinosaurs, an Amsterdam-based indie-folk outfit led by the soulful Johnny, a guitarist and songwriter who’s been weaving heartfelt stories through music for over two decades. Their sound is a warm, stripped-down mix of jangly chords and introspective lyrics, perfect for anyone who loves rootsy vibes with a modern twist. They first caught attention with their 2021 debut Collecting Dinosaurs, and their latest EP Other Plans (released February 21, 2025), produced by Casper van der Lans, dives deep into themes of love, loss, and life’s unexpected turns. The band has rocked stages at major European festivals, including UK tours in 2014 and 2016 with their earlier project Zorita, and collaborated with Aidan and The Wild on the soulful ‘One For You’. From intimate gigs to their wild album release show at Paradiso—featuring a T-Rex costume sprinting through the crowd—Johnny & the Dinosaurs bring an authentic, infectious energy that lingers. Check out our full interview with them below
Can you tell us about your musical journey and how you first got into creating music?
It was the year 2000 and I got my first guitar on my 15th birthday. I was hooked right away and started playing for hours on end. My guitar teacher introduced me to blues players like Robert Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Rory Gallagher and, of course, Jimi Hendrix. At the same time I got my hand on my dad’s old record collection and started listening to the Doors, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. It was also the time of Napster and mp3’s and I downloaded everything I could find from indie bands like Nirvana, L7 and Placebo. I also owned a Spice Girls cd which I really liked, though I wouldn’t publicly admit it back then.
After about a year of playing guitar I started a band with friends from school. We made a lot of noise and some crappy demos on a tape deck. Even my mom didn’t like it. In my last year of school another friend asked me to join a new school band to play at the final party. That’s where I met Edin and Frank – back then we played blues rock covers, but 20+ years later we still play together as a bluegrass band (I picked up a banjo along the way).
After school I moved to Amsterdam. In university I met a new group of musicians and pretty soon we started the band Zorita. That band got a lot of traction and soon we were bringing a mix of Balkan, South American and pop grooves to festival audiences all over Europe – touring in the UK in 2014 and 2016. Around the same time I got obsessed with folk music and I listened to a lot of Dylan, Tom Wait, Neil Young, Gillian Welch and Lucinda Williams. They inspired me to write my own songs. They sucked and though I was never short of ideas, I never seemed to really write a song from start to finish.
Throughout the 2010’s I continued playing with Zorita, Barnyard Tea (my bluegrass band with my friends from school) and also joined other bands as a side man on guitar, banjo or pedal steel. I was doing alright as a session player, but when covid hit I suddenly was out of gigs. It gave me time to reflect and I started diggin up all the old demos on my telephone and sat down to properly finish some songs. I asked some friends to join me and we recorded the first ‘Johnny‘ album called Collecting Dinosaurs. It came out in 2021 and made some small streaming waves and we also managed to play some shows.
The last couple of years I continued working on crafting songs and also took some courses on songwriting with School of Song (highly recommended!). I continued to work with the same musician and under the name Johnny & the Dinosaurs we recorded our EP Other Plans, which came out on February 21st. The songs deal with love and death, the stuff that happens while you’re making other plans.
We’re planning to record a bunch of new songs later this year, to create a second album and a release on vinyl.
How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it before?
A bare-boned blend of Indie and Folk
What are some of your earliest musical influences, and how do they still resonate with your music today?
When my sister and I were kids we used to listen to cassettes and later cd’s while driving with our parents. My mom and sister liked ABBA. My father and I liked Queen. My sister and I liked our collection of scary songs for children (De Griezel CD for the Dutch nineties kids). But we all liked Swordfish Trombone by Tom Waits – we always thought it was a monster singing those songs.
Tom Waits still has a big influence on my writing. He has a great feel for composition, lyrics and emotion in a song. I’d never try to imitate his theatrical style or vocal roars, but I do hope to write simple but evocative songs, just like Tom.
Are there any genres that you haven’t yet explored but would love to incorporate into your future work?
I would love to write a riff based song in the style of ‘Brown Sugar’ by the Stones.
Can you walk us through your typical creative process when writing or recording a new track? Where do you usually start?
Usually I start on a guitar, with some cowboy chords or a melodic idea for vocals. I come up with vocal lines by singing over a chord progression over and over. Usually some words or lines follow soon after that. I record every step as a voice memo. Once I like the melody and some words for the first part, I try to come up with more parts to sketch out a basic song structure. Usually a verse/chorus kind of thing, but not always – a song like my single ‘Summertime’ started with the bridge.
What has been your most memorable performance so far?
Doing my album release show for Collecting Dinosaurs and having my friend wear a giant T-rex suit and racing through the audience unexpectedly.
How do you approach working with other artists or producers, especially when their style might differ from yours?
I enjoy working together with other artists. Our song ‘One For You’ was a collaboration with Aidan and The Wild. He’s an awesome songwriter, guitar player and singer – it’s just great to work together on a song. I’m a team player, working together on a common goal – making a song a good as we can possibly make it – is very important to me.
What is a project or milestone you’re most proud of?
My latest release Other Plans of course!
Stream Other Plans:
If you could collaborate with, or perform alongside any artist, who would it be? And why?
George Harrison. He always seemed like a great guy and he’s a very creative songwriter and guitar player.
How do you see your sound evolving over the next few years? Are there any new directions or experiments you’re excited to explore?
My style is evolving from singer-songwriter to a more band focused approach. I come up with a basic idea for chords, structure and lyrics – but the band has a lot to say in how we arrange and shape the sound of the songs. They have backgrounds in pop, jazz and experimental music and they add a lot of flavour to the songs – it’s definitely more a band sound than just me, a guy with a guitar.
If you could tour with any band or artist (past or present), who would it be and why?
John Prine. He seems like such a nice guy to hang out with and he has a way with words.
How do you handle creative blocks, and what methods do you use to push through them?
I try playing a different instrument or tuning. Sometimes even switching from acoustic to electric guitar helps. I also try to play every day, even if it’s just for 10 minutes.
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