Johnny Forever Nawracaj
is a Polish-born writer, performer and multidisciplinary artist currently based in Montreal. Their work weaves surrealist narrative through the use of song, fibres, video, gesture, illustration and drag. In their academic and artistic pursuits they explore love, loss, and longing with a particular investment in these themes as a part of radical queer and trans cultural production. Their works have seen the cabaret stages, theatre vitrines, and gallery floors of Warsaw, Berlin, Montreal, and Toronto.
j.nawracaj@gmail.com
Like your blog. Are you related to Sereno Spann?
thanks:) i’m a bit inactive here lately.
afraid i don’t know Sereno. you meant related like genetically?
Carl Carlyle was the first Johnny Forever I knew about. He was the lead for Johnny Forever and the Tweenagers. He was Sereno’s dad… knew him in the 80s.
Bruce, do you know Sereno? Did you know Carl?
take care,
Ernesto Yes (San Francisco, CA)
Dear Ernesto,
Dear Bruce,
Johnny Forever came together as my name through a series of conversations quite apart from the Tweenagers, but soon after I came across Carl Carlyle randomly…(fatefully?)
Now i’m curious about Sereno Spann…
keep in touch y’all….?
xo
jf
Johnny Forever is bad-ass name.
Yeah, I was friends with Sereno growing up in San Francisco. If he ever googled his name these comments come up… maybe he’ll shoot me an email. His grandmother kicked my down some Eknath Easwaran, I’m looking at The Mantram Handbook right now.
PS If you want to know more about The Tweenagers there’s a site now:
http://www.qm21.com/johnnyforever.html
take care,
Ernesto
Sereno’s my brother. I’ll tell him to check out the website.
amazing!
Oh, and thanks Ernesto for the link to the site. I see that it is under construction.
Hmm…perhaps I, too will one day be “..part of metaphysical rock and roll history…”
So Vince, Sereno being your brother, was Johnny Forever your dad, too?
Wow, I’m amazed someone is talking about my dad
Johnny Forever! Vincent is my 20 yr. old bro but is
not Johnny’s son. I was there throughout the incredible Tweenagers 80’s punk rock. My stage name
was Max. Who is Ernesto?
Hey. Yeah, it was a complete coincidence. I started going by Johnny Forever in 2008 based on a conversation with a friend that had more to do with Polish grammar than anything else, actually.
Ernesto knew your dad in the eighties…asked me if I knew you. Don’t know much more than that.
It’s been nice to dig up a little history like this. You know, just by chance.
What do you do now, Sereno?
I am a kung-fu student and teacher. I emphasize mind
body integration and using a special form for
focus in business (and art!) You are great Johnny!
our family shares a concept we call small south, ie, there are really only 20 families in the entire south US, and they are all completely inter-related, but no one knows about this (except for us, of course). this meme may have to stretch a good bit to include canada, poland, and san francisco (but not south san francisco, but certainly colma)
nomen est omen. we share a similar concept in southern poland. nowa huta is not a far stretch from charlotte. tatra mountains, smoky mountains. uncanny.
Thanks Sereno! Sigh… How i would love to find a practice that emphasizes mind-body integration. I’ve been making a lot of work lately about the frustration I have experienced in my attempts to become grounded and focused- including a recent video-performance work on my struggle with what I interpret as a personal mind-body disconnect. Working on it… slowly and hopefully surely.